STAR-POST (Art) January 2020 FINAL_STAR Post Art Jan 2020 | Page 52

Reflecting on Authentic Assessment in the Art Classroom Tan Wanxin Sherry Art Teacher Qifa Primary School T he assessment workshop Making Marks: Subjectivity + Objectivity in Art Assessment by STAR gave me many ideas for practical assessment tools that we could utilise in the art classroom that will help inform us of our learners’ progress. The workshop was conducted in an organised manner with authentic case studies for us to engage in discussions with our fellow art teachers. We enjoyed very much the insights and rich content that was shared. Before I attended the workshop, I had questions on how to make the grading of art as fair as possible for my students. I found it challenging to develop a very objective and specific set of rubrics to measure the learning outcomes for art. Creativity manifests in multiple forms, 52 how best could it be assessed? Through the discussions, I realised that assessment for art is complex; there are multiple or different ways to assess outcomes and a straightforward rubric for assessment may not always work. What is more important is how the teacher could make the objectives clear, scaffold and unpack the learning for the students meaningfully. After the workshop, I intend to adjust some of my learning activities and rubrics for a more holistic assessment of the learning outcomes. (Top & Bottom) Teachers sharing their assessment practices in groups. The workshop also had us reflect on our personal teacher beliefs, the syllabus outcomes and how they inform assessment. The sharing by Senior Teacher (Art), Chor Howe, from NJC also led me to re-think the teaching approaches for art. For him, art could be used to solve real- life problems, such as having his students design furniture for the elderly. He explained his rationale and shared how he created a holistic assessment approach for the module. I thought that his approach of letting students take ownership of their learning and assessing their processes and prototypes in various stages was a good 53