Reflect and Produce – Week 9

• What are your initial ideas about different components you would like to include as part of this new A&F strategy?

  
  

To encourage a more diverse assessment strategy into the level 4 Contemporary Arts Practice programme I would like to incorporate various assessment tasks which are weighted differently (weighting to be decided) within this summative assessment. I aim for this A&F strategy to show how the students can work both in individually and collaboratively with their peers. Students will be reacting to a real-life scenario by having a group visit to the V&A Wedgwood Museum and speaking with the Curator of Ceramics at the beginning of the module.

The theme for this module will work around colouring clays and the display and exhibition of ceramics. Workshops will support students with upskilling technically and will enable them to make physical ceramic artefacts. An individual critical reflective journal will enable students to document thoughts, processes and further research that they will carry out (students are familiar with this process from previous modules). Students will then collaborate in small groups to curate mini exhibitions of their hand made objects, contextualising what they have learnt from the museum trip and introducing the idea of display and decision making.

Following this a group critique will encouraged students to speak about what they have produced and will further ask why they have made choices. Observing students will then have time to reflect what they have learnt and peer assess (word count to be decided) which will be written in time for final hand in.

Practicalities of assessment and feedback workload:

Some teacher marking could potentially happen during the group critique:

-reflecting on group work, level of participation, curation of artifacts, and justification.

-artefacts made by individuals.

The remaining teacher marking could happen after the group critique:

-Students individual critical reflective journal.

-Peer reflection of group work.

To achieve this the summative assessment and work load, students will be guided to create and learn new practical skills in the studio through organised workshops. Seminars will happen at regular intervals and supportive milestone tutorials will ensure students are meeting deadlines and working collaboratively.

• What is your rationale for wanting to include these different components in your strategy?

  
  

The inclusion of these different components has been a balancing act between what I want to bring to students in terms of subject matter and what will benefit them in terms of bringing new A&F strategies to the programme. What I have developed so far will bring both new skills which are not yet covered within the programme and new A&F strategies to motivate, surprise and encourage deep learning outcomes. Different formats and styles of assessment benefit certain types of learners, so by supplying a range of assessment methods or a choice it can be seen as more inclusive (Bloxham & Boyd, 2007). 

Another motivation I have, to implement completely new A&F strategies within a completely new subject area, is to allow me to pitch the idea to the senior head of programme to gain further teaching experience in the future. I want to use this planning task, enabling me to action it into the Contemporary Arts Practice course, and bring my industry contacts into the institution to benefit the students.

According to the ‘Bath Spa Programme Specification Document’ I am to facilitate students with both individual, collaborative, and transferable skills that will enhance employability as a practitioner or employee in the creative industries.  I believe that my A&F strategy does this by involving students in their own learning through assessment and prepares them further for lifelong learning.

• What have you learned so far about assessment and feedback from this course, and from your engagement with different sources of scholarship, that would also support these ideas for your strategy outline and your rationale?

  
  

I must admit that almost everything I know now to do with A&F, is due to what I have learnt on this PGCHE, the remaining is through personal experience from being a student. I have found the forums particularly engaging in terms of allowing me to see different working strategies explained by my peers, allowing me to relate to my own practice. This motivated me and gave me the confidence to approach the senior head of programme, in which I am currently visiting lecturer, and question her about the process implemented on their current course.  Scholarship has of course supported my ideas and enriched my teaching knowledge. For instance, I have selected a few points from my initial A&F strategy below:

I have decided to incorporate a class visit to a museum to provide students with real life work experience. As Bloxham & Boyd (2007) summaries, it is important to contextualise and link what students are practicing with theory. Although there is limited research on students’ perception, Struyven et al. (2002: 4– 5) outlines how the act of providing various assessments where tasks are authentic, real world and meaningful, it resulted in them being more engaged because they could see past the context of education. It will demonstrate diversification in action (Maclellan 2001: 308).

By weighting the marks I aim to improve inclusivity. I will ensure that weightings are time considered and will reflect how complex or difficult a task is (Bloxham & Boyd, 2007).

The group and peer assessment aspect will not only encourage social learning, supporting common understandings motivate students (Hounsell 2003: 3) and meet the desired programme specifications.

References:

Bloxham, S. & Boyd, P. (2007). Developing Effective Assessment in Higher EducationLinks to an external site.. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill.

Hounsell, D. (2003) Student feedback, learning and development, in M. Slowey and D. Watson (eds) Higher Education and the Lifecourse. Buckingham: SRHE/ Open University Press.

Maclellan, E. (2001) Assessment for learning: the differing perceptions of tutors and students, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 26(4): 307– 18.

Struyven, K., Dochy, F. and Janssens, S. (2002) Students’ perceptions about assessment in higher education: a review. Paper presented at the Joint Northumbria/EARLI SIG Assessment and Evaluation Conference: Learning Communities and Assessment cultures, University of Northumbria, 28– 30