Table 6.

Student reflections on the art project from metacognitive journals: coded themes and representative quotes

Theme, code words	% including theme in response	Representative quotes
Theme 1: The project involved analysis and synthesis (breaking a problem down into parts and then synthesizing an answer).
break into parts, analyze, put back together, synthesize, evaluate	68	“The synthesis of the information you gathered from your observations then happens partly on the spot, while you’re hot in discussion with your lab partners; whereas a huge chunk of it also happens when you’re at home and trying to write the essay, while you’re deep in thoughts trying to understand and make sense of the details of the painting. Finally, writing up the essay is when you evaluate the strength[s] and weaknesses of your synthesis, and try to piece all the information together to form a general idea/theme on the picture. To me, finishing an essay through such a process is a very rewarding process, which was something I have never done before, especially not in Biology class.”
Theme 2: The project nurtured students’ ability to convey and defend ideas.
words, communicate, express, discuss, describe, defend, speculate, discussion, justify, explain, critique, support, make claims	36	“This assignment also forced me to develop a hypothesis from a rather abstract concept, and strongly defend this idea with evidence found within the paintings.”
Theme 3: The project prompted students to observe carefully (before jumping to interpretation), leading to new or deeper insights.
observe, study, scrutinize, observation, look deeply	36	“I think that the museum project did a really great job teaching us to first find clues and then start to defend your reasoning … I think my tendency was to jump straight to conclusions when I looked at a piece of art, perhaps taking a small visual piece of the art with me to defend myself. But by listing what I could see, I was able to start putting the pieces together more effectively.”
Theme 4: The project prompted the making of connections.
a. our, we, together, group	36	“Working in a group has also been enlightening, as synergistic thoughts can emerge from discussion of perplexing problems.”
b. bridging, linking, interconnecting, integrate, link	23	“Through integrating art with science, I can apply what I know about both of those things to better my understanding of the other. I can look at science creatively and art analytically.”
Theme 5: The project was valuable and relevant.
apply, application, real-life, relevant, relative, valuable, rewarding	32	“At the beginning of the semester, when I first heard that we were going to be doing some of our labs in the art museum, I was confused. I had difficulty understanding how looking at works of art could enhance my knowledge of physiology. After the first lab period, I found my ideas about physiology expanding. I began to realize that physiological concepts could be applied to almost anything in life that deals with the human body. For me, it was a huge breakthrough in my thinking to finally be able to use the ideas that I had learned in a science class to better the world around me.”
Theme 6: The project interested students.
enjoy, amazing, inspire, captivating	27	“Working together to develop a concept of what was happening, both emotionally and physiologically, in the prints led to one of the more interesting and exciting projects of the semester.”
Theme 7: The project was hard.
frustrating, challenging, uncertainty, had trouble	23	“Something that most frustrated me (and later inspired me) in this class was the level of subjectivity that we would sometimes encounter. More specifically, I’m referring to the visual analysis and the art museum visits we would take.”
Theme 8: The project called for creativity.
creativity, creative, new, construct	14	“Not only did this project require higher thinking skills but also artistic creativity.”