Authentic assessment, though sometimes referred to as performance-based assessment is not a new idea, in fact its history dates back to the 1950’s. With more than half a century of debate on the subject in varying branches of thought, this paper will focus on a few of the key concepts of authentic assessment as seen through the lens of an artist. An investigation of the literature begins with a brief look at the historical concept of mastery as was practiced through the ancient system of patronage, workshops, and guilds. The discussion that follows will examine the theoretical thought on authentic assessment and the implications for practice.
The idea of mastery can be traced as far back as Aristotle who “felt that artistic training included mastery of a medium and gaining knowledge of one’s environment” (DeHoyas, M., Lopez, A., Garnett, R., Gower, S., Sayle, A., Sreenan, N., Stewart, E., Sweny, S., & Wilcox, K. (2005). This concept of mastery has held true for many centuries in varying forms, with the “Medieval apprenticeship being one of the first examples of art instruction in the Western world” (DeHoyas et al., 2005). Beginning around the 11th century craft guilds played a major role in training apprentices, journeymen, and masters, with the earliest recorded guild dating from 1099 (Madaus & Dwyer, 1999). The craft guilds played an important role in the European economy, and by the 14th century became a powerful hierarchal organization (Madau et al., 1999), which we can still see today in the form of trades and unions. Throughout the history of art, the relationship between apprentice and master held a prominent position in the education of young artisans. The apprentice usually began training at the age of 13, although Leon...
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...ional Forum, 59(1) 14-21.
DeHoyas, M., Lopez, A., Garnett, R., Gower, S., Sayle, A., Sreenan, N., Stewart, E., Sweny, S., & Wilcox, K. (2005). History of art education, University of North Texas. Retrieved from http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/HistoryofArtEd/index.html
Herrington, J., & Herrington, A. (1998). Authentic assessment and multimedia: How university students respond to a model of authentic assessment. Higher Education Research & Development, 17(3), 305-322.
Madaus, G. F., & O'Dwyer, L. M. (1999). Short history of performance assessment: Lessons learned. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(9), 688-689.
Newmann, F. M. & Archbald, D. A. (1992). The nature of authentic academic achievement. Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment. State University of New York Press, Albany New York. 71-84.
Wiggins, G. (1990). The case for authentic assessment. ERIC digest.
Stiggins, R. J. (2006, November/December). Assessment for learning: A key to motivation and achievement. Edge, 2, 3-19.
Popham, W. James. "Why standardized tests don't measure educational quality." Educational Leadership 56 (1999): 8-16.
William, D., & Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will it take to
There’s nothing worse than to have students sum up all their knowledge, skills, thoughts, talents, and abilities into one multiple-choice test with one “right” answer. This is why assessments must encompass more ways of evaluating students than a paper and pencil strategy that does not account for the various competences of every student. This is one of the many reasons why standardized testing has been undoubtedly one of the most controversial topics in education to date. With this being said, there are alternatives to standardized tests that involve different opportunities including portable portfolios, performance exams, exhibitions, and/or recorded sessions to better “test” a student’s knowledge and abilities.
Popham, W. J. (1999, March). Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality. Educational Leadership, 56(6), 8-15.
Popham, W. James. “Standardized Achievement Tests: Misnamed and Misleading.” Education Week. September 2001. Web. 28 June 2015.
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Staff Writers. "10 Salient Studies on the Arts in Education." Online Colleges. 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. .
Assessment, in the context of education, was defined by Lambert, D (2000, pag 4) as the processs of gathering, recording and using information about pupils' responses to educational tasks. Despite some can consider that assessment is separated from the learning process, assessment is, in fact, an essential part of the learning proccess. Maguire, M. and Dillon, J. (2007, pag 213) pointed out that assessment is intrincately bound-up in the teaching-learning cycle.
Today most art education programs are made up of four components. One of these components is art aesthetics. Aesthetics is the study of the nature of a piece of artwork. It analyzes the work by asking specific questions regarding the artist and the piece. The viewer becomes the judge in a sense. It tries to discover what the artwork might be representing. They could also ask what type of emotion the artist was trying to convey in their work. The viewer also takes part in analyzing the physical aspects and characteristics of the work. It focuses on the use of color, sequence and synchrony of an artwork. It notes the artist’s craftsmanship, artistic ability and proficiency in technique (Hoffman 1999).
Shepard, L. A. (2000) the role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher. 29 (7) 4-10.
"Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best." Edutopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
Grubb, T. (2007). "Performance Appraisal Reappraised: It's Not All Positive." Journal of Human Resource Education. Vol. 1, (No. 1,): 1-22.
Examinations have been a form of assessment implemented in most academic institutions over the years. Assessments identify the level of progress of students and define their rate of academic success by testing their general or specific knowledge regarding a certain topic. Whether or not examinations are an accurate reflection of academic success is arguable. This essay will observe the effects of examinations on student performance and academic progress. Firstly, there will be an analysis of assessments, particularly examinations, and their effects on student progress. Secondly, examples of the impact of examinations on academic success will be discussed.
from a process of development and agreement within each faculty, as should the criteria against which they will be judged” (UBR1, 15/6/2015, HEQC, Audit Report, 2014). As participants perceived the aspect of the quality in teaching and learning is considered as students’ assessment through continuous assessment strategy and as it is generally believed that students’ assessment has an important impact on instruction and learning (Gibbs, 1999; Scouller, 1998). This strategy has launched by the universities with the aim of student assessment that fosters sustained student engagement in learning and enhance quality of student learning experience. Assessment of learning is at the heart of the student experience. (Brown and Knight, 1994: 1) To implement the continuous assessment strategy in public universities is to