Breaking Down the Barriers to Student Success

Academic language and the process of art making can be confusing and even scary for many undergraduate students. Apprehension and a lack of background knowledge in art can become a barrier to learning. In order to help students overcome this fear, I had to find a way to decode and demystify the art studio course. Making studio art courses more transparent using the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework can have a tremendous impact on student success. When paired with qualitative data, TILT leads to authentic and revolutionary teaching. My goal is to share what I have learned and to give other instructors the tools that they need to build more bridges to student success.