Drawing as an Opportunity to Assess Meaningful Learning in College Students

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of a qualitative study conducted by researchers from the Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla, Colombia) and the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México with postgraduate students in education at a Colombian university on the use of drawings as a means of assessing meaningful learning. The combination of drawing and rubrics as means of assessment constitutes a promising tool for assessing meaningful learning, in terms of the potential of drawing to help make explicit and reflect on prior knowledge, and of rubrics as a means of feedback. The research confirms that the use of drawing at two moments—at the beginning and at the end of the course—allows for explicit information to contrast previous knowledge with the significant learning that the student constructs during a course.