Contribution of art to higher education students’ social and emotional learning

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to reveal the contribution of art to the social and emotional learning of higher education students, who are interested in arts during their university life, and their perceptions about this contribution. In this qualitative study based on the semi-structured interview method, the participants were selected from among undergraduate students who took at least two elective art courses at a state university in Istanbul. The ages of the participants ranged from 20 to 38. Interviews were held online within the framework of COVID-19 pandemic measures. During the interviews, demographic information was collected first; then, the interview questions were directed and the information about the participants' art experiences was collected within the framework of the components of social and emotional learning. The information obtained from the interviews was analyzed by the thematic analysis method. According to the findings of the study, the elective art courses that the participants took during their undergraduate education provided individual and social contributions such as self-awareness, self-confidence, self discipline, inner peace, inner motivation, social awareness, adaptation, and socialization. In addition, it has been observed that it has contributed to determining new career goals and having a better academic life. The analyses underline that art is an important learning tool and reveal that it contributes to the social and emotional learning of higher education students.