Recent years have shown a huge push for art teachers to incorporate math and data into their already jam-packed curriculum. While we may sigh in exasperation of having to do “one more thing,” many art teachers manage to link math and science ideas to their art curriculum while staying true to their artistic purpose.
Whether it is through an in-depth exploration of math concepts through perspective drawing, or a quick data visualization exercise, students benefit from seeing the arts used in many different settings. We all know that the arts are important in so many areas, not just strictly Art. Seeing the world through an artists’ point of view is a vital skill we should be teaching our students, one that promotes creative thinking and problem solving.
Do you utilize math and data visualization in your classroom? How? Why or why not?
In addition, if any art teachers are engaging their students in creating data visualizations, please contact Dr. Joy Bertling at jbertlin@utk.edu. She would love to talk to you about your experiences for a research project.
