Who is the person responsible for program assessment, data
gathering and analysis in your discipline?
The Discipline Coordinator is responsible for holding any
assessment data, but all the Studio Art faculty participate in gathering and
analysis.
What are the stated goals of your discipline?
The goal of the studio art curriculum is to introduce liberal arts
students to the technical, conceptual, and communication skills necessary to
activities in the visual arts and to help them understand the major traditions
and the place of visual arts in our culture. Studio courses serve the needs of
students planning to pursue graduate studies in art, students interested in
exploring their own creative potential as part of their general education, and
students preparing for secondary school teaching.
Objectives:
•Introduce students to the technical skills necessary to
activities in the visual arts; this includes materials, techniques, the safe
use of tools (for example, everything from paint brushes, potters tools,
wheels, and kilns, carpentry tools, power tools, to printmaking presses and
equipment), the safe disposal of waste.
•Introduce students to the concepts necessary to activities
in the visual arts; this includes the formal elements of art, as well as,
learning to think independently, understanding the historical and contemporary
development of art and their place in it, the relationship of art to self,
culture, and society, and to question and examine everything with a critical
eye.
•Introduce students to verbal/communication skills necessary to
activities in the visual arts; this includes the ability to talk clearly and
thoughtfully about their own art as well as the art of others.
•Introduce students to the major traditions of art and the place
of visual arts in our culture.
How do you assess whether your discipline is achieving its goals?
•Learning in studio classes is measured by assessing the skills
and intellectual development of students based on single assignments, single
courses, and the program as a whole. They are assessed in the classroom using
observation, written tests and assignments, pre and post testing, class
presentations, class and individual critiques, portfolio reviews, individual
review by the faculty of all junior and senior art students, and all student
and senior exhibitions.
The areas we are assessing include; craftspersonship, concepts,
presentation, growth, awareness of the historical development of art and their
place in it, ability to communicate verbally and through their art, and the
ability to think independently.
Aspects
of assessment performed by Studio Art.
1.
Classroom Observation, Tests and Assignments
•Quizzes,
papers and sketchbooks
-Students
complete quizzes to evaluate their understanding of terms, processes and safety
procedures.
-Sketchbooks
are assigned and reviewed for each class to track student's progress in
techniques and development of a conceptual direction.
•Work
retained for permanent collection (Printmaking and Digital Imaging)
The
Printmaking program retains a print from each student for each individual
project and the Digital Imaging program makes CD-ROM's of student work. Images are kept in a collection that
can be used to evaluate the progress of the program, and this collection also
functions as a teaching archive when the assignment is repeated. This practice
works only in an area where multiple images can be made.
•Documentation
of Assignments for image archives (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture,
Ceramics and Photography)
In
fields where a unique object/image is made, faculty document various projects in slide form or in a digital
format. Images are kept in a collection that can be used to evaluate the
progress of the program, and this collection also functions as a teaching archive when the assignment is
repeated.
•Class
Presentations/Student-Led Discussions
Students are assigned presentations in
many studio courses to research processes, techniques or artists that relate to
a current assignment. In Basic
Studio Discussion, a one year course for incoming art majors, students in
groups must lead the discussion for the assigned reading. Students are graded on how well they
understand the topic and how they engage fellow classmates in a critical
dialogue.
•Group
Projects/Collaborative Activities
Students
in the basic Studio Sequence and upper-division studio courses participate
group projects that require the students to pool resources and skill levels to
complete a task. In addition, both
Ceramics and Sculpture do annual metal pours and outdoor kiln firings that are
dependent on collaborative methods.
•Print
exchanges with other Universities.
Since
2000, the Printmaking program has had print exchanges with other printmakers
from institutions including: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Xavier
University, and University of Arizona-Tucson, California State at Long Beach,
and California State University at Northridge. Students produce a set number of prints to be exchanged with
the partner program, and both schools receive a complete set of prints for
their print archives. Students
from the other institutions have included undergraduates from all levels as
well as graduate students in the printmaking programs. This has been a valuable tool to
evaluate the cumulative skills of UMM's printmakers on both a regional and
national level.
2.
Pre- and Post-testing
Students
enrolled in either Basic Studio Drawing (for majors) or First Year Drawing (for
non majors) are asked to do an in-class drawing on the first day on instruction
that will be used to compare the student's progress with the final drawing at
the end of the semester.
Individual faculty members are responsible for this process when they
teach a course in drawing.
3.
Critiques and Classroom Discussions
Critiques
are a key tool for assessment in Studio Art, students are directly evaluated
for craftspersonship, concepts, presentation, growth,
awareness of the historical development of art and their place in it, ability
to communicate verbally and through their art, and the ability to think
independently. Critiques are
scheduled upon the completion of one or more small project, completion of a
unit, at midterm, and for a final portfolio grade. These include:
•Individual critiques
•Group
critiques
•Discussions
4.
Senior Exhibit All-Student Show Documentation
Since
1997, Studio Art Faculty has documented the annual students exhibits via video
and digital photography. It has
been a helpful tool for upcoming senior classes to view previous exhibits in
preparation for their shows, to see how the students chose to integrate a
variety of mediums and conceptual approaches into a cohesive collection of
work. The video and digital images are held with the discipline coordinator.
Assessment of upper level seminar/capstone project or course:
Junior
and Senior Reviews
In
the fall of 2003, the Studio Art Faculty revised the process for the junior and
senior reviews to provide a consistent evaluation structure and clarity for
students in the form of a printed review sheet. Students are also asked to
provide a written artist statement for each review. Junior and Senior reviews are made up of a committee of
Studio Art and Art History Faculty members, and since faculty serve on a
selection of the reviews per semester, this form provides a necessary record of
prior evaluation as the student moves from the junior to the senior
review. The form is a consensus of
the committee's evaluation of the student‹students are ranked from 1-10 for each
category and receive written comments as well. Copies of the completed form and artist statement are given
to the student, the academic advisor and the discipline coordinator. The discipline has already used the
form for the Fall 2003 Senior Reviews, and is pleased with the results. The junior class of 2004 will be the
first group to experience both parts of the new evaluation process, and the
discipline will report its findings in 2005.
The
evaluation form contains the following areas for review.
I. Formal Concerns:
A. Student demonstrates an understanding of
the elements of art and the principles of design.
B. Student's drawings represent a level of
skill appropriate to the student's experience.
II. Technical Concerns:
A. Student can identify / describe the
materials and technical processes involved in creating their work.
B. Student is completing the quantity of work
expected for their level of experience.
C. Student is completing work at the quality
expected for their level of technical experience.
D. Student demonstrates an understanding of
the importance of presentation & craftsmanship. This should include at least 3 pieces of their choice
(representing more than one media), completed to a level of finish and
refinement expected for the student's level of experience.
III. Conceptual & Communication Skills:
A.. Student is able to discuss the conceptual
basis of their work and communicate the ideas that they are exploring.
B. Student demonstrates an understanding of
how their work relates to a broader context and is able to articulate the
relationship, referring to cultural, art historical and / or personal
influences.
C. Evaluate student's written statement. Artist's statement describes the formal, technical and conceptual foundations of the student's work.
5.
Development of a capstone senior seminar course
The
discipline is currently working on developing a capstone course to combine
existing requirements of a senior review and senior exhibit with additional
topics of importance. Students will
learn methods to document work for portfolio reviews, techniques for framing
and professional display, development of skills for grant writing, and
application for graduate studies or fellowships, and further development of
communication skills through readings and discussions. The discipline plans to
offer this course as an elective within the next three years.