The history of Chinese porcelain as a type of decorative and applied art through the prism of centuries in the pedagogical aspect

Abstract

The history of Chinese porcelain is a unique phenomenon of world culture, combining technology, philosophy, and aesthetics over thousands of years. It is not only decorative and applied art but also a synthesis of material and spiritual culture, serving as a tool of cultural exchange, diplomacy, and status demonstration. Studying this topic in a pedagogical context makes it possible to develop in students not only specialized knowledge but also a holistic understanding of cultural interconnections. However, traditional teaching methods often boil down to the passive transmission of facts, which reduces motivation and fails to reveal the depth of the subject. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for innovative models integrating interdisciplinary aspects chemistry, physics, history, cultural studies to foster critical thinking and creativity. The aim is to conduct a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of traditional and project-based approaches to studying the history of Chinese porcelain in university settings, in order to develop methodological recommendations. The research was conducted at the Faculty of Arts of a leading humanities university over the course of a semester, involving 130 third-year students divided into a control group CG, 65 people and an experimental group EG, 65 people. Both groups studied the course History of Decorative and Applied Arts of China. The CG used a lecture-seminar model with presentations, independent reading, and a fact and attribution-focused exam. The EG implemented a project-based model fewer lectures, group projects by historical periods e.g., Tang dynasty sancai porcelain, virtual tours, clay workshops, and debates. Assessment included project defenses, portfolios, and essays. Methods observation, questionnaires motivation, content analysis, pre and post-testing, statistics in SPSS Students t-test, Pearson correlation. The results showed the superiority of the EG knowledge gain of 116,77 percent compared to 50,54 percent in the CG, average post-test score of 82,19 against 57,43, p 0.001, and lower standard deviation 6,21 versus 12,88. Questionnaires revealed higher motivation in the EG 4,83 versus 2,41, activity 4,67 versus 2,88, and satisfaction 4,91 versus 3,12. Content analysis of final projects average score of 89,54 in the EG versus 61,72, with 78,46 percent of works containing deep symbolic analysis versus 15,38 percent. Correlation between engagement and results in the EG was r 0,86 p 0.001, in the CG r 0.19 p 0.05. The discussion confirms that the project-based approach ensures not only fact retention but also deep contextual understanding, motivation, and creative skills. The traditional model leads to superficial knowledge, whereas the innovative one creates synergy between cognitive and affective aspects. The results stress the need to transition to active methods in art studies to develop competencies and respect for cultural heritage. This makes it possible to turn the study of porcelain into a tool for personal development, reflecting the evolution from Shang proto-porcelain to the masterpieces of the Ming and Qing dynasties.