Abstract
Learning is an important ‘task-conscious process’ that help changes in behaviour (or potential for change). In other words, learning is seen as an outcome - the ‘end product’ of some process. The ‘Simon Says Syndrome’ term was coined based on observation where teachers provide little learning for students other than the experience of doing. This resulted in students being apt at following instructions rather than exploring the process of learning. This paper also argues that ‘Simon Says Syndrome’ may be defined or reflected from the set of conventional practices and systems for teaching (or learning) especially within the art and design context; which ways and methods of teaching for the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills are through the application of sequencing and memorising of instruction as a skill. The art and design field need students to acquire problem solving skills, which tends to require a much higher level of perfection to represent and solve problems. The danger of “Simon says Syndrome” also lies in the learnability and acquisition of principles in development of ideas. This is evidence in Malaysian classroom, where it is common for the art and design teachers to offer students suggestions or solutions by memorising and imitating techniques and examples of artwork from the books. This paper discusses on issues concerning teaching and learning experiences in art and design in Malaysia.
Keywords
Art and Design, Teaching and learning experiences, learning activities, behaviour
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.101
Citation
Mustafa, M., Backer, M.B., Shafii, A.H.,and Zainal, A.(2013) Simon Says Syndrome in Art and Design Education, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.101
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Simon Says Syndrome in Art and Design Education
Learning is an important ‘task-conscious process’ that help changes in behaviour (or potential for change). In other words, learning is seen as an outcome - the ‘end product’ of some process. The ‘Simon Says Syndrome’ term was coined based on observation where teachers provide little learning for students other than the experience of doing. This resulted in students being apt at following instructions rather than exploring the process of learning. This paper also argues that ‘Simon Says Syndrome’ may be defined or reflected from the set of conventional practices and systems for teaching (or learning) especially within the art and design context; which ways and methods of teaching for the acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills are through the application of sequencing and memorising of instruction as a skill. The art and design field need students to acquire problem solving skills, which tends to require a much higher level of perfection to represent and solve problems. The danger of “Simon says Syndrome” also lies in the learnability and acquisition of principles in development of ideas. This is evidence in Malaysian classroom, where it is common for the art and design teachers to offer students suggestions or solutions by memorising and imitating techniques and examples of artwork from the books. This paper discusses on issues concerning teaching and learning experiences in art and design in Malaysia.