Investigating the Innovation Indicators in Evaluation of Art Lesson in Elementary School Curriculum and Their Application

One of the necessities of innovating in the curriculum process is that educational institutions, by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities available, design different curricula in a particular field. In today's age of competition and innovation and the creation of knowledge-based approaches for marketing, the role of art lessons in facilitating entrepreneurship is far greater. As a result, educational institutions should rethink their curricula to fit new indicators of curricula and institutionalize them in educational processes to compensate for the damage caused by neglecting of art lessons at various stages. In this regard, improving the quality of the evaluation process in art curricula provides the basis for improving learners' skills. Evaluation is a stage in investigation process in which the work is measured on the basis of individual standards. Given the valuable place of art in school curricula, the design and development of desirable curricula for this valuable knowledge has an extraordinary sensitivity that can only be achieved through enlightened evaluation. In the present study we would like to answer the following questions: 1) What are the innovation indicators in “evaluation of art lesson”? 2) To what extent do academic members apply the innovation indicators in evaluation of art lesson”? 3) Are there any differences among students’ perspectives in “applying the innovation indicators in evaluation of art lesson” with regard to demographic variables (sex, level of education, Faculty)? The present research benefits from analytical-descriptive and surveying method. Depending on the theme of the research, two qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed in performing the different sections of this research work. Qualitative method was used to collect information from specialists and authorities in education while quantitative method was employed to collect information from elementary teachers.  The population in this research work consists of two sections: A) the authorities and high-ranking experts in art education at the national and international level form the qualitative section of the population in this research work. Nineteen authorities in education who were the sample of this research, were interviewed in a semi-structured manner.  B) The elementary teachers of Isfahan formed the population of the quantitative section of this research work. The initial sampling method for the selection of the authorities and experts in art education in this research work was targeted. In addition to targeted sampling, network-sampling method was also used during the interviews. A semi-structured interview and a researcher-made questionnaire were used in this research work. The researcher interviewed the authorities to acquire their views. The validity of the interview form was investigated and confirmed by those who examined the validity of the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire form was examined by three experts knowledgeable in the qualitative research methods. They studied the summery of the issues and determined the categories by the use of the triangulation method. To determine the content validity of the two tools of interview and questionnaire, the views of 12 academic members of the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Isfahan University and who enjoyed the required specialty were employed. The Cronbach’s Alpha was used to estimate the reliability and internal correlation of the questionnaire questions. The most important indicators of innovation in the evaluation of art curricula are the views of faculty and art education experts at national and international level. These include: 1) Innovation in the field of conceptualization (evaluation, interpretation, and understanding) of art, evaluation of art perception, the process of art production at the individual and collective level, providing an overview of artworks and creations, evaluating the ability to critique artworks according to national and transnational standards, balanced attention to cognitive, emotional and psychological-motor skills in learners’ assessment, knowledge-based assessment 2) Advanced skills (Know-How) learning approach and evaluation for learning in the arts, applying innovative approaches to artistic appraisal (self-evaluation, observation, team exercises) and emphasizing on aesthetic skills of students.