Learning Approaches & Authentic Assessment

HUM-201 Museum Assignment: Designing an Exhibition with our Essential Questions

 

Driving Question: How do our Essential Questions help us organize our thinking?

Background: the following plan arose from training at the Buck Institute for Education which focuses on Project-Based Learning (PBL). The first step in planning for PBL is to develop a driving question that guides the activities within the lesson plan. In this case, the project focuses on the essential questions to help organize understanding in Humanities 201: Ancient Art to the Renaissance. The essential questions are:

• Are there universal themes within the humanities –that is, themes that are of interest or concern to multiple cultures and societies across time?
• What elements give rise to human expression?
• What is the relationship between human expression and morality?

The use of student questions marks the start of an iterative process. The beginning questions noted here provide a platform for students to approach each milestone. It is expected that more questions will develop and the formative assessments can provide an opportunity for students to note the new questions which can be used in revising the project’s design.

Milestone	Beginning Student Questions	Assessment	Lesson & Activities
Milestone 1 Field trip to Museum of Fine Arts; students select a work of human expression that resonates for them	Why does this work of human expression resonate?  What is its relationship to one of our Essential Questions?	Formative: Students journal on their museum-going experience when they return. Journals shared with professor who provides feedback, comments	Field trip information shared. Museum purpose and history reviewed. Museum visit protocol reviewed. Paperwork for field trip gathered; transportation secured. Provide tour of ancient art at MFA; visit with students after they break off to find their selections. Follow up with prompt for reflection that Includes selected work and its connection to an essential question
Milestone 2 In small groups, students share images of chosen works; discuss possible connections to Essential Questions	How do I select between two (or three) Essential Questions? How can the Essential Question help organize my exhibition? How does the Essential question help organize my thinking about art?	Formative: Groups report out to the class using a protocol of required information including any patterns seen in works and essential questions selected. Classmates and professor provide informal feedback.	Debriefing: small group discussion on selections and connections
Milestone 3 Students consider other works of human expression that can be included in exhibition .	How do I select other works for my exhibition?  How many works should be in my exhibition?	Formative: List of works is submitted to professor along with questions student might have. Feedback is provided.	Curator from MFA is guest speaker and talks about how an exhibition is developed, especially in regard to theme development and object selection. Students reflect on talk and Its connection to their exhibition draft.
Milestone 4 Students create draft exhibition.	How do I incorporate my essential question in the flow of the exhibition? What exhibition tools can help me make a clear connection to the essential question?	Formative: Compliance rubric to ensure all required elements are found in draft exhibition; feedback on any methods to improve the user experience of exhibition.
Milestone 5 Each student reviews a colleague’s exhibition. The review follows a protocol.	Does my exhibition meet the objectives and criteria for the project? How does my exhibition look to an outside viewer?	Formative: Peer review by another student. Summative: Peer review is formally assessed by professor.	Students partner on reviewing the other's exhibition. Framework Is provided in protocol for objective, constructive criticism in peer review activity.
Milestone 6 Students revise and present exhibition.	Does my exhibition meet the objectives and criteria for the project?	Summative: Exhibitions assessed by professor; collaboration rubric completed by students involved in peer review.	Virtual exhibition shared with class and guests: MFA curator University art gallery staff. Other HUM instructors and students. Students reflect on how their essential question helped organize their exhibition and how they came to understand their exhibition objects.

Authentic Assessment:

In this project, students are asked to demonstrate their understanding by performing a series of increasingly complex tasks (Mueller, 2018):

Selects artwork(s) > Connect to Essential Question(s) > Design Flow of Exhibition to Uncover the Essential Question to the User/Visitor

Other characteristics of this plan that distinguish its authentic assessment include (Mueller, 2018):

• Student-centered: the final product is driven by student choice. In addition, peer review is used in the formative process of constructing the final product.
•  Real-world relevance: the project utilizes the resources of an established, external institution (museum) and its staff (curator)
•  Direct evidence: the critical tasks and assessments offer evidence of the application and construction of knowledge.

Connections to Learning Theories:

Constructivism: Students use peer review in the development of their final product. This practice follows Vygotsky’s social constructivist model where learners are situated to advantage of “collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). In addition, the driving question of the project is based in the development of metacognition which is inherently constructivist (McLeod, 2019). 

Andragogy: The project possesses real-world relevance in its use of an established, external institution (the Museum of Fine Arts) and the contribution of a real-world professional with the guidance of a professional curator. The issue of relevance is substantial in the theory of andragogy (Pappas, 2014).

 

 

 

References

McLeod, S. (2019). Constructivism as a theory for teaching and learning. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

Mueller, J. (2018). Authentic tasks. Authentic Assessment Toolbox. http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/tasks.htm

Pappas, C. (2014). 7 top facts about the adult learning theory (2018 update). eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/6-top-facts-about-adult-learning-theory-every-educator-should-know

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.