Using the contemplative teaching method to enhance the awareness of the aesthetic experience of second-year students majoring in early childhood

Abstract

     The objective of this study was to examine the effects of using contemplative teaching to enhance the awareness of the aesthetic experience of second-year students majoring in early childhood education. The sample consisted of 17 students enrolled in the course 2717213 Arts, Music, and Movement for the Young Children, offered in the second se­ mester of the 2015 academic year. The research design was the BABA approach, comprising four phases: the first treatment period (BJ) using the contemplative teaching method; the first baseline period (A1) using the lecturing method; the second treatment period (B2 ) using the contemplative teaching method; and the second baseline period (A2) using the lecturing method. Eleven lesson plans, each of which lasted 3 h were designed and executed. There were three sets of research tools-an evaluation form of aesthetic expe­ rience awareness, an evaluation form of course content and a semi-structured interview form. The students were asked to do the first two sets before, between, and after the experiment, while the interview form was carried out at the end of the experiment. The quantitative data were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, percentage, and a matched paired t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings were as follows: 1) After the experiment, the students' mean score of aesthetic experience awareness and their mean score of aesthetic experience concepts were higher with a statistical significance of .01; 2) The students agreed that there were three learning outcomes-attitude toward young children, attitude toward themselves, and attitude toward aesthetic experience.