Post 3: The Leonardo Effect

There is a long standing debate about whether the arts and the sciences are separate disciplines, with opposing methodologies and different aims. The arts are often perceived as being predominantly creative in nature while science is often seen as mechanical and methodical with little room for artistic expression. However many professionals who work in a scientific field argue that creativity is a major part of and is essential for scientific enquiry.

John Dewey: ‘Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of the imagination.’ (Naiman, 1999)               

This was a hot topic in a discussion during a lecture:

These words are specifically about science and the words that we decided were associated with creativity were mainly to do with specific artistic disciplines like music, drama and painting. Initially we didn’t see the relationship between these two but it didn’t take long to make the connection.

The Leonardo effect is a creative educational method which brings creativity into the sciences. It is very much child led and allows a huge amount of freedom to explore. It is described as a synchronised integration of science and art, which can transform the learning experience for pupils and teachers and motivate disengaged students. (The Leonardo Effect, 2011) 

The Leonardo Effect is a four stage method starting with discussion and leading to pupils asking questions about general topics; this directs the rest of the process. Next pupils use their questions to lead their research and are not confined by rigid subject boundaries, the pupils are free to explore and find answers through a variety of mediums utilising many learning styles. Once the research has been conducted pupils take what they have learnt and present it in a creative manner which reinforces the learning. Lastly the pupils reflect on the learning by communicating to other class members and teachers enabling other groups to benefit from the information discovered.

Two seminar sessions were spent on putting the Leonardo Effect into practice ourselves. The class was split into four groups and we were each given a basic element; earth, air, fire and water. This was the only teacher direction that was given. As a group we brainstormed lots of key words and questions about fire:

We narrowed our investigation to some key questions, Caren and I investigated the following:

What is needed for a fire?

What are the temperatures of different colours of flame?

We scoured the internet using mainly educational sites such as BBC bite size to gather our information.

We presented our findings to the rest of the seminar group using a diagram of the fire triangle which shows the elements necessary to start and maintain a fire and we used cue cards that had a colour written on one side and were flipped to show the chemical that burns that colour and the temperature of a flame of that colour.

The Leonardo Effect takes a unique approach to previously rigid subject and opens up boundaries between topics. It allows children to direct their learning which increases motivation and participation, especially in previously disengaged pupils. I do like the idea of the Leonardo effect due to the autonomy it allows pupils. However I feel that at a primary school level this method could lead to a certain degree of chaos and distraction. Young pupils choosing their own research questions and investigating using their chosen methods has the potential to lead to unproductive behaviours and children going completely off topic and not actually achieving any worthwhile research aims or having a meaningful learning experience. The process would need to be adapted depending on the age of the group to avoid negative behaviours such as aimlessly browsing the internet and research questions that have little educational value.