Can art teachers assume the role of art museum curators and construct an online exhibition to facilitate student learning? How should teachers be prepared to adopt such a ‘teacher-curator’ pedagogy? Can the thematic approach and presentation of exhibitions broaden students’ horizons in considering artworks? Will learning through virtual exhibitions increase students’ motivation to learn and improve their skills in using online resources? What will be the effectiveness and impact of this way of conceptualising, organising and constructing visual arts learning opportunities? The aim of the proposed study is to answer the above questions using a design-based research.

Engaging students in art criticism and art making activities is the major work of visual arts teachers. With access to the free online resources provided by art museum websites and image-based electronic databases, teachers are now in a better position to make use of artworks in planning and delivering their curriculum. The following questions arise: Can art teachers assume the role of art museum curators and construct an online exhibition to facilitate student learning? How should teachers be prepared to adopt such a ‘teacher-curator’ pedagogy? Can the thematic approach and presentation of exhibitions broaden students’ horizons in considering artworks? Will learning through virtual exhibitions increase students’ motivation to learn and improve their skills in using online resources? What will be the effectiveness and impact of this way of conceptualising, organising and constructing visual arts learning opportunities? The aim of the proposed study is to answer the above questions using a design-based research. Three primary and three secondary school teachers and their students (about 165) will be invited to participate. The first phase of the study will focus on the training of teacher participants in the teacher-curator pedagogy. The second phase is the implementation stage. With the support of the investigator, the teacher participants will develop two virtual exhibitions and relevant face-to-face, museum visit and online learning activities. The third phase is the evaluation stage. Data on the impact and effectiveness of the teacher-curator pedagogy will be collected through student and teacher questionnaires and interviews. The study will be conducted in the particular cultural context of Hong Kong. Museum+, the new museum of visual culture, is scheduled to open in 2020, and the renovated Hong Kong Museum of Art will re-open in late 2019. Besides having state-of-the-art facilities, we would like to see members of our society become regular museum visitors and be culturally literate. By actively using artworks from museums to teach, the study will help to build up a critical audience for the cultural establishments in Hong Kong in the long term. Through the formulation of exhibition themes, the selection of connected artworks and the design of relevant learning activities, the study will enhance the autonomy and capacity of teachers. With a focus on using digital technology, the results of the study will contribute to developing an effective pedagogical practice in general and one that promotes online learning in visual arts in particular.