Vikiru, George2013-08-122013-08-122013-08-12http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6948Various studies have suggested that Information Communication Technology (ICT)-based solutions, such as animation, can be used for effective communication between the artist and the audience. This study sought to verify this recommendation by evaluating the effectiveness of 2-D animation, an ICT based form of art, in communicating with the children solutions to specified problems concerning proper hygiene practice in Githurai Location, Kiambu County, Kenya. Four objectives were consequently drawn. The first sought to establish the level of utilization of animation as a medium of communication in Kenya. The results, obtained through interviews with interviewees who use animation, were in the affirmative as they indicated factors that were being utilized in widening the application of the technology in the country. The second objective, through questionnaires responded to by teachers of the study area, sought to determine the hygiene needs in the study area that could be communicated using animation. The third objective drew a co-relation between the Artist‟s Intention (AI) and Audience Interpretation (AIP) by relating the concerns of the process and quality of the developed animations by the animator, targeted audience and art critics. The final objective evaluated the effectiveness of 2-D animation in communicating solutions to the problems that concerned poor hygiene. Data that was based on the six ranges of thinking skills as spelt out in the Bloom‟s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives of the Cognitive Domain, the pupil‟s gender and aptitude were obtained after comparing the test results of pupils who had been tested with animations against those who had not. The data was analyzed using independent t-tests and a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). These findings showed a significant difference between the experimental group that had been treated with the animation over the control group that had not (t (292) =5.031, p ˂ 0.001). They also indicated a significant difference in all the thinking skills (except evaluation) for the experimental against the control group. The third observation was that, though there was a significant difference for either gender before and after exposure to the 2-D animations, the treatment was more effective for girls than for boys (t (138) = -2.393, p = 0.018). This view was true for all thinking skills under study except evaluation. The last conclusion drawn from the study was that the exposure to the animations was subservient to the aptitude of the pupil: test results indicated an improvement in scores for all the pupils who had viewed the animations, with the mean score differences being most significant for pupils of aptitude „A‟ (M=95.40), followed by aptitude B (90.21) then aptitude C (78.89). Arising from these findings, two recommendations were drawn. The first advocates for increased utilization of 2-D animation in programmes that offer solutions for social development. The second is a proposal of a new model that brings together all indicators necessary for effective communication, using 2-D animation, between artists and their audience. Finally, implications for the application of this technology together with a proposal of areas of further research are provided. These new areas arose from the quantitative questions raised by the qualitative data that had been obtained.LB 1028.5.K4V5enThesis