Session/artefact to be observed/ reviewed: The Part Two – (UNIT 2) Assessment Feedback 23/24 Developing Specialist Practice on Foundation Diploma in Art and Design.
Size of student group: 1 in a 1:2:1
Observer: Anna Reading
Observee: Rebecca Harper
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
There will be oral and written Feedback delivered on how the student is doing, which will help them to develop ahead of their part 3 projects which are graded.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
Since the beginning of part 2 in November 2023 I have been the specialist tutor of my 9 tutees of whom I am assessing independently.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Assessment Feedback on (UNIT 2) 23/24 Developing Specialist Practice – (LO) UAL Levels 3 and 4
- Research and contextualize creative ambitions within specialist practice.
- Apply Research methodology and use technical skills and practical experimentation to develop ideas within specialist practice.
- Use self-reliant learning strategies to Develop ideas and solve complex problems within the context of specialist practice to inform and realize Creative solutions.
- Use critical evaluation and reflective skills in order to take responsibility for own learning and development.
- Review and apply presentation skills in order to communicate their creative practice to a selected audience.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
Students will be asked to take a look at the assessment criteria with the tutor in order to better understand what is required of them.
Secondly the students will be asked to talk through their part two specialist projects with the tutor on their workflow; where they need to evidence all of one day projects, longer projects have relevant research, of artists, designers, film makers, with their own writing about the work. The development and final pieces, with the reflective writing and presentation.
Students will be informed of how they are doing in their work and in their studentship and will be given the opportunity to ask questions in relation to the criteria and feedback.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
That a student might not wish to be doing their assessment with others present should they feel vulnerable or want their privacy. I have asked them in advance and have had one confirmation.
The student has the potential to be unhappy or disappointed about the possible feedback at assessment, the information on the tracker or the feedback on their studentship.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
I will be emailing the students in advance and will clarify with them for a second time on the day for their consent, and make sure that they are aware it is their choice if someone else is present.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
What did I do well and any examples from the observation that are effective?
What is/was my impact on the student?
Feedback on my feedback;
How could I do more to benefit or improve my students learning? Anything I could improve on any engagement, explorations, explanations, elaborations, evaluations etc?
What might have led to a better result if it did?
Anything I can do to make the student feel more at ease in a situation where they may feel nervous?
How will feedback be exchanged?
Email within two weeks and possibly an in person conversation should Anna appreciate it.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Hi Becki,
It was a pleasure to watch your thorough and generous approach to the assessment session. You opened with a friendly welcome – introducing me and made the student feel at ease, making sure they had time to set up their laptop. I liked the way you opened by explaining the assessment criteria, helping the student to understand what is relevant.
It was great to see you invite the student to present and talk through their work – this helps them learn how to speak about their work in future interviews, and to notice where there are missing parts. It is a reflective style, where you act as a mirror for the student to come to conclusions for themselves. I found this really inspiring and will try to do this more myself. I wonder whether the length of the assessment (nearly one hour) might limit the amount the student can take in. It could be good to try asking the student to only present one or two projects, so that you can condense the feedback and make it easier to take in.
I really liked the way you pressed the student for explain themselves – eg.
- They mentioned that they thought they could have gone further with a painting
- You press them – why do you think this?
- The student says it was a bit too realistic and it was a bit boring
- You continue to push them – how could you do this differently next time?
- And the student comes to a realisation about working looser with the paint.
You regularly offered bespoke and engaging suggestions about how the student could take their project further, introducing new artists with links to their work. I like how you don’t make judgements about the work and instead, you pose your comments to the student as questions – ‘did that make you think about materiality?’ I wondered whether there is an opportunity to read some passages of the reflective writing and annotation while the student is present to check whether they have covered what they have talked about clearly in their writing. This can also reward the work the student has put into the writing.
At one point the student asked how to use a slideshow on workflow because they would find it helpful for presenting their work. One way to solve this is to direct them to look on Moodle at the Workflow guides to find this out.
Your feedback sums up lots of the ideas that the student is presenting in the work – it is highly personalised and the student can see where the tangible themes in the work are landing. I like that you give the student very rich feedback about the work – trying much more materials, being much more experimental and printing images off for the studio wall. Your feedback contains many references leaving the student with a lot to use in future – I did notice these could be more diverse as they were predominantly postmodern white men.
The assessment finished excellently by setting up the next unit, asking them to think about this in advance – which helps the student to see how they could apply their personal approach to the Final Major Project. Overall the assessment was very rich and I could tell the student left fulfilled. You are incredibly generous with your time and input. This style of abundant resource rich teaching is one of your gifts, as seen in the microteach!
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Hey Anna,
Thank you for your generously detailed observations and feedback on my assessment session in Painting. I’m glad to hear that you found the session thorough and engaging. I have not previously had the opportunity to observe what good (or bad) approaches to assessment look like, and therefore have only ever Assessed intuitively, so I really appreciate your window of insights and suggestions for improvement of my teaching practice in that realm, and I am grateful to have your fresh perspective of it.
I agree that the length of the assessment session could be a concern in that one hour may be too much for a student to digest, and condensing the feedback by focusing on one or two projects is a great idea that I had not considered. This would allow for a more concise and digestible discussion while still providing valuable feedback. I do tend to do shorter more frequent formative follow ups and one-to-ones where I try to be effective, though I’ve have had the rare experience this term of looking after less tutees, allowing for more time to try to be helpful, establish relationships, and alignment with the students who do show up. This feedback from you does allow me to -reconsider what is an appropriate amount of time for an assessment. What I know I can offer verses what is accurately and fairly evaluating students understanding without burdening them with too much, affecting their concentration or comprehension.
Your point about reading passages of reflective writing and annotation during the session is well-taken. Whilst on reflection, I had personally read some of this prior to the session, It would indeed be beneficial to make a point of reading it directly with them too, to ensure that the students verbal presentation aligns with their written documentation, providing personalisation, clarity and reinforcing the value of written reflection with them.
Regarding the diversity of references, It seems that within discussions thematically around British Landscape painting I have somehow fallen into ‘Old Hat’, I am absolutely shocked at myself that I didn’t include a more inventive, accurate representation. Delivering diverse references is normally a value I like to think I adhere to as much as possible, and take very seriously. I will certainly strive to include a more diverse range of artists and perspectives in future assessments, a project for me here to find more diverse responses to the British landscape I think. Diversity and inclusivity are essential aspects of effective teaching, and I entirely appreciate your reminder to ensure representation across various diverse backgrounds and identities.
I will also try to direct students to the relevant resources like Moodle for additional support even if (I don’t know myself), as you mention- navigating software tools like slideshows for workflow management with the student directly, so that we can find out together where to look. A great idea.
Overall, your feedback has provided really valuable insights into areas where I might have had a few blind spots and will hopefully enhance the assessment process to better support student learning and engagement next time. I’m grateful for your thoughtful analysis and will endeavour to implement these suggestions in future sessions where possible.
As always, all best wishes,
Becki