Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Reflection #12


In the article “Developing Criteria Rubrics in the Art Classroom,” Sandra Mccollister provides detailed descriptions of methods to create rubrics and also of their benefits for art teachers and students. In general, she explains that rubrics include detailed criteria for a finished work, which may include aspects involved in the process of making the artwork, as well as the finished product. According to Mccollister, these criteria will be evaluated as being “In Progress,” “Novice,” “Intermediate,” or “Advanced” in quality; however, these qualitative assessments can be used to show students their strengths and weaknesses, and do not necessarily translate into letter grades. Mccollister also suggests using student input for creating rubrics, but makes it clear that grading is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher. She suggests that rubrics help students to know what is expected from them, and clarify assignments that students might find complex.

Rubric for Main Lesson Books in Waldorf Education

Fairly Comprehensive Art Rubric

Throughout my elementary years, I was not evaluated with letter or number grades, but with constructive comments on my strengths and areas that were in need of improvement. I found these comments particularly helpful and motivating, and have come to appreciate them more and more as I am making my way through college, where not all of my professors have been as constructive. I’ve always found comments like “needs more detail” to be more helpful and motivating than comments like “too vague” because they frame the areas of weakness in a more constructive way. I have noticed that the assignments that I experience the most anxiety about are the ones that do not have clear requirements. If I know what is expected from me, and what my professor is looking for, I find myself feeling much more confident about my work. Rubrics are a great way to clearly lay out the requirements of an assignment so that students are able to know what is expected of them, however, they can limit the creativity of students approaches to certain projects. How can we provide clarity and still leave room for creativity? 

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