Part of an artist’s soul exists in their every creation. So why are we treating them as if they are devoid of emotion? We need to get back to having a conversation about art with our students, rather than discussing the back of a photograph.
This is how we grade student artwork everyday. We write down critical thoughts, both good and bad, about student artwork without ever showing examples. But what is worse is that we take one step even further back from this conversation, by writing down our thoughts so the students cannot even hear the inflection in our voices.
Video feedback is a way to walk around to the front of the photograph so we can have a conversation about the artwork. Not only can we show them what has been done well, and what has not, but they can also hear our voices and understand the inflection in our critiques. With video I have the ability to model good practices in Photoshop while discussing them. I can also control the sequence of information as it is passed along to the students, and if need be, I can include a rubric for more concrete information.
This is how we grade student artwork everyday. We write down critical thoughts, both good and bad, about student artwork without ever showing examples. But what is worse is that we take one step even further back from this conversation, by writing down our thoughts so the students cannot even hear the inflection in our voices.
Video feedback is a way to walk around to the front of the photograph so we can have a conversation about the artwork. Not only can we show them what has been done well, and what has not, but they can also hear our voices and understand the inflection in our critiques. With video I have the ability to model good practices in Photoshop while discussing them. I can also control the sequence of information as it is passed along to the students, and if need be, I can include a rubric for more concrete information.
The Broad Strokes
Who was Being Studied?
The participants in this research project were 7th and 8th grade photography students; none of whom began with any formal training in photography. The population was approximately 60 male and female students. It is important to note that not all of the students completed each homework assignment promptly, and only the students who turned their work in on time received video feedback for that assignment.
What was Being Studied?
So, what is this video feedback then? The video feedback was a screencast displaying student work, a rubric and containing my voiceover explaining what I found to be their successes and challenges. It was my hope that by displaying the work and recording my thoughts on it, I would be able to review the nuances that make up each individual work of art. It was my hope that this personalized and detailed message would then help increase their interest in the subject and their photographic abilities. Examples of the screencasts can be found here: Screencast
Where and When did This Take Place?
These studies took place in Westchester County, NY during the 2012-2013 school year. The students were part of a college preparatory independent school. They had access to laptops, photoshop elements and digital cameras.
Why Does This Research Matter?
Video feedback matters because it is an improved way to help art students learn. The traditional rubrics do not provide detailed (or nuanced) enough information for the art student and portfolio reviews, while providing the best quality of feedback, is challenging in the amount of time they take and scheduling. Screencasting for video feedback allows the instructor to provide the quality of feedback they normally would during a portfolio review, while providing them more flexibility in their schedule. This creates a beneficial scenario for both the instructor and the students.
The Overall Research Question for this study:
How will the implementation of video formatted, multimodal feedback, affect my photography student’s development as artists?
Cycle 1 was designed to be a general test of video feedback's effectiveness before increasing the complexity of the cycles.
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In Cycle 2, a rubric was given when the assignment was introduced in the hopes of clarifying the project goals.
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This cycle presented the same rubric at the end of the project for assessment purposes. It also looked at student opinions of the rubric's format.
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Cycle 4 used the feedback from cycle 3 to improve the rubric, and it offered an optional mid-point critique during the assignment.
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This cycle tested the students interest in the photo sharing website Voicethread.com and it looked into group work for assignments.
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In Cycle 6 the rubric was modified on the principles of Cognitive Load Theory and the student groups we reduced to pairs.
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This cycle used video feedback to assess student's written work. The videos utilized a rubric to clarify the spoken feedback.
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This final cycle continued to use video feedback for written work, but the video also incorporated written corrections on the student work.
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