Online courses tend to become text-heavy and monotonous. Here's an example to demonstrate how to incorporate visual arts to discussions. A great technique to battle boredom.
Discussion - Journey of the Universe Artwork
Context: Journey of the Universe is visually rich, and sometimes conceptually difficult - it’s a challenge to get one’s head around the notion of the birth of a star, for instance. Oftentimes, creating works of art around the subjects we are studying can help us to understand a topic more deeply than can writing and reading alone.
Task: Take an image or scene from Journey of the Universe that you found particularly moving, or that made a big impression on you (positive or negative), and complete the following steps.
Draw that image or scene on your own blank piece of paper (you may choose the size of your drawing and your use of color in it, but please create your image on a sheet of paper that is at least 8x10 large).
Scan or take a photograph of that image, and upload it to your post in the Discussion Forum.
In the post you create, please also offer a description of your art work, as well as a brief reflection on how drawing the image helped you to understand the concept in perhaps a different or a deeper way.
NOTE: If you prefer another mode of art work, you may also paint your picture, etc. If you truly do not enjoy or feel that you have any ability at drawing/painting, you may create a poem of the image or scene, as poetry is another form of artistic expression that can help you deeply to explore and understand a topic. However, you are encouraged to draw or otherwise create an art work, as you will not be graded on your artistry, nor on the strength or accuracy of your representation of the image or scene you selected. This assignment is not about your artistic ability; rather, it was designed around the notion that the very act of creation-by-hand can be useful for learning! If you have any questions about this assignment, please email your instructor.
Delivery: Please post your drawing (or other art work or poem), and your brief reflection on it, to the questions in the Week 2 Discussion Forum. Read, view, and respond to the postings of at least two classmates.
Source: HU475 Week 2
