TEACHING CRITICAL THINKING IN THE DIGITAL ERA THROUGH VISUAL ART: A HIGHER EDUCATION PERSPECTIVE

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Critical thinking is an essential skill that college and postsecondary graduates are expected to demonstrate. Instructors often look to improve their methodologies in teaching this skill, especially in relation to perpetually changing technology. The purpose of this study was to recognize the influence of the digital era on the development of critical thinking skills among visual art students from the perspective of instructors so that teaching methods can be adjusted to improve student learning. By asking open-ended questions of 10 instructors in one-on-one interviews, this phenomenological study identified challenges and innovations in methodology that address complex applied critical thinking. Questions were asked about how students are taught to think critically, how digital technology has influenced the teaching of visual art, and what the influence of the digital era looks like in the artwork that students create. It was discovered that instructors continue to rely heavily on critique as a method for both teaching and assessing critical thinking; instructors assign projects that include physical and digital materials so that students master and engage in multiple modalities; the Internet and video are used as primary resources for research; and instructors take it as their responsibility to encourage a critical lens of discontent within their students. Future research that investigates multidisciplinary learning groups across diverse cross-sections of student demographics would provide additional valuable information that would benefit educators.