The Problem: A Negative Artist’s Mindset
Many people who enjoy drawing as children eventually stop doing it, for many reasons. They’re “not good” at it. They compare themselves to others. And what they draw doesn’t live up to what they envision.
The issue with this perfectionist mindset is that too much value is placed on the end-result, the artwork, and not enough value is assigned to positive experience of putting pen to paper.
Any solution must involve changing that mindset, but that kind of change is difficult to make.
The Solution: A Habit-Building eLearning Module
The core of this module is a simple exercise I designed while working in special education to address my students’ difficulties and discouragement with art. That said, this kind of art insecurity is quite common for all kinds of people, and I’ve certainly experienced it myself. Therefore, I wanted to design a module that could help the lesson reach anyone who might need it.
The real value of the exercise is its repetition.
Because the goal here is the change of behaviors and beliefs, the exercise must be done repeatedly over time to form a positive habit of drawing for the sake of the process rather than worrying about the result. It’s not enough to do the exercise once, so the module must both introduce the exercise, and convey its value as a practice to continue over time.
What I Made: Three Kinds of Content
This module contains three components to support the exercise.
A digital comic scenario, drawn in a simple ink style to evoke loose sketching, showing a scenario of a student struggling with perfectionism in their own art.
Conversational content slides that contextualize the issue and solution. These slides ensure the learner understands the value of the exercise, and why they should continue with the exercise after the module ends.
The exercise itself. The exercise slide both keeps time for the student’s work while also displaying an active example of the exercise being done.
Tools Used
- Articulate Storyline
- The slide deck was used for arranging the slides, and was also well suited for the digital comic.
- The timeline tool was used for making the exercise timer.
- Procreate Art Software
- The digital comic scenarios were designed utilizing re-usable layers for static elements and character expressions.
- The example exercise footage used in the timer was captured in Procreate with the iPad’s screen-recording functionality.
- Lumafusion Video Editor
- The exercise footage was cropped and the image size trimmed to fit the aspect ratio of the Articulate project.
Can An eLearning Module Fix Perfectionism?
No, it can’t.
In The Accidental Instructional Designer, author Cammy Bean says that changing attitudes and mindsets is a difficult goal for eLearning to solve. She’s correct, and this module alone is not sufficient for remedying a perfectionist mindset. However, it can be a valuable tool on the tool belt.
A lesson doesn’t change a mindset, but it can start a habit that does.
That’s why the module stresses the value of repetition and practice. This module can also be further supported by group practice and discussion.
This lesson is not enough to address perfectionism. But it can start the student moving in the right direction.