No abstract

This study examines two aspects of teaching with a project-based learning (PBL) model in higher education settings: faculty definitions of PBL and faculty PBL practices, as evidenced by their self-described successes and challenges in implementation. Faculty participants took "a leap of faith" in their teaching practices to redefine what it means to teach and learn using PBL as an instructional methodology. The findings provide insight into how faculty conceptualization of PBL drives implementation; how the PBL approach challenges college-level teachers; and how instructors' perceptions of their own role in the PBL process impacts how they implement PBL.

We examined two ways in which art-making may function to elevate mood-venting (expressing negative feelings) and distraction (expressing something unrelated to the negative feelings). In Study 1 we induced a negative mood in participants by showing them a sad film clip and then assigned them to one of two conditions. In the venting condition they were asked to draw something related to the film; in the distraction condition they were asked to draw an image unrelated to the film (a house). In Study 2 we induced a negative mood by asking participants to think of the saddest event they had experienced and then assigned them to one of three conditions: venting, distraction, and sitting-a new condition in which participants just sat quietly. This latter condition allowed us to assess the effect of passage of time. In both studies, positive and negative affect were measured before and after the assigned activity. In both studies, mood improved significantly more in the distraction than in the venting or sitting condition. We argue that the mood elevating effects of art-making are stronger when art is used to distract than when used to vent.