Dr. Debra DeWitte

Today, we are spotlighting The University of Texas at Arlington professor, Dr. Debra J. Dewitte. She was a 2013 Faculty Research Grant Recipient for her proposal, “Assessment of Technological Tools to Support Studies in the Visual Arts.” We are thrilled to share her findings in her research and thank her for participating in our Faculty Research Grant Program. Below is the purpose of the study along with a link to the full report.

Introduction

The purpose of the AP grant was to test Voicethread as an alternative to the Wikispace within Blackboard for group discussions and projects. My courses are designed for students to do an assignment (written or the making of art), then have discussions with fellow students about the assignment, then produce a group project that takes their findings further. Thus, it is critical that a technical tool support these efforts rather than be a cumbersome learning challenge that makes doing the work for the class difficult. This report is filled with experiential observations from testing Voicethread in a visual heavy class of over 200 students.

Click here for the final report, “Assessment of Technological Tools to Support Studies in the Visual Arts.”

About the Principal Investigator

Debra J. DeWitte is an art historian whose specialty is late nineteenth-century Paris. She has taught Art History and Art Appreciation courses at University of Texas at Arlington since 2003, and is coauthor of the textbook Gateways to Art.