Moderator's Newsletter - Visual Arts

January 2010

• Evidence for 2.1 and 2.2 Visual Art Standards
• 3.1 - Discussion of Links with Own Work
• Preparation of Electronic Submissions
  Internal Exemplars for Visual Art Standards
• Assessment Guidelines

Evidence for 2.1 and 2.2 Visual Art Standards

Art teachers are aware that there is considerable overlap between the 2.1 research standards and 2.2 drawing standard with the second criterion being essentially the same for both. This has resulted in a wide range of approaches to these standards.

The following are key points which departments need to consider when preparing and delivering assessment activities for these standards:

Research for 2.1

• The research responses for 2.1 need to show an higher degree of academic rigour for Merit and Excellence.
• The first criteria requires students to document "methods and ideas" relating to art and artworks. This means that biographical details are only appropriate where they relate to features and issues of the art works themselves.

Practical Work for 2.1

• In the context of this research standard the practical investigation needs to show the direct and explicit application of specific methods and ideas identified in the research investigation.
• The facility with media is not the primary assessment factor for this standard and work may "show understanding of conventions" without an accompanying high level of recording or technical virtuosity.

Practical Work for 2.2

• The phrase "based on established practice" means students can use artist models as a starting point and then develop their own compositional, technical and conceptual ideas. This means the artist model influence can be implicit as opposed to the explicit requirement of the previous research standard.

Discussion of Links with Own Work

Version 1 of the 3.1 research standards states in the third criterion that students must:

"Discuss, using the research and practical investigation, the links between the selected tradition and relevant recent New Zealand and/or international practice".

Version 2 of the 3.1 research standards states in the third criterion that students must:

"Identify relationships between selected approaches with reference to influences, methods and ideas."

This means that the discussion of the students' own work in relation to that of the research artist models is no longer required.

It is noted that the critical reflection, analysis and evaluation of the identified methods and ideas in the context of the students' own practical investigation is an excellent practice that serves students well for subsequent visual art NCEA and NZ Scholarship work. However the exclusive focus for the third criterion of version two of the standard is the explicit discussion and analysis of relationships between the researched artists.

Preparation of Electronic Submissions

The guidelines for the preparation of electronic submissions for visual art moderation samples are available at Guidelines for Visual Art Internal Moderation Submissions.

Further to these guidelines it is recommended that departments test CDs on a different generic PC computer to ensure that files are readable and manageable for the moderator. Images should be of sufficient resolution, focus, and contrast to read written notations. Files should be arranged in chronological order (alphabetical file titles) and not be so large as to slow down opening times (less than 5MB per image).

The two preferred sample configurations are:

• A separate folder for each sample with JPEG images for each page
• A single PDF file with all pages scrolling down
• A single PPT file with all pages scrolling down

Sample configurations that slow the moderation process are:

• PDF files for each page of the sample that need their own separate window for viewing
• Individual folders for each page of the sample (a default setting for some scanning systems)
• File sizes over 5MB where samples contain 20 or more pages.
• Images with inadequate resolution, focus, or contrast.

Internal Exemplars for Visual Art Standards

Annotated student samples for each visual art standard have been developed during 2009. These have been trialled through the "Best Practice Workshops" with feedback from teachers used to inform the selection process and accompanying commentaries.

It is intended that departments use these exemplars to align their assessor judgements with those of the national standard. It is imagined that some teachers may wish to use these images as a strategy to "unpack" the standards for students. In these circumstances it is critical that teachers carefully read the accompanying commentaries as samples on the boundary between grades can be potentially misleading if viewed as typical of their achievement level.

Exemplars for level one are available at level 1

Exemplars for 3.1 are available at level 3

The remaining exemplars for levels 2 and 3 are currently being developed and will be available as soon as possible.

Assessment Guidelines

Assessment Guidelines tables have been developed to assist teachers in clarifying the explicit requirements for each level of achievement. These tables may also be useful tools for "unpacking" the incremental requirements of each level of performance for students.

Assessment guidelines available at Level 1 Level 2 Level 3.

Last updated: 19 January 2010