There are three important objectives to be kept in mind in the use of illustrative materials. They are—
1. To arouse interest. For this purpose pertinent materials should be arranged attractively on the bulletin board or screen or placed in some conspicuous part of the classroom. These particular pieces should be changed very frequently. See Figure 2, [page 8].
2. To assist in solving problems in the development of the principle. The teacher will need to use clear and concise illustrative materials for this purpose. Since these pieces of illustrative material are usually held up before the class, it is necessary that they be of such size that all of the pupils can see them clearly. In addition, the class should be so arranged that all members have equal opportunity for observing them and handling them.
3. To assist in developing judgment ability. Materials for this purpose will be used in two ways: (1) As an aid in solving judgment problems given to the class. In this case some pieces will be used by the group as a whole and others will be passed out to individual pupils. (2) As a means of further developing powers of discrimination and judgment. For this pupils are asked to make selections and arrangements from a large number of articles and materials.
In using illustrative material it is often advisable to have examples of both the good and the poor. When this is true, one must remember to finish with the good. In other words, start with the poor and contrast with the good; or start with the good, contrast with the poor, and then go back to the good.
Illustrative materials can not serve such purposes successfully unless they are so arranged as to be easily accessible for class use. For example, the small fabric sample mounted fast to a sheet of paper can not be examined adequately for texture study. It would be far better to have larger samples which are unmounted, thus making possible not only design, color, and texture study of them, but also many variations in combinations.
The bulletin board and screen, well placed, offer good possibilities for accessibility of certain illustrative material which does not need to be handled. The screen is preferable because it can be moved around and placed to the best advantage for vision and light.
To the extent that pupils have contact and experience with real articles and materials, there will be a better carry over and thus a greater ability to solve everyday art problems successfully.