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

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of British Columbia

Year dc:date

1992

Author dc:creator

• Blaikie, Fiona

Statement dc:rights

• For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/2248

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/2248