Visual method was used to conduct a simple research with a group of fifteen 3 and 4 year-old students at the H.E.S Early Childhood program where I work as an afternoon assistant as well as a substitute teacher.

The research question : How are the children in the Green room  are transported to school. This question was relevant to the model in which the classroom teacher had been teaching the children were familiar with the subject and therefore quite eager to participate in the project. Their teacher had merely created a chart and made tally next to pictures of the various means discussed.

Practice

The children were given sheets of paper and crayons. I asked them to draw pictures of their mommies, daddies, grandparents, friends, or relatives who take them to school. The yelled out, grandpa, my mommy, my sister, etc, and I encouraged them to make pictures of their means.

Observations

In their own artistic ways, the children drew pictures of themselves, walking, riding in a car, or taking the bus to school with a family member or someone else. They used yellow for the school bus, for example, or blue and white for the MTA. They also depicted the colors of the cars they rode in, and the clothing their parents wear. After some time most of the children were distracted by his/her classmates’ art and began to copy similar features that they thought their pictures should also have. At the end of the exercise, only 2 of the 15 students had a single means of transportation in their artwork.

This visual method was chosen because I believe that this method would be most enjoyable for the children’s participation and suitable for their age group.

Expectations

In utilizing this method, I was concerned that I would have a bit of trouble interpreting the drawings., with the classroom teacher present, she encouraged the children to “make very nice pictures for Ms. Sharni”, so I had little difficulty reading their art but it may be argued that  the teacher’s presence may have impacted the children’s creativity.

Data Sample

.© H.E.S Kids art

Pictures are used with the permission of parents

I would consider using this method in my own research project, given the relevance of the research topic to this data collection method.

For the group project, this method may not be suitable in obtaining and interpreting qualitative information on sexual behaviors of teens on social media; Facebook.