STAR-POST (Art) January 2020 FINAL_STAR Post Art Jan 2020 | Page 48

Creating Formative Assessment
Opportunities for Better Learning
A uth entic -Assessmen t
in the Art Cla ssroo m - -
So me C on si de ra ti o n s
The least desired scenario of all educators
would be a class of unmotivated students.
When an art task is not well-scaffolded with
clear instructions and engaging visuals,
students are less likely to participate or
assimilate any content. During the workshop,
Chor Howe, Senior Teacher (Art) from NJC,
shared how he uses diagrams (see below)
within his Aesthetics department to illustrate
strategies in engaging students’ learning.
Candice Lee
Art Teacher
Manjusri Secondary School
“Isn’t Art Easy to Mark?”
A
s art educators, we often come across comments
or questions that suggest art is subjective and has
few or no grounds for objective assessment. Art is most
often assumed by others to be assessed based on the
teacher’s personal preferences, shaped by biasness or
experiences. But are we not somewhat influenced by these
personal factors? What does it mean to have an authentic
assessment in the art classroom? These questions will be
explored in this article based on personal reflections of my
teaching and ideas I have gathered from STAR’s workshop
-- Subjectivity + Objectivity in Art Assessment.
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One of the diagrams shared by
Chor Howe.
Chor Howe’s sharing highlights the importance
to design lessons that encourage divergent
and convergent thinking to sustain students’
interest while reducing the probability of stu-
dents getting stuck with developing ideas. It is
also essential to set clear expectations at the
start of each lesson while ensuring the learning
task is age-appropriate for the students. Online
quizzes such as Kahoot and Trivia Crack are
great ways to introduce new content informally
to entice students while assessing their prior
knowledge and understanding. Often, my stu-
dents would request to replay the quiz and this
helps them to retain more new information.
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