Structures of and values inherent in senior secondary student asessment in studio art in Britain and North America

• Main Author: Blaikie, Fiona
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Art - Study and teaching (Secondary) - Great Britain.; Art - Study and teaching (Secondary) - North America.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2248

Visible models of assessment of senior secondary studio art in Britain and North America are analysed and compared. In Britain, The General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE), specifically, the London East Anglian Examining Board (LEAG) assessment model is examined, and in North America, Advanced Placement(AP), Arts PROPEL, and International Baccalaureate(IB). Assessment structures and criteria for assessment are examined in order to reveal art educational values inherent in assessment practices. The problem is threefold: The subjective nature of studio art has rendered assessment difficult; problems have been associated with methods adopted for assessing studio art, and with determining the purposes of art education. Findings are that similar structures characterize the qualitative studio art assessment strategies studied: Criteria are delineated; norm referencing through rank ordering occurs, and assessments depend on professional judgements by art educators. In all cases except for Arts PROPEL, judgements occur intersubjectively through moderation, enhancing reliability. With regard to values implicit in assessment criteria, all the strategies focus on understanding of form. LEAG and IB assessments are similar in their emphasis on linking art and design, form and function, historical, critical, and contextual understanding. LEAG, IB, and Arts PROPEL assessments focus on evidence of process as well as product. All the strategies are personally relevant to students in that they determine the thematic nature of their studio inquiries. The assessment approaches examined are adaptable to varied teaching contexts, and thus are suitable models for regional or national assessment. Because of its grassroots support nationally, and its sophisticated accommodation of contextual and multicultural understandings of art, LEAG emerges as a worthwhile model to emulate. === Education, Faculty of === Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of === Graduate