The Artistic Characteristics of Drawings by Sixth-Grade Primary Students and Their Relationship to Academic Achievement

Abstract

The primary school stage constitutes a fundamental basis for the development of a child's intellectual abilities. Therefore, this stage should be studied more extensively in light of several variables that may contribute to identifying the requirements of childhood. Accordingly, the present study aimed to identify the artistic characteristics of drawings produced by sixth-grade primary school pupils with high and low academic achievement, as well as to determine the relationship between artistic characteristics and academic achievement among sixth-grade primary school pupils according to the two variables of gender and academic achievement.

The study consisted of four chapters, as follows:

Chapter One: This chapter addressed the research problem, its significance and the need for it, followed by the research objectives, scope, and definitions of its terminology.

Chapter Two: This chapter included the theoretical framework and previous studies. The theoretical framework focused on artistic expression among children aged 12 years.

Chapter Three: This chapter dealt with the research procedures. The researcher presented the study population, sample, and research instrument, as well as the procedures for establishing its validity and reliability. The research data were then subjected to statistical analysis.

Chapter Four: This chapter presented the research findings, the most important of which were as follows:

1. Statistically significant differences were found at the significance level of 0.05, with one degree of freedom, in the characteristic of “distorted static form”, which emerged as a distinctive feature of male pupils with high academic achievement. The calculated chi-square value was 7.07, which was higher than the tabulated value.

2. Statistically significant differences were found between male and female pupils with high academic achievement in the characteristic of “rigid line”, which emerged as a distinctive feature of male pupils with high academic achievement, at the significance level of 0.05 and with one degree of freedom. The calculated chi-square value was 6.45, which was higher than the tabulated value.

In light of these findings, the researcher drew the following conclusions:

1. Female pupils demonstrate a degree of distinctiveness in their artistic characteristics, despite variations in academic achievement.

2. Environmental openness among male pupils results in greater variation in artistic characteristics, both positively and negatively, compared with female pupils.

Accordingly, the researcher recommended making use of drawing tests to identify children's personalities and investigate their psychological dimensions.