Plymouth University 5th Annual PedRIO Conference

Portraying Assessment:
The Fear of Never Being Good Enough
Plymouth University 5th Annual PedRIO Conference
Dr Peter Day
Context
• Art Crit Key Findings – Dr Peter Day
• Recent work using images to explore students perceptions of
assessment
• Portraying Assessment – Using Photo
Elicitation and Auto Driving
The Art Crit – Key Findings
How do you make a Firing Squad Less Scary?
Deep concerns amongst students towards being criticised; students
expressed emotional and fear-focused responses towards feedback,
amplified by the public nature of the Crit.
The Crit (University) model is the opposite of the prescriptive
teaching style students have previously encountered
Students value the Crit and (verbal) feedback, however it appears to
be the least successful model for those who are struggling the most.
These students have nothing or little to present and feel ignored.
The process is divisive, splitting those students for whom the process
works and those for whom it does not.
Day, P. 2013 “How to make a Firing Squad Less Scary: The Art Critique.” The Journal of
Learning Development in Higher Education 5.
Recent work on using images in HE
research on assessment
Brown, Gavin T. L., and Zhenlin Wang. 2013. "Illustrating
Assessment: How Hong Kong University Students Conceive
of the Purposes of Assessment." Studies in Higher Education 38
(7)
McKillop, C. . 2006. "Drawing on Assessment: Using Visual
Representations to Understand Students’ Experiences of
Assessment in Art and Design." Art,Design & Communication in
Higher Education 5 (2)
Portraying Assessment – Using Photo
Elicitation
In September 2014 at Induction Level 4 Photography Undergraduate students
were asked to do two things
1. Take an image using any image making device that visualised
assessment to them
2. Analyse the image produced in words
This was the beginning of a two phase - Oct 2014 and March 2015 – photo
elicitation of students views on assessment (& current academic year 2015/6)
Using Photo Elicitation
Types of Photography Elicitation:
• Photo Voice, Reflexive Photography (community photography, Photo Novella,
and Autodriving
• Visual methods: the domain of anthropologists a rapid increase in Photography
Elicitation and popularity amongst sociologists and social researchers. Most
specifically social health with young people
• Responded and Researcher creates data : using a medium they are familiar with
images, expressive and has the immediacy and interactivity (Wiles, Prosser, Bagnoli
2008)
• Photo-elicitation a qualitative research method is used to extract feelings,
experiences, personal and participatory responses. It is empowering
and non threatening, by being participatory
Auto Driving
• Driving Participants to analyse and comment upon photographs which are
produced by the interviewees themselves. Focus on personal issues and
expression (emotional – stress/fear)
• The informants create the photographs (evidence/data), and the data
review is based upon and driven by informants who are seeing their own
behaviour. (Heisley and Levy 1991)
• Making Sense and Communication: the informant can see familiar
information/practices in an unfamiliar way, whilst at the same time
making this meaningful to an outsider
• Transitional: Coping with change, challenges, transition through insight,
reflection and strategy
• Acknowledge positive outcomes/Results
• Learn about owned experiences through photography/imagery
First Phase Outcomes
Phase 1 Feedback October 2015 Level 4
The word fear appears on all but two of the written analysis of assessment from
20 samples (19 female 1 male respondent)
The beginning of the Journey and the Journey begins with Fear.
Fear includes these generic elements:
• Time management and workload
• Falling Behind
• Fear of the unknown/the new
There is stress and and anxiety created by failure (potential failure)
• Loss of respect and or face
• Loss of personal confidence and ability to achieve
• Not being good enough
Atelophobia
The Fear of Imperfection.
The Fear of Never Being Good Enough
this image shows a simple definition of
the correct term of being inferior and
of never being sufficient enough to
succeed this image explains simply and
clearly fear is present and assesment
causes anxiety though these can be
solved with time and experience during
the
study
period.
Assessment
Pressure
Re-sit
Fail
this image represents my feelings and
anxiety when thinking about my
work being assessed and the fact of
being scrutinized the notebook shows
the fears and the ultimate fears of
failure and being a dissapointment
to others
Falling behind
and failing
This photo shows a student who has
fallen behind on his work. Falling
behind and failing I believe is the
worst fear you can have through out
education. From past experience in
college I have learned that falling
behind is very stressful and catching
back up is just as bad. The mess on
the bed describes how his head is
feeling because when you have fallen
behind your head is a mess and you
will never do the optimum amount
of work.
My View
My
view
(Struggling,
Challenging,
Stressing,
Difficult
etc)
of
assessments..
Failure
Failure.
Feeling as if not good enough at
what you want to do.
Alone.
Feeling of you can't speak up or
voice out an opinion
Phase 1 Feedback October 2015 Level 4
Falling behind is the worst fear you can have
Fears of failure and being a disappointment to others
I’m going to feel like someone is shining a dirty great light right on
me…not exactly torture, but nowhere to run. My image is of me pulling my
best ‘screamy’ face
Hope it leads you to where you want to be, fear you wont succeed..the
fear and anxiety of getting work done on time
I fear that I will struggle and find it hard to juggle all of my work along
with my own social time
Being told I’ve made the wrong choice
I’m sending you a photo of three raisins……
Key Findings & Desires
An insight into the powerful personal and emotional impacts of assessment:
• The it’s only me syndrome - Assessment impacts in the following ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Personal health & well being;
A greater sense of failure in personal and educational life;
A fear to achieve/ of success;
Isolation
•
Creates a sense of failure and worthlessness; anonymity and invisibility within a
system = Greater ownership and personalisation of learning.
•
What’s the relevance? The gap between tutor/institution and student demands,
The perception of standards it’s just the fulfilment of assessment demands
that creates disruption inside and outside of education.
• Create a transparent understanding of these impacts at each transitional stage of
HE and to facilitate and measure these impacts
Second Phase Outcomes
Phase 2 Feedback March 2015
The middle of the Journey the Fear is somewhat diminished
Fear is being replaced by – worry, nervy, non better or worse, struggle
Worry (Fear) still includes these generic elements:
• Falling Behind
• Fear of the not meeting the known or will the parameters get worse, the
tasks harder
• Time management and workload – an assessment workout, fit(ness) for
purpose regime
There is continuing stress and and anxiety created by failure (potential failure)
This is now mixed:
• Loss/Gain of personal confidence and ability to achieve
• Not being good enough - mixed with the sense of achieving and
achievement
Still no subject comments
Hopeful
Horrendous
I still feel the slight worry about
assessment but I realised that
assessments can help me to improve
my work so I am hopeful
Shopping List
This image represents assessment for me
since i deal with my upcoming
assessments with lists to manage time
and
tasks
It’s chaotic
It's chaotic, messy and and all feels
extremely out of control. assessment
itself doesn't scare me just the
thought of failing myself.
A little help from
my friends..
Assessment..... The abject fear has
passed, but still get a bit nervy....
Nothing I can't handle with a little
help
from
my
friends
Balloon
When i think about assessment I feel
like my brain disappears leaving me
with head full of air, i can't
remember anything. Just like the
ballon.
Selected Respondents analysis Phase 2
Starting to emerge the emotive and anxiety backdrop to studies. The subject
studied has not featured in any commentary. These are the ambient concerns.
When I think about assessment my brain disappears leaving me with a
head full of air
Feels extremely out of control
Get my work done more efficiently so I also have more time to myself and
feel more free
Gain a buzz by working through the struggle
I was a caged bird
Second Phase Outcomes – 2016
Fitness for Purpose
Fitness First
Assessment, in my
mind, is a stop on a
long journey to some
where else
The red stop signal in the image represents,
to me, the assessment stage. This is when
one is required to stop or pause and present
work so far for evaluation, the stop light
represents danger to a train driver, I also see
assesments as a way of pointing out danger,
to highlight if i'm falling behind or not
producing good quality work so the
"journey" will not be completed.
The green signal obviously represents go
and, when I'm assessed, this is the signal I
would hope to see afterwards, to represent all
is well and I'm good to proceed, which is the
signal a train driver
3 sketchbooks 22
images
After thirteen weeks of hard work
this is the coursework I have
completed.
There are three sketchbooks and
twenty-two images spread over three
portfolios.
Workflow
I also think that further experience will
help me to become more organised in
my approach and workflow, making
the whole process slightly quicker.
I am happy with the results of the
assessment as it has given me more
confidence to produce and create work
in the future. I am pleased with the
volume of work I have managed to
produce and I feel I was able to
understand the assignment briefs quite
well.
Less Stress
Although I was a lot less stressed with
this semester/year's hand in as I was
aware of how I would be marked etc,
I felt as though I was rushing around
doing a lot of different things for
different modules as I was adamant I
wanted a first in each module. I was
also worried in the back of my mind
that the marking would be a lot
harsher due to being second year.
Man Mountain
I have chosen props which are
commonly linked to assessment such as
books. I have purposely placed the
books onto of one another,
emphasizing the amount of work to be
done.
By placing the subject next to these
props it highlights the amount due to it
equalling the height of the subject,
becoming a dominant force within the
frame.
Quitting
'When you feel like quitting, think
about why you started'
from a purely personal perspective, I'm finding
that as the course advances I'm less and less
concerned with how my work is marked, and
much more concerned with what I get out of
the process...
It's nice if something is well received but it's
not a primary concern, rather my own
opinion of the practical work I'm producing is
paramount.
Push yourself
Just take a look back at how far you
have come. Don't give up and keep
striving forward.
Push yourself harder and go that
extra mile
RNA
My Beautiful Cat
Every time i try to reflect on being
assessed I feel like I want to hide
somewhere very quite and get on
with my projects.
Just like my beautiful cat Khaleesi.
A key lesson learnt
Early intervention
Next steps
28 November 2014
Rich Exchanges
41
Bibliography:
Harper D (2002) Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation Visual
Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1, 13-26
Hurworth, R. & Sweeney, M. (1995) The Use of the Visual Image in a Variety
of Australian Evaluations. Evaluation Practice, 16, 2, 153-164.
Heisley D and Levey S.J (1991) Autodriving: A Photocollection Technique.
Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 257-272
Karen Rice, Sarah Primak, and Heather Girvin (2013) Through Their Eyes:
Using Photography with Youth Who Experienced Trauma
The Qualitative Report Volume 18, Article 52, 1-14