Philosophy of Assessment
I can see now that assessment is not just beneficial for educators; it is beneficial for students as well. Even though students will never openly admit it, they actually like the structure of assessment. Without assessment how would a student know where they stand? They need to be assessed in order to grow. The more you assess the more opportunities you provide that student to reflect on their progress. The more feedback you provide the student the better. This thought points to the importance of assessing along the way. One big test at the beginning and end of a unit doesn’t provide information to anyone but the teacher.
Cache La Poudre Middle School is currently transitioning to an IB school. It has been interesting to be exposed to both philosophies of grading art. Traditionally, most of a student’s grade comes from their final product. The IB method of grading is much more focused on the process of art making rather than only focusing on the end product. Other areas of assessment that are taken into consideration in the IB method are knowledge and reflection. Knowledge of subject matter is a helpful thing to assess because a student may be very aware of techniques and terms within a particular medium but may struggle to apply them in their own work. If you only assess application you may overlook a student’s knowledge. Reflection of process is another key aspect to the IB method of assessment. As artist we all reflect on our process internally. We are constantly making decisions and changing our minds. This is a natural process to making art. The IB philosophy simply asks that students elaborate on their thought process. I think that this is extremely important because the thought process and lessons learned along the way are far more important than the finished product.
One thing that I dislike about the IB approach to assessment is it has created some students to dislike art class. I have heard several students say “Art used to be fun, now with IB all we do is write.” Being that this is the first transition year the whole IB process still feels very formal. The key to success will be making all the extra assessment seem more natural. Rather than telling students we are going to reflect on what we have done, simply ask them to jot their thoughts down in their workbooks. If students are assessed in a more informal setting their responses will be more honest and accurate. Best of all they may not even realize they are being assessed so the feeling of being tested will not get in the way of enjoying art class.
This year I have developed my ability to assess students from multiple points of view. Every student possesses different strengths; we have to approach each area we wish to assess from multiple angles so students can use their strengths to demonstrate their abilities. It is important to remember not to fall into your learning style while assessing your students. If you are a visual learner you will tend to assess students from a visual point of view. If you don’t expand your assessment techniques outside of your normal comfort zone you may not give all students an opportunity to succeed.
The most important assessment lesson I learned this semester revolves around the dreaded question, “Is this good enough?” A direct translation is, "Does this pass?" If a student asks the dreaded question it means they know there is still room for improvement, they just want to know where it falls on the grading scale.When presented with this question I will almost always say no because they are telling me they know they can do more. Once you have done your absolute best you will no longer need to ask.
Cache La Poudre Middle School is currently transitioning to an IB school. It has been interesting to be exposed to both philosophies of grading art. Traditionally, most of a student’s grade comes from their final product. The IB method of grading is much more focused on the process of art making rather than only focusing on the end product. Other areas of assessment that are taken into consideration in the IB method are knowledge and reflection. Knowledge of subject matter is a helpful thing to assess because a student may be very aware of techniques and terms within a particular medium but may struggle to apply them in their own work. If you only assess application you may overlook a student’s knowledge. Reflection of process is another key aspect to the IB method of assessment. As artist we all reflect on our process internally. We are constantly making decisions and changing our minds. This is a natural process to making art. The IB philosophy simply asks that students elaborate on their thought process. I think that this is extremely important because the thought process and lessons learned along the way are far more important than the finished product.
One thing that I dislike about the IB approach to assessment is it has created some students to dislike art class. I have heard several students say “Art used to be fun, now with IB all we do is write.” Being that this is the first transition year the whole IB process still feels very formal. The key to success will be making all the extra assessment seem more natural. Rather than telling students we are going to reflect on what we have done, simply ask them to jot their thoughts down in their workbooks. If students are assessed in a more informal setting their responses will be more honest and accurate. Best of all they may not even realize they are being assessed so the feeling of being tested will not get in the way of enjoying art class.
This year I have developed my ability to assess students from multiple points of view. Every student possesses different strengths; we have to approach each area we wish to assess from multiple angles so students can use their strengths to demonstrate their abilities. It is important to remember not to fall into your learning style while assessing your students. If you are a visual learner you will tend to assess students from a visual point of view. If you don’t expand your assessment techniques outside of your normal comfort zone you may not give all students an opportunity to succeed.
The most important assessment lesson I learned this semester revolves around the dreaded question, “Is this good enough?” A direct translation is, "Does this pass?" If a student asks the dreaded question it means they know there is still room for improvement, they just want to know where it falls on the grading scale.When presented with this question I will almost always say no because they are telling me they know they can do more. Once you have done your absolute best you will no longer need to ask.