Drawing on assessment: using visual representations to understand students' experiences of assessment in art and design

Abstract

This paper discusses research that is being conducted using visual representations as a method for understanding students' experiences of the assessment process in art and design. The preliminary analysis of drawings has highlighted a number of factors including: a negative reaction to assessment; the use of metaphor and simile in drawings and the effectiveness of using visual representations to successfully convey experience.Using visual representations is proposed as a means of furthering our understanding of the student learning experience; and as a method for students to reflect on their experiences, such as within a Personal Development Planning (PDP) process. The drawings have highlighted an overwhelmingly negative reaction to assessment and this paper suggests that the prejudicial effects of assessment need further investigation, due to potentially detrimental consequences on students' creative abilities.

Book review for Crits: A student manual, by Terry Barrett / Critique de livre du Crits: A Student Manual, par Terry Barrett

“…Other negative examples include narratives recalling instances where instructors physically altered student work without the student's consent and some destroyed the work entirely. These examples give credence to findings by Chris McKillop (2006) who asked design students to draw metaphors of assessment. He was surprised to receive only negative images of critiques, some suggesting acts of violence, public humiliation, and suicide.…”

Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment of academic ability

“…Primary school students reported positive emotions about assessment (Atkinson, 2003), whereas secondary school and university students reported increasingly negative emotions (Harris, Harnett, & Brown, 2009;McKillop, 2006). University students have more complicated emotions than just anxiety regarding academic achievement (Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2006;Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002).…”

Rights, responsibilities and (re)presentation: Using drawings to convey health and safety messages among immigrant workers

“…Finally, the participants were able to provide important feedback concerning text-heavy versus image-rich versions of the Health and Safety at Work posters, indicating that visual portrayals of key messages were more clearly understood than text-heavy versions. Employing visual representations of the research process served to capture participants' experiences of the study itself, further enhancing analytic rigour, and offering an alternate format for representing the findings [23][24][25]. The study contributes to our understanding of how viewers interpret visual images and how they serve to enhance understanding of key concepts in the field of occupational health and safety.…”