Aesthetic preferences of students at higher education

This study was planned and carried out with the aim of determining the aesthetic preferences of the students at higher education. Selçuk University in Konya Province constituted the universe of the research and the research sample included 1000 university students selected randomly from 8 faculties and 2 vocational colleges in Selçuk University. Of all administered questionnaires. 836 valid questionnaires were evaluated.The descriptive research method and the quantitative design were applied in this research. Different tools were used to collect data in the sample group. Personal information forms prepared by the researcher, the questionnaires to collect data about visual arts and visual arts class and the five point likert attitude scale about aesthetic preferences were applied.The quantitative data were separately added and graded. With thanks to SPSS 15 (Statiscal Package for Social Sciences) and package softwares, frequency (f), arithmetic mean (X), t-test, Chi-Square Test were applied; item analysis were done and variance analysis (ANOVA) were carried out "to make clear the preferences of the visuals belonging to the aesthetic theories". Factor analysis was applied to check the constaict validity. "Cronbach Alpha", the coefficient of internal consistency, was calculated to check the reliability of the questionnaire forms and then the acquired data were collected.According to the findings, it was determined that the level of preferences of the visuals belonging to Kitsch of the students was higher than that of the preferences of the visuals belonging to art works of themIt was found out that among the visuals belonging to the aesthetic theories, the participants preferred the visuals belonging to the reflective aesthetic theory on the first degree the visuals belonging to the functional aesthetic theory on the second degree the visuals belonging to the expressionist aesthetic theory on the third degree and the visuals belonging to the formalist aesthetic theory on the lowest degree.The statistics showed that there is a significant difference among the levels of preference in relation to the visuals belonging to Kitsch and art works according to the university students' previous education 011 visual arts, their age and gender. However, there isn't a significant difference among the levels of preference in relation to their families' level of income and art works.According the results, it was determined that in relation to the preferences of the participants the previous an education had an effect on the students' aesthetic preferences. It was understood that according to Parsons's stages of aesthetic development the students were mostly evaluated in the second and third stages and that the number of the students reaching the fourth stage was so low. The suggestions related to teaching aesthetics were presented in the light of these findings.Key Words: Aesthetic Preference, Aesthetic Theories, Art education, Kitsch