Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 28 Number 5

Edited by Diane McGrath

Volume 28 Number 5 Summer 1996

What do Freehand and Computer-Facilitated Drawings Tell Teachers About the Children Who Drew Them? Data–Case Reports Myerson, Richards

University of Texas at Austin

Case Report: James Myerson

Created with a Touch- Sensitive Graphics Tablet	Created with  Logo Commands	Created with  Handheld Tools

James Myerson is ten years old and in the fifth grade. If he were to describe himself to a new group of classmates, James would tell them that he likes Science, "discussing things," meeting new people and seeing new places. His mother described him as "a very special child," and added that James is well aware of this. He excels in scholastic performance, gets along well with his peers, is very honest, quite assertive and self- confident ("He knows his place...[but] would fight for his cause...when he's right."), does not easily admit when he is wrong, is quite competitive in academics, not that able in sports and fine arts, and, although he began reading at the age of eighteen months, and named numbers before that, his mother does not think that he is academically talented.

I do not think he is talented. He's just better than the rest of my other kids. But I don't know how he compares to American kids in terms of talents because sometimes you could be very good in grades, like you bring straight A's, [but] I don't know how that really sums up as talented. You could be very diligent in that you read a lot of stuff and you're doing your homework on time. I mean you listen to a teacher and you're getting good grades. Actually, James has not done anything to prove that he is talented so far.

Mrs. Myerson spent much of the interview explaining her family's cultural differences, and how they have impacted upon the formation of James' personality. She said that she and her husband moved to America from an Eastern country twenty years ago, but that they strictly maintain the religious, dietary, and familial customs of their native land here in America. She felt that James' heritage must be taken into consideration when trying to understand him as a person. I ask the reader to follow her good advice, and to remember that this may be why some of Mrs. Myerson's sentence structures may seem unusual.

Mrs. Myerson also emphasized that James is an unusually physically attractive child in comparison to the other members of his family. She included these physical attributes in her explanation of James' uniqueness.

So from the very beginning of all of it he was of better [taller] height and [heavier] weight, and ...he was very rosy when he was first born. I mean he was very different-looking than all of the rest of our clan. He was a very special child.

James is the type that does need to be challenged, but not to the extent where he's going to not do his work [if not properly challenged]. He will do whatever is set forth for him to do.

[t]hat he would make a good partner for a project; that he would be good to work with in any situation; that he would be good to help if you ever had a problem and needed to have some help from one of the students.

sometimes...he needed to relax a little bit. He was a little--I think he would get so involved in his work that he would almost get a little nervous about it.

Mrs. Myerson did not mention this aspect of James' character, but James himself said that thinking about upcoming tests, work deadlines, and other such academic pressures make him a bit nervous. He described how he uses recess time "to relax...to get all of the tension off my mind." James does this by completely clearing his mind; he says that he can do this "if [he] really think[s he] can."

James named his favorite school subject as "definitely Science." He is especially interested in learning about the natural environment. He also mentioned architecture as a special interest, even though he does not get an opportunity to learn about it formally in school. His mother mentioned this proclivity also, and attirbuted James' interest in building design to his extremely close relationship with his father, who is a professional architect. When pressed for other subjects that he enjoys in school, James mentioned Social Studies because "it's intersting learning about the different communities, the other countries, and different cultures." His teacher also named Science and Social Studies as James' favorite school subjects, and specifically mentioned James' fascination with other cultures. She, like James, said that he prefers to informally interview people from other countries and cultures rather than read the information in books or magazines.

Ms. Patterson added that James enjoys both using the "scientific method" as it is applied in classroom science experiments, and investigating unexplained phenomena (i.e., dinosaurs, fossils, and life on other planets) in a more content-emphasized manner. James named learning content as the reason that he chooses Science as his favorite subject, but later said how much he enjoys doing Science experiments. Interestingly, Mrs. Myerson feels that James likes all of his school subjects the same, having no favorites, but enjoying everything that he does in school equally.

James' teacher later mentioned that James enjoys Math, especially the difficult "challenge problems" that she would occasionally put on the blackboard for the children to solve. She said that James would attempt every problem in earnest, getting the answer correct more times than many of his classmates. Yet when James was asked what his least favorite school subjects were, he unhesitatingly named Math. Why?

Because there's only one answer to Math, and if you do one step wrong, the whole problem can be wrong.

James went on to explain that he likes subjects where there are lots of right answers. He qualified his comments by saying that he still finds Math interesting, but that it is just his "least favorite out of all the subjects." Ms. Patterson felt that if James disliked anything that his class had studied in fourth grade, then it must have been Handwriting, Spelling, and/or Grammar. She felt that the practice exercises in these subjects must have been monotonous for a child as bright as James. James made no mention of any feelings such as these.

James, Mrs. Myerson, and Ms. Patterson showed remarkable agreement when they named James' favorite activities. All mentioned doing Science experiments, interviewing people from other cultures and countries, discussing topics of academic interest, and playing board games, such as Monopoly, chess, and Trivial Pursuit. James explained that he enjoys any type of learning activity that involves working with classmates. Ms. Patterson also felt that James has a special talent and interest in creative writing. Mrs. Myerson attributed James' choices to those activities which brought him extra credit for grades in school or put him "in the spotlight" in comparison with the rest of the class. James and his teacher did not mention anything that would match or imply this perception of motivation.

James, his mother and his teacher also agreed that James does his homework promptly and well, and that he accepts this unquestioningly as one of his responsibilities as a student. James did express some frustration in having what he perceived to be a lot of homework to do, and no time provided in class to begin. He generally feels that he is learning as he is doing his home assignments, and therefore said that he "liked homework," but objected to homework that was only review of something already learned.

...if there's no point--if you're just writing and there's no point, you're just wasting your time if you're not [learning] anything.

Ms. Patterson said that all of the students in James' class complained about the amount of homework given, but that she didn't specifically remember James speaking out on the topic. Mrs. Myerson attributed James' disciplined approach to homework to her father, who lives with the family, and having once been a strict high school principal, insists that James does his homework each day as soon as he returns home from school.

James' descriptions of his problem-solving process were remarkably well-abstracted and clearly stated for a child his age.

[F]irst of all I try to find the different ways I can solve [the problem] and I get to understand the problem. Then I think of the different ways to solve [it], and then I pick the one that's probably the best and usually the easiest way to solve it. Like there's some problems [in which] you can convert like five steps into one step....And then after I solve it one way or another, I go back and check it. But like when I'm on a timed test I don't check it right after I'm finished; first I finish all of [the problems], and if I have time I go back and check it.

Well...the first problem that I've ever solved, I don't remember, but I was probably real bad at it because I didn't understand it. But this might sound...kind of wierd, but it's kind of like experience. If you read a lot of problems, you notice that you solve a lot of them the same way... And so I just think about which way would be the best, because if I run into a problem that uses the same strategy,...I would go with that strategy... [I]f I find a harder way that will get me the exact answer, I'll go for that one. It's not like--I mean, I care a lot whether my answer is right, [more] than if it's easy [to get] or not.

Mrs. Myerson mentioned this concern about arriving at the right answer, also. She said that James will become quite troubled if he does not know how to solve a problem, asking for personal assistance or a trip to the 122

library to use reference materials to help him to figure out the answer, instead of going back to school with a problem left undone.

Ms. Patterson described James' problem-solving process in a similar manner to that of James' self- report. She said that he normally chooses a strategy that he has previously been taught, and enjoys discussing the problem-solving process itself in reference to a particular challenge on which the class worked. She also said that he prefers to do as much of his work mentally as possible, but uses paper and pencil when necessary to think, and certainly to record his steps in just the manner that his teacher requires for submission of his work. To that end, Ms. Patterson called James a perfectionist; he takes more time than many of his classmates to work on problems, and becomes distressed if he gets any answers incorrect.

Interpersonal Relations. James said that he likes all of his teachers, and hopes that they like him, too.

My teachers, they're real nice and I've liked all of them, and if they ever scold me or anything I know it's for my own good because...if they didn't I would be so out-of-whack about everything.

He...was never, ever, argumentative to the point of being rude or anything like that. He definitely wanted to know why, but he did it in a polite way. And I have no objections to that at all. We got along beautifully. As far as his other teachers... nothing was ever said that would be derogatory at all.

James feels that a lot of his classmates were "real nice," and he enjoys talking to them, being with them, and playing with them. His mother says that James is "a typical kid" with other children, that he prefers their company to being left alone, and that he gets along very well with all children, but that that is the normal way that children relate to each other. Ms. Patterson described James as an empathetic, sensitive friend to his classmates, who works well in groups, but who can get overbearing at times, wanting to always take on leadership roles. He does this well in academic situations, but since he isn't as talented in sports as in schoolwork, he seems to stay in smaller groups at recess and play more sedentary games than large-group sports.

James said that he likes his whole family, but that "sometimes I get kind of angry at [my parents] because I don't think my punishment was fair." He went on to explain that he is sure that they always make the right decisions, and that "it's just natural" to feel angry when being punished. James complained a bit about his little sister being "a pain," (his mother said that they "fight like cats and dogs") but then went on to say that he knows that his older brother probably feels the same way about him. Mrs. Myerson described a very close relationship between James and his grandmother, whom she credited with most of James' early upbringing. James apparently worried his parents about his emotional health when his grandmother had a heart attack; he was very worried that she would die. Ms. Patterson did not mention any apparent friction between James and his family members from her perspective as his teacher. She described his relationships with his family as "very close and open."

Classic Anecdotes. Ms. Patterson told a story that communicated James' meticulous work habits, displayed in the writing and revision of a creative story that he was going to enter into a district-wide competition.

He was such a perfectionist. He just took so much time with the writing, with each sentence. We would go through...three drafts, and by the third draft, [the class would be doing] the final draft; it was four drafts if you look at the final draft, and the 125 final draft just took him longer. He had to come back to school in the afternoon and work for a couple of days to finish it up....[H]e was very slow with the illustrations...and then he had to come up with a cover...and cut out the letters....That's not an easy task, because we had asked our students to cut letters free-hand. I had patterns, but they had to cut them from felt for the title on the outside. That was very time-consuming....[O]f course, he was a winner for his story and so in the end it was worth it....[I]t was a beautiful story.

...in second grade, once he told me..."You know what, I was bullied today in [the] cafeteria, and I think it went very well." And I said "What did you do; you did not get in a fight, did you?" And he said, "No, it didn't come to that, but I would have done that." And I said, "No, you wouldn't. Don't fight with anybody...no fist fighting or anything." He said, "No, he was calling me--asking me to fight with him. He said, 'Come on, put them up, put them up,' and I looked at him [and said] 'I'm not going to do that,' and he challenged me...'Why? Are you scared?' And that boy started to make the sounds of a chicken...and I just looked at him and I said, 'That's funny. You are calling me a chicken, but you're the one who sounds like one. So that proves that not only [are you] stuck on yourself, but you are also stupid.'" And when he said that I felt fantastic, because not only had he avoided a very volatile situation very nicely, he had also proved that you don't have to really put up physical force in telling somebody that they are wrong.

Viewer Conjectures. Of the 55 comments that were offered in response to James' three pictures, 7 described aspects of his emotional and interpersonal personality patterns, 13 suggested intellectual attributes, 2 supposed school subject preferences, and 26 detailed aspects of his school work habits. James' freehand, graphics tablet and Logo pictures revealed his maturity, rigidity, self- trust, balanced perspective, and friendly and subtle nature to five teachers. Only two teachers suggested a school subject preference (Math), and both did this when looking at James' Logo picture. Three teachers saw James as "bright" and "a good student" when viewing his freehand and Logo pictures. Two suggested that he was "not very creative" when looking at his graphics tablet picture, but two others called him "creative" and "imaginative" when regarding his Logo and freehand pictures.

All but 7 of the comments offered about James' work habits depicted him as "neat," "organized," "very exact," "a planner," "persistant," "methodical," "very careful," "concerned about small details," "uncluttered," "precise," and "concerned about small details." These comments were relatively evenly distributed in number (7 freehand, 5 graphics tablet, 7 Logo) across the three media that James used to create the images that so clearly reflected this dimension of his personality.

Overall, James was one of the two artists in the study whose pictures inspired the highest percentage of viewer-supplied comments that agreed with interview data.

Case Report: Sid Richards

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Sid: Not really. I might mention that I have the LD [learning disability].

Interviewer: But you're not sure that you would mention that?

Sid: Yeah. My mom would probably mention that before I got the chance.

He might not appear it; he sometimes is the class clown. But probably to hide the sensitivity.

I try not to dwell on it; neither does my husband; but it's hard. He comes home with C's, and occasional D's, and he says, "No big deal". And I'm ready to seethe. And he [says], "I think you're being extremely hard on me."...But it really does not bother him at all. And when other kids have the honor roll, and names on the board and everything, he couldn't give a rip...I think he feels...he's learning what he needs to learn, and he's not picking up on the fact that there's lots of things he has to learn whether he wants to or not.

...he's a very sensitive and caring child, and so being with him makes me feel good. And therefore, we're more prone to hav[ing] fun. It's even fun just running errands with him because [of] his observations about things. He's never hateful... He might make a comment about what [someone is] doing, or maybe what [they're] wearing; that type of thing. He might say, "I don't think I'd put that particular outfit together," but [won't be] cruel about that person. He's just fun.

Ms. Crenshaw, Sid's fourth-grade teacher, described him in much the same way that his mother did; "extremely bright, needs to be challenged, prefers to do things verbally as opposed to written." She pointed out that Sid needs to have high goals set for him, and that he would perform to those heights if expected to do so. She added that Sid "has a great deal to share with the class," will get into mischief if left too long on his own, does well with structured activities, and needs a lot of stroking. Mrs. Richards also stressed how well Sid responds to public praise. Both women also mentioned that they felt that Sid has innate leadership qualities, but that he doesn't express them consistently, often falling instead into the role of "class clown."

Ms. Crenshaw expressed some good-natured frustration similar in form to Mrs. Richards' when she described how Sid "gets into trouble."

You know, he is a sweet kid, and he does these silly little things that you want to choke him for, but he is [sweet]. You couldn't be mad at him for bery long. You just couldn't...he was just endearing.

He's not very structured. He's disorganized, and he can't ever find anything in his desk. You know, it's just like, Sid might have it, but he doesn't know where it is. So he doesn't go through things one through three, but just kind of fiddles with things. To see how it works, and if it doesn't work, [he'll] try something else. Kind of likes to do it that way. (Ms. Crenshaw)

Academics. Sid's favorite school subjects are Math and Science, because "[he'd] like to be a marine biologist, and that's what [he'll] need." (Sid) He enjoys the challenge of Math (such as working with large-number computations and solving word problem puzzles) and the content of Science (such as biology and marine life). Sid said that he likes the process of solving problems more than he likes getting the right answer; his teacher offered a similar appraisal. His mother recognized Sid's enjoyment of process, but felt that getting the right answer was fairly important to Sid. She, like Sid, felt that Math and Science are favorites of Sid's, and added Reading.

Ms. Crenshaw mentioned Reading, Science, some aspects of Math, and perhaps Social Studies as Sid's favorite subjects. Mrs. Richards felt that Social Studies is perhaps Sid's least favorite subject. Sid said that it is Language that he dislikes. Both named the same reason for his distaste: writing. Sid finds it uncomfortable and boring to write for long periods of time. He expressed it as not wanting to copy from a book or the blackboard; his mother felt that his small-motor coordination and language processing problem cause the reticence to write any more than is absolutely necessary. His teacher named Handwriting, Spelling, and the arithmetic aspects of Math as Sid's least favorite school subjects for the same reasons.

Sid's favorite activities are fishing (because "it gives you a lot of time to sit there and talk with whoever you're fishing with"), reading, taking care of animals, and exploring the creek in his neighborhood. His mother also mentioned a love for reading and playing in the neighborhood with the children who live there. Ms. Crenshaw named reading, discussing, and doing art projects as among Sid's favorite activities, as well as doing book reports, which is another that his mother noted. Both adults spoke about a family trip that Sid took to California, where he was able to visit several marine life displays, and which cemented his resolve to become a marine biologist.

Sid does not like to do homework, but he will do the home assignments given to him with some prodding from school and home. When asked to explain what about homework he finds so distasteful, Sid replied, "...writing 20 long sentences on the night that I have a baseball game". Mrs. Richards expressed the same reasoning when she said that homework "takes his time. He'd rather be reading, riding his bike, [or] hanging out with the guys." Both Sid's mother and Sid's teacher emphasized that Sid is most disorganized about his homework; he may have completed it on a particular day, but then may forget to hand it in unless directly reminded. When asked for her perspective on Sid's homework habits, his teacher exclaimed,

Oh, someone said, "When they ask you that, Ms. Crenshaw, what are you going to say?" And I said, "Well, he's working on that [homework]." Always try to be positive.

Ms. Crenshaw described most of Sid's homework as "sort of adequate and it might be very messy."

When asked to describe his problem-solving process, Sid said that he reads problems that he tries to solve carefully, and many times each, writing down whatever information he can glean from the problem. He continues,

I keep doing that until I cannot get anything more out of the clues. Then, if it's hard, I start guessing.

Sid's mother described a similar process, without the element of writing down information from the problem to assist soluton-seeking. She also emphasized that Sid prefers to solve problems collaboratively with classmates, and will rarely, if ever, consult a reference book to assist his efforts. Ms. Crenshaw also said that she thought "he was more of a thinker, not a writer." She added that Sid does not solve problems in the sequential, logical manner in which the fourth-graders were taught solve problems. In her eyes, he especially does not go back after solving problems and check his work. Sid said that he checks most problems once or twice, unless he is rushed for time. Ms. Crenshaw felt that the reticence to go back over his work is caused by his reluctance to write out the sequential steps of his problem-solving process.

Interpersonal Relations. Sid likes his teachers "basically as friends," but is not sure how they feel about him. He especially likes teachers who are "real wierd" and whose rooms are decorated in unusual ways. Mrs. Richards described Sid's relationships with his teachers as "[going] a little bit beyond the professional, because everyone has just seemed to really click into his personality and the things that he has to offer."

All of them have seemed to really sincerely liked him and [were] interested in him and care[d] about him. They all have exhibited frustrations [about his work habits].

He would bring you little presents, or just, you know, whenever you'd speak to him, it was "Yes, ma'am," eyes lowered, very respectful, very mannerly, very polite. I don't know. He endeared, even as devilish as he could be. He would endear himself to you very easily.

Ms. Crenshaw said that she could never stay angry with Sid, because he never seems to do anything with deliberate malice, and he so wants to please his teachers. She is very fond of Sid, but feels that Sid does not regard her as a friend.

Sid plays with both boys and girls, but his four closest friends are boys. He likes spending time with friends in his room, talking about animals (especially his favorite, the thresher shark), feeding his fish, or playing Nintendo; or outside, riding bicycles and "hanging out together." To make a friend, Sid

...will start off trying to make friends with them. If that doesn't work, [I] try again in a couple of days. Repeat that for a little while. Usually I make friends with them after the first couple of tries. But if that doesn't work, I'd just be friendly and play with them if they want to. If they don't, I'll just play with somebody else.

Sid finds himself doing and talking about things that his friends prefer more often than he chooses activities or topics. This is how he prefers to behave in his friendships.

In his mother's eyes, Sid's sensitivity to others, his caring, and his loyalty make him a good friend. She noted that he has a lot of friends, and is willing to participate in large-group games and activities, but that he prefers to spend most of his time with a few very close friends, talking, walking, and exploring together. Ms. Crenshaw also noticed that Sid prefers smaller groups of friends to larger ones. She noted, in particular, another boy who is "very bright and a very nervous type," who is a friend of Sid's, and with whom Sid often gets into mischief.

I had to keep them apart on field trips....we [went] to [a town]; we [went] to [an historic house], and they were touching the antiques! And running ahead of the group, and not listening. I had to get after Sid and this other little boy several times, to the point where I was holding the children's hands. "This is it;" you know, "if you guys don't straighten up you're never going on another field trip in your [lives]! 'Cause, I thought, these things have survived hundreds of years and these kids go...and bump into it. Sid straightened up. He knew that I'd had it and that I was gonna put them on the bus with that busdriver and he was not gonna [sic] have any more fun. But the other boy had a harder time accepting that...

...he surprises me and he will say wonderful things to her and compliment her, and then other times he will say horrible things to her and tell her how awful she looks. I know a lot of that is natural, but they're not close. Although I think they both want to be.

Ms. Crenshaw also mentioned the family's extensive involvement with animals and Sid's sometimes-rocky relationship with his sister. She added that she felt that Mrs. Richards "catered" to Sid somewhat.

Classic Anecdotes. Ms. Crenshaw told many delightful "Sid stories" during her interview. One seemed to particularly communicate the special nature of her relationship with him.

I don't know if it was the best thing to do, [but] he was over there reading as usual, and I was at my desk doing something, grading papers, I think, and this happened with a spelling test...he'd gotten them all right or something. It was like, [I thought,] "Wow! Sid, you got them all right!" ...And I [said,] "Sid Richards, come to my desk!" real sternly. So, of course he got that little sheepish look, walks over to my desk and I said, "Sid, did you study for this test?" Just like that! My voice was still quiet; the kids didn't hear it. He's got his head down, and says, "Yes, ma'am, I really studied. I tried really hard." And I'm going, this big smile comes on my face, and I said, "Well, it shows; you got them all right!"...[He was smiling] just ear to ear, you know!

We were visiting my parents in Florida at Christmas time. We had gone to a restaurant to eat brunch, and as part of the brunch, you could get champagne or mimosas...and he was in a highchair, next to my mother, who thought that this child hung the moon. It was her firstborn grandchild and they were extremely close....And the waitress had no way of knowing that this child was already talking in full sentences and she asked him if he would like some more juice, and he said "I'd love some," and she said "well, okay," and my mother held out her champagne glass (she was drinking champagne), and said, "I'd like some more juice, too, please." And Sid looked at the waitress with his very knowing look, and said, "Actually, it's wine." And the poor lady almost dropped. She really did. She almost dropped everything. And my mother was so horrified because this little kid was showing her up and she said, "If you want to get technical, it's champagne." He just laughed; he thought that was funny.

Viewer Conjectures Of the 62 comments that viewing teachers wrote in response to Sid's artwork, 11 dealt with emotional attributes, 4 addressed interpersonal relations, 16 described intellectual characteristics, 7 specified school subject preference or talent, and 20 delineated school work habits. Freehand, graphics tablet, and Logo pictures suggested personal descriptors such as "immature," "restless" (2 teachers), "impatient," "wild," "easily satisfied," "bold" and "adventuresome" to viewing teachers. Interpersonally, Sid was seen as "easy to get along with" and "touchy-feely," but "aggressive" (2 teachers). Three of the four interpersonal comments were stimulated by Sid's graphics tablet picture.

Eleven viewer conjectures described Sid as a "divergent thinker," "very artsy," "exploratory," "willing to make mistakes," and "happy with new ideas." The adjective "creative" was used in five comments. Interestingly, all of these intuitions were inspired by Sid's graphics tablet and Logo pictures. His freehand drawing told Teacher I that he had "very little imagination" and Teacher G that he was a "daydreamer." Teacher A was the only observer to deduce the "poor motor skills" that Sid's mother and teacher mentioned.

Sid's freehand drawing told two teachers of his interest in science, his Logo picture suggested a "Math preference" to two other teachers, and his graphics tablet creation implied an interest in Art to Teacher H. His work habits, as implied by his artwork as it appeared to the viewing teachers, were similar in character to the intellectual characteristics described above. Two teachers saw impulsivity in his freehand and graphics tablet creations, and four intuited a preference for exploratory, hands-on learning by looking at his graphics tablet and Logo pictures. Two teachers suggested that Sid is not interested in detail by looking at his freehand picture, and two others supposed that he finishes work quickly, even to the point of rushing, by looking at his graphics tablet and Logo pictures. Teacher G felt that Sid was "disorganized" and "not a planner."

Sid's pictures inspired the highest percentage of viewer comments that agreed with interview data (76%) and the lowest percentage of teacher conjectures that disagreed with interview data (16%).

Copyright © 1996, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.