Introduction
Due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, social distancing and contactless lessons are making many students feel isolated from lack of interactions. In particular, many students with developmental disabilities are suffering from emotional disturbance in the current situation where there is not enough chance to have positive interactions due to lack of communication (Kim, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to study programs to support emotional stability of university students with developmental disabilities in the limited educational environment due to COVID-19. Thus, it may be meaningful to examine the potential of a botanical art and illustration coloring program as part of plant education that has a positive effect on university students with developmental disabilities in the emotional aspect and helps them understand and observe nature while keeping a certain distance for COVID-19 response guidelines. This is because the process of encountering plants is good for character education, teaching humans to value and care for life and live patiently with others (Jang et al., 2015).
Meanwhile, the term ‘botanical illustration’ originates from Western botanical art and illustration, which accurately observe and record the characteristics of plant species and depict them in a beautiful form; and this kind of program enables participants to clearly observe the characteristics of plant species by describing their realistic features in detail based on detailed observations, thereby resulting in effective plant education through art and illustration (Yi, 2016). Moreover, botanical art and illustration became systemized through the process of publishing botanical books when the ‘Royal Horticultural Society’ was founded in the UK in 1804, and the book called “RHS Plant Finder” offering the sources of over 80,000 plant species is published every year. In Korea, organizations such as the ‘Botanical Artist Society of Korea’ founded in 2007 and the ‘Korea Botanical Arts Cooperative (KBAC)’ founded in 2015 are carrying out activities related to botanical art, and Korea Forest Service even developed systematic education programs for the first time for academic purposes. This study operationally defined the botanical art and illustration coloring program as a set of activities to observe, understand, and color plants by selecting botanical illustrations considering the level of participants based on qualified botanical art data.
Coloring, which is the act of using a relatively simple tool to color certain sketches, has a positive effect on mental health by giving pleasure and satisfaction to participants as they stop thinking and concentrate on coloring (Song, 2016). Accordingly, coloring books have recently become popular, and this implies that people today have the desire to heal their exhausted self by relieving stress with a sense of achievement and engagement from coloring each illustration (Kim, 2016). In particular, botanical art and illustration coloring is repeatedly coloring the rough sketches of the natural shapes of plant materials, which helps recover the physical rhythm, relax the brains, dismiss distracting thoughts, and stabilize the mind. Therefore, botanical art and illustration coloring helps participants understand visually and perceptually the shapes and characteristics of plants that are the basis of plant education (Yi, 2016) and experience psychological engagement, sharing the same research background as the principles of art therapy that begins by separating oneself from worries or anxieties through engagement. Moreover, it is also based on theories such as the one by Japanese color psychology researcher Suenaga (2001) that “creative expression through colors helps activate the frontal lobes of the brain, discharge dopamine, and activates the right brain, thereby relaxing suppressed emotions and enabling emotional stability”. Therefore, the research question in this study is whether a botanical art and illustration coloring program can be effective in the emotional development of university students with developmental disabilities who have cognitive and emotional difficulties by observing and understanding plants in detail and coloring rough sketches that are already made instead of having to draw on a blank page.
Thus, the goal of this study is to statistically verify the detailed effects of the botanical art and illustration coloring program on the emotional development of university students with developmental disabilities and provide basic data necessary for suggesting the effectiveness of plant-related programs to support emotional stability of these students in this limited and rapidly changing educational environment.
Research Methods
Subjects and period
The subjects were undergraduate students in the specialized program for developmental disabilities at N University located in the C city. They received sufficient explanation about the purpose and meaning of this study before the program, after which they submitted a written form of consent along with their parents’ agreement. Class A, the experimental group, was comprised of 12 participants of a plant-related training class, and ultimately 10 students were selected as the experimental group excluding 2 students who dropped out for health reasons. Class B, the control group, was comprised of 14 students participating in a general theory-based class instead of the coloring program during the same time. The students were those who agreed to participate in the research and who hold a registration certificate for a person with a disability according to Article 32 of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. They have a borderline or mild developmental disability of Grade 3 and are chosen after passing the scholastic ability test developed by N University. Class A (experimental group) had 8 male and 2 female students, and Class B (control group) had 11 male and 3 female students. The average age of Class A was 20.3 and that of Class B was 20.8. The research was led by one main host who has a doctoral degree in horticulture and one assistant who has a master’s degree in rehabilitation.
Tool
Program design
This study designed a face-to-face program that can be carried out while following the COVID-19 response guidelines despite the restrictions on face-to-face lessons due to social distancing. The program consists of botanical art and illustration coloring activities to promote emotional development using plants as the medium, designed to be suitable for the participants. The differences between the experimental group and the control group were analyzed using the pretest-posttest design.
A focus group was formed with experts who have experience in educating adolescents with developmental disabilities to design the program. The focus group was comprised of one professor in horticulture in charge of education for developmental disabilities at N University, one high school art teacher with experience in carrying out programs for developmental disabilities, and one rehabilitation teacher at a welfare center for developmental disabilities. Professional opinions were collected and analyzed through focus group interviews (FGIs) in the planning stage to ensure objectivity of the program. Based on the interviews, plant education programs using botanical art and illustration, coloring activities, and art tools were reviewed from multiple angles, through which botanical art books were selected to meet the level of students with developmental disabilities attending N University.
The books of botanical illustrations were reviewed and selected as follows. Data were searched from “Botanical Art Coloring Book” by Young-ae Kwon in the Botanical Artist Society of Korea, “Easy Botanical Art” by Hae-ryeon Lee of the Korean Society of Botanical Artists, “Botanical Art” by Kew Publishing, “How to Be More Tree” by Liz Marvin, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew website http://www.kew.org/learn/library-art-archives/illustrations. Then, rough sketches of botanical art and illustration that meet the level of the experimental group, can help them understand the plant characteristics and lead them to coloring activities were chosen through focus group meetings, after which audiovisual materials and data related to plants were also selected.
Table 1 presents the goals of the program, details, and results of coloring the rough sketches of botanical art and illustration. The program consists of 8 sessions. For botanical art and illustration coloring activities, plant-related videos and actual plants are presented in the introduction (preparation) stage. The professor in charge of education for developmental disabilities explains the characteristics of each plant as well as images in each color considering the level of understanding the students have, followed by an explanation of how to use colored pencils for coloring. Students are seated at individual desks, and the professor or teaching assistant individually provides guidance to each student by communicating with them. The professor and teaching assistant form rapport by interacting and having conversations with students while coloring. In the conclusion (wrap-up and presentation) stage, the students share their feelings about coloring with other students and exchange feedback. They also present the completed drawings to others, take photos of them, and create a portfolio with those photos with the help of the teaching assistant.
In other words, in the introduction stage, videos and audiovisual materials about plants as well as real plants are presented to attract attention from the students, after which they are given rough sketches of plants. They color the sketches by looking at the real plants as well as photos so that they are less pressured about drawing from scratch. By choosing the colors and expressing them after looking at real plant photos, the students can make their own decisions in a liberal mood. The purpose is to help the students overcome the lack of self-determination, which is a character of developmental disabilities (Kim, 2017), and make their own decisions without depending on the teacher. The coloring time is set to about 30 minutes so that the students can reach the state of concentration and stability through engagement. For distracted students, the teacher can induce concentration by having a conversation with them.
The program is designed so that prior activities are carried out in the first period, and then the main activities in the second period in the order of introduction, development, and conclusion. The ecological characteristics of plants are explained by the main host professor in the introduction stage, observing the actual plants and explaining the cases in which plants are used while interacting with the students. In the development stage, the teacher and students are to maintain silence or have conversations quietly so that the students can concentrate on coloring to achieve internal control and stability in a quiet atmosphere. In the conclusion stage, the students are to speak about their feelings and thoughts about participating in the program. They are to take photos of their work and create a portfolio with the help of the teaching assistant to build relationships and interact with other students (Table 1).
Program implementation
This study was conducted in total 8 sessions once a week every Tuesday, 2 hours each from 2 to 4 p.m., at a lecture hall of the specialized program for developmental disabilities at N University, from April to June 2021.
The program was implemented as follows. In the prior activities of Stage 1, students formed rapport with the instructor and other students by having conversations from 2:00 to 2:50 p.m., after which they participate in plant search, presentations, and lesson about the basic theories on plants. After a 10-minute break, they proceeded with the main activities of Stage 2, where they listened to the explanation about how to color and use the materials, and then colored the rough sketches of botanical art and illustration. In Stage 3, they wrapped up the activities, shared their thoughts and feelings about the program, took photos, and organized files in the form of personal portfolios.
In Session 1, there was an introduction of each participant as well as the professor and the teaching assistant, after which the professor and the teacher conducted a pre-assessment on emotional state. In Sessions 1 and 2, the plant structures were explained, after which the students were to color fruits, leaves, and roots (Kwon, 2015), which are easy to color, using colored pencils. This reduced the pressure of having to draw from scratch.
In Session 3, the students were to color herbaceous flowers with relatively simple shapes such as Viola wittrockiana and Cosmos bipinnatus (Lee, 2016).
In Session 4, they were to choose whichever they want from bulb plants, such as Hippeastrum hybridum with a clear shape, Iris sanguinea in intense purple, and Calla palustris with a simple shape, and color the plant with a clear shape and bright color.
In Session 5, indoor and outdoor flowering plants were introduced. The unique formative characteristics of outdoor flowering plants such as Rose hybrida and Cyclamen persicum were explained, after which the students were to choose the plant they were interested in and concentrate on coloring them however they want.
In Session 6, the students colored the plants they chose on canvas using watercolors. They could either choose to color with watercolors or, if they are not comfortable with them, choose colored pencils to color on paper. They were to make their own decisions without depending on the teacher. The plant colored was Chrysanthemum morifolium or Tulipa gesneriana with a natural background.
In Session 7, the students searched and observed unique plant shapes such as Spathiphyllum, which is an indoor plant, or Oncidium spp., which is an orchid. They could choose the plant they want to color after seeing the photos of the actual plants. The program was carried out by presenting various materials to facilitate access and engagement while also giving them enough self-determination.
In Session 8, the completed works were put into a portfolio, and the portfolios were exhibited in the lecture hall, after which the students spoke about their thoughts and feelings of the program and communicated and interacted with others. Based on the above, an assessment was made on the changes in the elements of emotional development after the program.
Assessment tool and analysis method
Emotion assessment tool
The assessment scale used in this study was revised according to the purpose of this study based on the ‘Children’s Social and Emotional Development Assessment Scale’ developed by the Korea Institute for Research in the Behavioral Sciences and revised by Ji (1996) and the assessment scale developed by Jung (2013) for students with intellectual disabilities and by Park (2010) for students with developmental disabilities. The subfactors are comprised of non-dependence, internal control, interaction, stability, achievement motivation, and curiosity. The social and emotional development assessment scale was designed for professors and teachers for developmental disabilities to participate as assistants in the program, observe the behaviors of students with developmental disabilities, and rate the results on a five-point scale (1 point: ‘Strongly disagree’, 2 points: ‘Somewhat disagree’, 3 points: ‘Agree’, 4 points: ‘Somewhat agree’, 5 points: ‘Strongly agree’). The social and emotional development assessment scale was used to assess 4 subfactors suitable for this study such as non-dependence, internal control, interaction, and stability. There are total 40 items, 10 for each subfactor, and as a result of the reliability test of non-dependence, internal control, interaction, and stability, the specific details of Cronbach’s α are as shown in Table 2. In other words, all items show reliability over 0.6, thereby satisfying the confidence level.
Analysis method
The data collected were quantified into scores according to the scoring standard of the emotional development test and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0. As a result of the Koimogorov-Smimov test to test the normality of the two groups, the normality was proved and thus the parametric statistical method was used. The test for homogeneity of the two groups before the program was conducted using the independent t-test, and the paired t-test was conducted to analyze the significant difference before and after the program between the two groups. The reliability of the measurement tool is provided in Cronbach’s α coefficients.
Results and Discussion
Test for homogeneity between groups before the program
Table 3 shows the results of analysis using the t-test to test the homogeneity of the two groups (control group and experimental group), before the botanical art and illustration coloring program. In all of the sub-items for emotional development assessed in this study such as non-dependence (p = .175), interaction (p = .315), internal control (p = .070), and stability (p = .525), the p-value was greater than 0.05, indicating that there was no significant difference in the two groups. In other words, this study could be conducted as the control group and the experimental group were homogeneous.
Pretest and posttest within group
Prior to the analysis, a normality test was conducted since there were 10 subjects in the experimental group and 14 subjects in the control group, which was a small population. Normality was proved as a result in the Koimogorov-Smimov test, with p = .200 (p > .05) for the experimental group and p = .191 (p > .05) for the control group. Therefore, a paired t-test could be conducted. Changes in the emotional development of the control group and experimental group were examined after the botanical art and illustration coloring program. The results of analyzing the 4 subdomains such as non-dependence, interaction, internal control, and stability using the paired t-test are as follows. There was no significant difference in all of non-dependence (p = .143), interaction (p = .789), internal control (p = .534), and stability (p = .885) for the control group. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference in all subdomains such as non-dependence (p = .033), interaction (p = .029), internal control (p = .017), and stability (p = .000) for the experimental group. In other words, participating in the botanical art and illustration coloring program had positive effects in all subdomains of emotional development of students with developmental disabilities.
Non-dependence
The pretest and posttest mean score of non-dependence as a subdomain of emotional development decreased from 28.3 to 27.2 in the control group, whereas it increased from 23.2 to 27.6 in the experimental group (Table 4). Kim (2016) reported that students with developmental disabilities, who generally feel pressured about drawing, can create relatively high-quality and satisfactory work with little energy and unskillful hands by coloring on rough sketches without depending on the teacher. This supports the effect of the botanical art and illustration coloring program that has a relatively less pressure on the students as they can color freely instead of depending on the teacher.
Interaction
For interaction, the control group showed almost no change from 29.2 to 29.1, but the experimental group showed a significant increase from 27.9 to 30.6 (Table 5). This increase in interaction is in line with the study by Song (2016) that the self-expressive function of art activities can help participants communicate with the outside world, increase emotional functions by expressing their suppressed feelings and emotions, achieve cognitive development by observing and expressing the surrounding environment, and form interpersonal relations (Song, 2016). In other words, even students with developmental disabilities that face difficulty in verbal self-expression and are not familiar with interaction could naturally communicate and interact with others through coloring activities. This is in line with the study (Jang, 2019) that programs using plants are effective in forming sociality. The results of this study are also supported by Kim (2017) that plant-mediated activities contribute to vocational rehabilitation by resolving the issue of insufficient communication, which is a characteristic of developmental disabilities.
Internal control
For internal control, the control group showed almost no change from 32.5 to 32.1, but the experimental group showed a remarkable increase from 28.5 to 33.5 (Table 6). Internal control is the ability to adequately control one’s actions and order according to internalized rules even when there are no subjects of external control. In other words, internal control allows participants to concentrate and be calm about themselves, gain power from their core, and obtain a creative and active attitude of learning with greater ego strength (Hwang, 2019). The results of internal control effect are supported by Kim (2016) that botanical art and illustration coloring relieves psychological stress, enables more enthusiastic self-expression, helps promote internalization, stimulates the peripheral nerves by using hands, brings a good energy to emotions with biorhythm by repeatedly moving the fingers, and promotes expressiveness and creativity. There were many cases in which students with developmental disabilities were impulsive or lacked concentration in various situations, thereby showing problem behavior, but as they concentrated in the program in a generally quiet atmosphere, they could control their emotions and achieve internal control.
Stability
For stability, there was not much change in the control group from 30.7 to 30.8, but the experimental group showed the greatest improvement among all subdomains from 28.7 to 41.5 (Table 7). This remarkable increase in stability is in line with the result of the study (Yoo, 2004) proving that the state of psychological engagement appears in coloring activities and makes the participants stop thinking and concentrate and engage in the act of coloring, which has a positive effect on mental health by bringing joy and satisfaction. This is also consistent with the result of the study (Yoo, 2004) that, by coloring repeatedly to complete botanical art and illustration coloring, the participants can regain their biorhythms and relax their brains, being rid of the distracting thoughts and becoming mentally stabilized in the experience of engagement, which is effective in terms of psychological and instructional aspects. In other words, this supports how coloring had an effect on turning the negative emotion of instability, which is a characteristic of developmental disabilities, into stability. Moreover, with many studies reporting that merely watching the natural landscape makes one psychologically stable (Jang, 2019), the results of this study can be supported by the effects of plant-mediated activities on mental stability (Lee et al., 2019).
Conclusion
This study examined the effects of botanical art and illustration coloring activities on the subfactors of emotional development in university students with developmental disabilities. The results of examining the pretest and posttest changes in emotional development of the control group and experimental group are as follows.
The experimental group that participated in the program showed a statistically significant difference in all 4 sub-domains such as non-dependence (p = .033), interaction (p = .029), internal control (p = .017), and stability (p = .000). However, the control group that did not participate in the program showed no statistically significant difference in the 4 subdomains of emotional development such as non-dependence (p = .143), interaction (p = .789), internal control (p = .534), and stability (p = .885).
In other words, as a result of operationally defining coloring activities that involve both understanding and observation of plants as a botanical art and illustration coloring program and designing and implementing the program, this study statistically proved that the program had a significantly positive effect on all of the subdomains of emotional development such as non-dependence, interaction, internal control, and stability of university students with developmental disabilities suffering from a sense of isolation and depression due to COVID-19.
Therefore, coloring activities meet the needs of people today that are exhausted in everyday life, since they are more accessible than other art activities and have an excellent ability to relieve stress through concentration with a sense of achievement and engagement (Kim, 2016). This phenomenon also appeared equally in students with developmental disabilities. This implies that problem behaviors caused by impulsiveness or lack of concentration, which are some of the characteristics of developmental disabilities, can be resolved by emotional maturity such as improved internal control or stability.
Therefore, even though this study revealed the effects of the botanical art and illustration coloring program on the emotions of students with developmental disabilities, a comparative study on coloring other materials must be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of coloring based on understanding and observation of plant materials. The effects of botanical art and illustration coloring can be clearly revealed then, which is why a follow-up study is required. Meanwhile, this study has a few limitations, such as the limited survey that failed to sufficiently reflect the internal variables of the assessors. In addition, the survey was conducted on students with developmental disabilities attending just N University, and thus the results cannot be generalized to all individuals with developmental disabilities who each have a strong character of their own. In particular, the results are from the limited survey period of just 8 sessions due to the continuous restrictions on the educational environment. Thus, it is necessary to conduct a longitudinal study that can be applied to various subjects for a long period of time.
In conclusion, the results of this study are expected to be used as the basic data for use of the botanical art and illustration coloring as plant education that supports emotional stability of students with developmental disabilities while also keeping a certain distance in the changed educational environment of the rapidly changing era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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