When teaching in the visual arts there must be a balance between formative and summative assessment methods. There has been an emphasis on summative/qualitative evaluation rather than assessment methods that help to develop and deepen a students learning of the content over the years and I feel thats this is a direct result of school systems attempting to unify art curriculums. Gruber believes this trend of “bean counting” assessment stems from recent calls for accountability along with current trends toward academic standards (Guber, 2018). Many art educators agree that there is a significant gain in gearing assessment methods towards forms of feedback through the process of making rather than grading an end product. Assessment in the form of feedback is a powerful teaching and learning tool, feedback and other formative evaluations can increase students understanding and also their engagement within the subject matter.
Art projects should engage the learners in both the process and finished product, therefore, the methods of teaching and grading should uphold the importance of both. Art and studio habits should be graded with subjective and quantitative criterial and not be reduced to a rubric that can be easily be calculated into a grade. Equal importance should be given to the studio dispositions of a learner as well as their finished piece (Gates, 2017). Teachers should balance the use of their profession experience and expertise, with objective data to design a rubric format that contains quantitative descriptors and also subjective criteria because there is a distinction between assessment oflearning and assessment for learning.
Examples
Assessment in the form of Self Directed Feedback:
Students who engage in self directed assessment take charge in their own learning. They become the decision maker in regards to their grade and their performance and gain creative confidence in their role to actively participate in their own education. When a learner sets the standards for their own learning the become deeply invested and empowered which allows them to develop a commitment to the subject matter and learning goals. Students who engage in self driven feedback can practice and correct through the process of making as a means of formally assessing their process and in progress work. When a student becomes their own teacher they begin to display necessary dispositions for learning such as self regulation, self teaching, and evaluation of their own work and progress (Andrade, Heffern, & Palma, 2014).
Assessment in the form of Peer Directed Feedback:
Peer feedback encourages collaboration and communication among classmates. By analyzing the work of other students a learner becomes familiar with the assessment criteria and will subsequently apply that understanding to reflect on their own work. Students from this method will begin to internalize the learning goal through the context of someone’s else’s work. in a peer directed form of feedback teachers should model behaviors of thoughtful responses to artwork so that students can learn how to better respond to their peers’ work (Low, 2015). In this method the teacher becomes the facilitator of a class led critique of work rather than individually providing feedback for each student. Peer directed feedback of learning can help to develop a sense of community in the class space.
Assessment in the form of Teacher Directed Feedback:
Teachers should turn their attention clearly articulating the intentions of an assignment and the expectations they have for process and outcomes so the students understand the goal of learning (Andrade, Heffern, & Palma, 2014). There is a delicate balance between knowing when to push a student, and when to offer encouragement, this comes from knowing the learners in a classroom. Teachers should offer in progress formative feedback as well as feedback in regards to the final product.
I currently have been testing out the process of grading student projects on studio habits as well as a project specific rubric. It is important to me to allow the students to reflect on their work and to asses their process, this allows me to grade more accurately and completely when it comes to summative evaluations. Additionally, these forms of evaluation have pushed me place more emphasis in peer feedback, particularly after gaining insight how the process of evaluating classmates can deepen the students own understanding of the learning objectives.
I have begun writing personalized comments back on the student’s self reflections of studio habits to bring awareness to the equal importance it has in regards to assessment. The role of feedback is important to my teaching philosophy, I believe it should be given often and should come from multiple sources, whether it be from themselves, peers or from myself as an instructor. I believe these forms of assessment create a more holistic learning experience in the visual arts.
References
Andrade, H., Heffern, J., & Palma, M. (2014, January). Formative Assesments in Visual Arts. Art Education , 34-39.
Gates, L. (2017). Embracing Subjective Assesment Practices: Recomendations for Art Educators . Art Education , 23-28.
Guber, D. (2018). Measuring Student Learning in Art Education . Art Education , 40-45.
Low, S. H. (2015, January). Is This Okay? Developing Student Ownership in Art Making Through Feedback . Art Education , 43-49.
Comments