Comparing Intangible Cultural Heritage-Based and Traditional Aesthetic Education: Effects on University Students' Aesthetic Experience

A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was adopted to compare the effects of intangible cultural heritage integrated into the Aesthetic Education course (ICH-AE) and traditional Aesthetic Education on university students’ aesthetic experience. Integrating Aesthetic Experience Theory and Flow Theory, this study recruited 540 students across 18 intact classes, with nine classes assigned to each group. The experimental group received ICH-integrated teaching featuring Chinese Opera, Shadow puppetry, and Tie-dyeing, while the control group followed conventional art appreciation instruction. Sequential Multilevel Linear Models (null model, single-level model, two-level nested model) with REML estimation were constructed to analyze repeated nested data. Results showed a negligible class-level clustering effect (ICC = 0.0035). The significant main effect of Time ((p<.001) verified that aesthetic education generally improved students’ aesthetic experience (Hypothesis 1). The non-significant Group main effect confirmed balanced baseline levels, whereas the significant Group × Time interaction (p<.001) indicated the experimental group achieved a far larger score gain (0.292 and 0.086), supporting Hypothesis 2. Model robustness tests confirmed consistent intervention effects regardless of random structure specifications. This study demonstrates that ICH serves as a participatory, multisensory aesthetic resource rather than mere cultural content; its immersive learning conditions facilitate deep engagement and superior aesthetic growth. Theoretical implications for experiential Aesthetic Education and limitations for future replication are discussed.

Intangible Cultural Heritage; Aesthetic Education; aesthetic experience; Flow theory; Multilevel Linear Model; quasi-experiment

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