PhD Oral Exam - Bettina Forget, Art Education

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation examines how integrating science and the arts can recalibrate how students imagine, understand, and participate in scientific inquiry, while creating entry points for learners who may feel alienated from STEM, especially girls. Imagine Aliens engaged students ages 6 to 13 in three Montreal schools in designing alien planets, imagining extraterrestrial life, and producing artworks that brought their worlds to life. A custom website and a deck of prompt cards acted as enabling constraints, providing scientific information about exoplanets and astrobiology.

Using Design-Based Research, the curriculum was iteratively developed and refined across classrooms. Three findings emerged. First, students’ initial ideas were strongly influenced by popular culture. However, scientific constraints prompted students to question familiar tropes and develop more idiosyncratic concepts. The resulting artworks functioned as sites of learning through which scientific ideas were explored and communicated. Second, students often used gendered motifs and colour palettes, yet girl-coded aesthetics did not indicate lower STEM engagement but created an access ramp for girls into science. Collaboration was most effective when limited to shared science research and ideation, while the creative art-making processes remained individual. Third, classroom practice revealed “subject inertia,” where expectations about what science or art should look like shaped engagement and hindered integration across disciplinary settings. Effective transdisciplinary learning depended on sociomaterial environments, teacher collaboration, and institutional support.

This research generated insights into shows how art and science curricula can foster engagement, support gender equity in STEM, and contribute to theories of transdisciplinary teaching and learning.