Public Assessment

(4) Standards-referencing

The reporting system is ‘standards-referenced’, i.e. student performance is matched against standards, which indicate what students have to know and be able to do to merit a certain level of performance.

The Broad Learning Outcomes in this curriculum address various aspects of students’

performance in visual arts appreciation and criticism in context and visual arts making.

Written descriptors, which are derived from the Broad Learning Outcomes, for each level of performance will be provided.

(5) Informativeness

The HKDSE qualification and the associated assessment and examinations system provide useful information to all parties. Firstly, it provides feedback to students on their performance and to teachers and schools on the quality of the teaching provided. Secondly, it communicates to parents, tertiary institutions, employers and the public at large what it is that students know and are able to do, in terms of how their performance matches the standards. Thirdly, it facilitates selection decisions that are fair and defensible.

5.5.2 Assessment design

The table below shows the assessment design of the subject with effect from the 2016 HKDSE Examination. The assessment design is subject to continual refinement in the light of feedback from live examinations. Full details are provided in the Regulations and Assessment Frameworks for the year of the examination and other supplementary documents, which are available on the HKEAA website (www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/assessment/assessment_framework/).

Component Weighting Duration

Public Examination

Choose either Paper 1 or Paper 2.

Paper 1- Visual presentation of a theme Paper 2- Design

Each paper is divided into two parts:

Part A Art/ Design appreciation and criticism (10%) Part B Art making/ Design (40%)

50% 4 hours

School-based Assessment

(SBA)

Submit ONE portfolio which should consist of:

(a) Research workbook (20%)

(b) Artwork/ Critical studies of a theme (30%)

50%

5.5.3 Public examination

As noted above, the public examination for Visual Arts assesses student performance through both written presentation on critical appreciation of artwork and the production of artwork. The public examination should assess students’ ability to:

• analyse, interpret and evaluate artwork in writing;

• relate their critical responses to artwork with their art making (applicable till 2017 HKDSE); and

• select and manipulate visual language, media, materials, tools, skills, techniques and imageries for creative expression and communication of a topic/theme, or solving of a particular problem.

Different types of items are used to assess students’ performance in a broad range of skills and abilities. The types of items include essay-type questions and visual art making. In Part A of each question, students are required to write a critical appreciation of the reproductions of artwork provided, while Part B requires students to create a piece of 2-dimensional artwork/design work in any media or style on a given theme. They are also required to present a statement showing how they apply their responses of critical appreciation to their art making. (Note: The statement is applicable till 2017 HKDSE) Schools may refer to the live examination papers regarding the format of the examination and the standards at which the questions are pitched.

5.5.4 School-based Assessment

In the context of public assessment, SBA refers to assessments administered in schools and marked by the student’s own teachers. The primary rationale for the SBA in Visual Arts is to enhance the validity of the assessment by including all the Broad Learning Outcomes.

The SBA should assess students’ abilities to:

• generate ideas through observation, experience, imagination, technology and other skills;

• develop themes of personal feelings or ideas, or social-related issues or ideas for problem solving through identifying, selecting and organising primary and secondary sources;

• analyse, interpret and make critical judgement of artwork/art phenomena showing an understanding of forms, purposes, meanings and contexts in writing;

• transform and integrate experience, knowledge and perspectives constructed from art appreciation and criticism, and learning of other areas into art making practices;

• explore, select and manipulate appropriate visual language, media, materials, tools, skills, techniques and imageries for creative expression and communication of a theme, or solving of a particular problem; and

• continuously reflect on, respond to and evaluate their own and others’ practice and work, and consequently modify their own work.

There are, however, some additional reasons for SBA in Visual Arts. For examples, it reduces dependence on the results of public examinations, which may not always provide the most reliable indication of the actual abilities of students. Assessments based on student performance over an extended period of time and developed by those who know the students best – their subject teachers – provides a more reliable assessment of each student.

Another reason for including the SBA is to promote a positive “backwash effect” on students, teachers and school staff. Within Visual Arts, SBA can serve to motivate students by requiring them to engage in meaningful activities; and for teachers, it can reinforce curriculum aims and good teaching practice, and provide structure and significance to an activity they are in any case involved in on a daily basis, namely assessing their own students.

Portfolios which enable the assessment of students’ sustained work and provide a more comprehensive picture of their performance throughout the period of study are used for the SBA. Students are required to submit one portfolio consisting of the following parts:

Research Workbook (Presentations on art appreciation and criticism in context in relation to art making/critical studies, and research process):

• evidence (e.g. sketches, photographs, notes) of how ideas are generated and recorded through observation, experience, imagination, technology and other skills;

• exploration and development of a theme/topic for art appreciation and criticism, and art making;

• presentations on art appreciation and criticism in context in relation to art making/critical studies, with evidence of research into the socio-cultural and historical contexts of more than one culture; and criticism of artwork/art phenomena /visual cultures from different perspectives and aesthetic values;

• connecting how artists’ work has influenced students’ own art making/critical studies;

• exploration and experimentation of media, materials, skills and techniques for the presentation of the selected theme; and

• reflection on, evaluation and refining of their own work;

and

Artwork/Critical studies (Four pieces of work) for the presentation of the selected theme:

• All of the four pieces of work can be artwork, or one to three pieces of them can be critical studies; and

• any media, materials, skills and techniques can be used for the production of artwork.

Guidelines of building the portfolios:

• Students should be encouraged to pursue their own theme (e.g. drawn from their personal concerns, concerns of the professional and artistic community, social issues, etc.) and acquire experience of artwork or objects in their research process.

• Visual and textual materials relevant to the theme should be accompanied by an explanation or critical comment.

• Sources of information must be acknowledged.

• Art appreciation and research process should reflect students’ actual progress of work and therefore should be constructed during the portfolio-building process. The authentic research process should be submitted and enable the teacher or examiner to identify the students’ personal progress throughout the course.

• Artwork may combine several techniques and any media, and teachers should discuss the choice of media and technique with students and help them to discover their individual strength.

It should be noted that SBA is not an “add-on” element in the curriculum. The modes of SBA above are normal in-class and out-of-class activities suggested in the curriculum.

The requirement to implement SBA has taken into consideration the wide range of student ability and efforts has been made to avoid unduly increasing the workload of both teachers and students. Detailed information on the requirements and implementation of SBA and samples of assessment tasks are provided to schools by the HKEAA.

5.5.5 Standards and reporting of results

Standards-referenced reporting is adopted for the HKDSE. Candidates’ levels of performance are reported with reference to a set of standards as defined by cut scores on the mark scale for a given subject. Standards referencing relates to the way in which results are reported and does not involve any changes in how teachers or examiners mark student work.

The set of standards for a given subject can be represented diagrammatically as shown in

Figure 5.2.

Figure 5.2 Defining Levels of Performance via Cut Scores on the Mark Scale for a Given Subject

Within the context of the HKDSE there are five cut scores, which are used to distinguish five levels of performance (1–5), with 5 being the highest. A performance below the cut score for Level 1 is labelled as ‘Unclassified’ (U).

For each of the five levels, a set of written descriptors has been developed to describe what the typical candidate performing at this level is able to do. The principle behind these descriptors is that they describe what typical candidates can do, not what they cannot do. In other words, they describe performance in positive rather than negative terms. These descriptors represent ‘on-average’ statements and may not apply precisely to individuals, whose performance within a subject may be variable and span two or more levels. Samples of students’ work at various levels of attainment are provided to illustrate the standards expected of them. These samples, when used together with the level descriptors, will clarify the standards expected at the various levels of attainment.

In setting standards for the HKDSE, Levels 4 and 5 are set with reference to the standards achieved by students awarded grades A–D in the HKALE. It needs to be stressed, however, that the intention is that the standards will remain constant over time – not the percentages awarded different levels, as these are free to vary in line with variations in overall student performance. Referencing Levels 4 and 5 to the standards associated with the old grades A–D is important for ensuring a degree of continuity with past practice, for facilitating tertiary selection and for maintaining international recognition.

The overall level awarded to each candidate is made up of results in both the public examination and the SBA. The SBA results for Visual Arts are moderated based on the judgement of panels of external moderators, and through the inspection of samples of students’ portfolios which should show students’ authentic processes and achievements in

5 3

2 1

U 4

Cut scores

Mark Scale

learning. Also, school inspections on students’ real artwork or interviews with students may also be conducted whenever necessary.

To provide finer discrimination for selection purposes, the Level 5 candidates with the best performance have their results annotated with the symbols “ ** ” and the next top group with the symbol “ * ”. The HKDSE certificate itself records the Level awarded to each candidate.

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