Introduction for Teachers Why teach technical drawing? Effective drawing skills improve student achievement in the science classroom across three areas of academic language, scientific process skills, and scientific content. Students cannot access content or perform process skills without a strong grasp of academic language. Content is necessary to provide the background knowledge and guide inquiry. Process skills encompass the art of doing science rather than learning science. Drawing instruction can improve all three of these components. Also, students that receive targeted instruction in technical drawing and scientific modeling demonstrate increased achievement and engagement.
Issues Facing Students Adult models Mo Willems, the acclaimed children’s author, says in an NPR interview that one reason children stop drawing is that they do not see adults doing the activity: “now the kids realize that this is just a baby activity” (Norris & Willems, 2009, para. 12). Therefore, teachers must display their enthusiasm for, and perhaps sorry attempts at, drawing as an everyday practice in the science classroom (Glynn & Muth, 2008).
Crisis of realism All young children scribble with gusto (Roland, 2006). However, around age nine or ten, as students move into upper elementary, many experience a “crisis of realism” because they begin to want to portray details, proportion, and more complicated poses, activities, and clothing (Roland, 2006, p. 11). Their abilities fall short of their expectations and they begin to show a reluctance to continue drawing. Many children decide they are not good at drawing and give up instead of continuing for the fun of it (Norris & Willems, 2009).
Students don’t know how to draw in a subject area Many teachers make the erroneous assumption that drawing is a skill students possess and can call on when needed in the content areas (Dotger & Walsh, 2014). Students lack critical understandings of technical drawing and therefore leave out key components of their inquiry in representations on paper. Science teachers must help students apply artistic learning in content classes. Since scientific modeling is not the same as artistic ability, teachers must assist students in the transfer of artistic learning into a new way to wield visual representations.
Positive Outcomes of Illustration Instruction Accurate observations To draw more accurately, students must observe more accurately (Dotger & Walsh, 2014). Glynn and Muth (2008) observed that student drawings became more accurate as students incorporated new learning and careful observations into their drawings. In their literature review on learner-generated drawing, Van Meter and Garner (2005) found that drawing is recommended as a strategy to improve accurate observations. Carlisle (2012) noticed that her students were better able to classify samples because they had practiced observing with a critical eye, noting minute similarities and differences. Accurate observation and documentation increased students’ ability to discover accurate results that led to valid conclusions.
Achievement Scientific illustration can have a positive effect on student achievement in the elementary classroom. Images express information differently than words and sentences alone, showing many aspects of an object at once and the relationship among items (Camacho et al., 2012). Modeling can be used to clarify thinking and express ideas (Baxter & Banko, 2018). It is fundamental to understanding an object or concept better (Camacho et al., 2012). It helps students make connections necessary for deep understanding of content and long-term retention (Baxter & Banko, 2018). Students may initially be likely to “interpret guesses and inferences as facts” but through careful observations and detailed depictions, they learn how to state, in words or pictures, only what they know and can prove (Porter et al., 2011). Finally, accurate drawing, the creation of scientific models, and explaining said drawings and models is a way for students to communicate the information they have learned (Baxter & Banko, 2018; Edens & Potter, 2003; Van Meter et al., 2005).
Content and Process Skills Scientific models hold a lot of content knowledge, beginning in the earliest grades and progressing from pictures and models to more abstract representations (NGSS, 2013). The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) name “Developing and Using Models” as the second of their eight science and engineering practices. According to the NGSS, models are used in science in four main ways: “to represent a system...to aid in the development of questions and explanations, to generate data that can be used to make predictions, and to communicate ideas to others” (NGSS, 2013, p. 6). Communicating ideas makes up the eighth practice on its own. When pertaining to students at younger ages or students with more limited English tools, models can be especially key to understanding content knowledge regardless of language. Children use visual clues in their drawing to distinguish important concepts (Huerta, Tong, Irby, & Lara-Aledo, 2016). Through drawing, students lay bare their content misconceptions at the start of a unit (Fello et al., 2007). Later, students must learn to modify their model to account for new evidence (NGSS, 2013).
Engagement Student engagement “refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning...which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn” (“Student engagement,” 2016, para. 1). As students work to draw and revise, they gain a sense of ownership in their work and accountability to their high expectations (Porter et al., 2011). Through their drawing and observing abilities, students become better equipped to do science and, as a result, feel more confident in their abilities (Carlisle, 2012). Students compare their pre- and post-assessment drawings and see the improvements they have made both in understanding and in conveying that understanding (Glynn & Muth, 2008).
Lesson 1: Introduction In this lesson, students will make an initial drawing to assess their current ability, misconceptions, and create a base for comparison later. Early sketches and later revisions serve as an impression of how student thought evolves and can also be motivating for students (Baxter & Banko, 2018; Glynn & Muth, 2008).
Lesson 2: Scientific is not Cute In this lesson, students will compare technical drawing and artistic interpretations. Technical drawing is a representation of a real object or idea that is simple, accurate, detailed and clear (Baxter & Banko, 2018). It can be a simple sketch that calls attention to the most important details of an object and “is not necessarily a beautiful or even realistic rendering of the subject” (Camacho et al., 2012, p. 69). Targeted instruction is necessary because without it, students tend to draw what they think an object should look like, not what it is (Porter et al., 2011). An example is changing the side view of an ant into a head-on smiling humanoid face, or changing a single butterfly wing into a symmetrical critter with a body and a happy face.
This lesson is taken almost directly from Camacho et al. (2012). They present their students with two versions of a drawn cat: an objectively “ugly” stick cat and an “adorable” cartoon cat. However, in parsing out the difference between the two drawings, students realize that the “ugly” stick cat is scientifically accurate and tells more about the details of a cat than the “adorable” cartoon cat. In this way, students come to see technical drawing as an important skill independent of artistic ability.
Lesson 3: Seeing Details I: Shape Lesson 4: Representing Color, Value, and Texture Lesson 5: Seeing Details II: Placement, Scale, Size, and Orientation These lessons teach basic techniques of drawing, including shape, color, value, texture, placement, scale, size, and orientation. There is much metacognition that goes into planning an accurate drawing (Baxter & Banko, 2018). A student must analyze the object and then go back and forth between the physical object and the 2D rendering to fully portray the object accurately. Judgments include how to color the object; represent size and shape; which parts to include or emphasize; and where to place different elements. Students must think about the scale and orientation of the drawing and include enough detail so that the drawing is recognizable as the object (Dotger & Walsh, 2014). These lessons address the elements of art (shape, texture, space, color, and value) as well as how to arrange drawings on the page. Baxter & Banko (2018) provide several tips which were incorporated into these lessons, including an emphasis on elements of art such as color, shading, blending, and texture; the suggestion that early drawings should be done as a class; and that students can plan their drawing by tracing their idea with a finger in the air before doing a light pencil drawing. Baxter & Banko (2018) and Camacho et al. (2012) both discuss breaking an object into basic shapes and providing tracing tools for students who want them. Camacho et al. (2012) state that pencil marks should be “loose, light, and layered” and have students work without erasers at first (p. 70). Porter et al. (2011) included some of the lesson pieces including paint strip color matching, value strips, and texture rubbings.
Lesson 6: Labels and Written Descriptions In this lesson, students will define and practice the skill of labeling or other written descriptions. Images and language work together to expand and inform the other and ideas can be better expressed through a combination of images and words than one alone (Baxter & Banko, 2018; Camacho et al., 2012). Images are especially important for beginning readers and English-Language Learners to access content (Baxter & Banko, 2018). “Graphics don’t replace the use of written and oral expression; they complement and enhance other modes of communication” (Minogue et al., 2010, p. 52). Science provides a “context-enriched setting for the learning of language structure and functions, and the expansion of students’ vocabulary” (Tong, Irby, Lara-Alecio, & Koch, 2014, p. 412). Reflection, whether written or oral, about what students have chosen to draw develops their capacities to express, understand, and assess ideas (Tong et al., 2014).
Some of the specific tips in this lesson come from Baxter & Banko, in particular about the arrangement of labels and using straight lines as connections. The authors also suggest giving students a chance to use new vocabulary verbally or casually before they commit to complete written sentences. Student communication throughout the drawing process is key as a viewpoint into multiple perspectives and as a tool to refine thinking.
Lesson 7: Two Versions of One Object In this lesson, students will draw an object from more than one perspective. To draw an object accurately from more than one perspective, students must observe more accurately (Dotger & Walsh, 2014). Drawing two perspectives will assist students in making choices about the scale and orientation of the illustrations. They will note minute similarities and differences to make their images distinct (Carlisle, 2012). This will also help students make choices about the elements of art, such as texture, when creating a close-up or seeing the object from a different angle (Baxter & Banko, 2018).
Lesson 8: Revision and Assessment In this lesson, students will choose their best drawing, revise it, and submit it for assessment. When students begin to think of drawing as a learning process rather than a final product, they are more likely to put in the effort to improve both their drawings and the understandings represented therein (Glynn & Muth, 2008). Drawings often begin as a simplistic rendering of an object or a concept, but with continued instruction, student drawings become more sophisticated as they learn more about the subject at hand. Students make their thinking visible to themselves while teachers can use the spectrum of drawings for assessment (Fello et al., 2017).
Misconceptions in student prior knowledge stand in the way of accurately learning new content because learners hold on to inaccurate mental models even when they conflict with scientific models, particularly when teachers teach science as a series of facts (Edens & Potter, 2003). Edens & Potter (2003) found that misconceptions were more likely to be corrected when students drew about a new concept instead of writing about it.
Conclusion Instruction in scientific modeling results in increased achievement by and engagement of students in the elementary science classroom. Modeling is considered part of doing real science and can encompass many representations of phenomena from accurate drawings to mathematical equations (NGSS, 2013). Technical drawing differs from artistic drawing because of its emphasis on accuracy over beauty (Baxter & Banko, 2018; Camacho et al., 2012). Effective science instruction uses modeling and revision to help students express ideas, lay bare misconceptions, and make careful observations (Dotger & Walsh, 2014; Edens & Potter, 2003; Glynn & Muth, 2008).Teachers should not assume that students bring accurate technical skills to science class, especially at the “crisis of realism” age around nine or ten when many stop drawing (Dotger & Walsh, 2014; Roland, 2006). Modeling leads to achievement in the three interrelated skills of academic language, science process skills, and scientific content; it also leads to higher student engagement because it increases ownership, confidence, and motivation (Carlisle, 2012; Glynn & Muth, 2008; Porter et al., 2011). Arts education is vital to student development in science. It develops academic language, science content and process skills, and student engagement. Elementary teachers must not assume that students come to them with confidence or ability in these skills. Therefore, teachers at the least can make drawing an everyday practice in their science classrooms and to go further, should also give targeted lessons on the elements of art that will help their students produce accurate scientific drawings and models. This will create competent and confident future scientists.