VTG+Reviews+Compiled

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 * AP Studio Art VTG Reviews **

**__What works well in current guide (items to keep): __** (items in bold were mentioned more than once) · The presentation of **lessons that work at different skill levels** and **examples of actual student work**. · The guide presents a model of a well-supported, multi-level program that has a sequential, spiraling curriculum. · The lists of artists that accompanied the lessons is an important inclusion · **The guide works to help teachers understand at what level students should be performing**. We use the guide as examples and non-examples for students to help set the bar for excellence. · The guide on sketchbooks seemed useful. · The discussion of critiques is essential.

**__What isn’t working well in current guide (items to change): __** · Many works seem to be rather **arbitrarily assigned to emerging, proficient, or advanced**; some examples were stronger than others. · **The sections near the end seem tacked on and the organization is a bit random feeling**. · **Most of the lessons were focused on technique and not on how to create a strong piece of art.** · I found it surprising that the lessons were presented as examples of possible assignment topics without addressing the underlying issues of composition, values, focal point development, exploration of depth, textural shifts. If a teacher was to give her students an assignment about portraiture without first addressing how to create a dynamic composition, how to create a sense of space, how to manipulate value, to name just a few issues, most of her students’ resulting work would be weak, at any grade level.

**__Further suggestions for changes/additions: __** · On page 3, when the phrase “habits of mind” is used, I wonder if something about commitment to the process shouldn’t also be included. · The aspect of academic honesty or appropriation of images would be a beneficial addition. · It might prove interesting to have some added essays introduced into the guide from leaders in the art education field to address various approaches to curriculum in relationship to sequential learning from middle to advanced levels in secondary school. · The descriptions of lessons should be explicit about how to teach visual thinking and compositional skills. The focus of the projects is too often only on technique, not what makes a strong piece in that technique. · Many students don’t know how to choose a topic for their concentration. There were many complaints at the reading this year about the poor quality of the 3D work being submitted and the poor attempt to create an EXPLORATION of a topic in the concentrations. · **I think more information is needed in writing for locating information at AP Central.** · Another aspect of digital imagery to consider would be the use of the drawing tablet for artistic expression in the drawing portfolio. · **Since the portfolio is now predominantly digital, I think that the change of format and its implications should be covered.** · The trend in college art and design studies is more interdisciplinary than it had been. Since the ability to successfully navigate the complexity of the interdisciplinary means that students need skills in a number of visual disciplines, this might be brought up as an “advanced” possibility. · **The guide needs updating to include more contemporary artists.** There is also a major trend in art education and education in general to include social justice issues into the various curricula. · Needs more lesson ideas from digital 2D. · Webb’s theory of knowledge and 21st Century Skills need to be addressed. · **More information about design, computer programs, computer drawing tools and the proper use of such tools in the drawing portfolio, more contemporary artists on the list,** contemporary design samples, and appropriate Pre-AP and AP Art vocabulary lists would be wonderful. · Add more 3D projects that are low-cost or cost-free (paper, wire, wood, cardboard, nylon, papier-mache, newspaper, tape, found objects, and non-conventional materials.  · It may not be clear enough for some teachers how to develop strategies to bring their students from one level (emerging, proficient) to the next level. The ideas are addressed more completely in the lesson ideas than in the portfolio lesson sketches.   · We need a published list of the elements and principles of design that we can all agree on. If you compare five art books, you’ll come up with five different lists. These principles need to be defined and perhaps explained how they are used differently in the three portfolios.   · Perhaps add tabs on the edges of different sections.   · I would put the lesson ideas with the section they relate to instead of at the end, and add some methods of conducting critiques for teachers since many teachers have difficulties with that process. · I think that publishing a portion of the student’s concentration statement would help the viewer see this from the student’s point of view. It would also reinforce the place that writing and criticism plays. · In the 3D section, I would try to find one example of installation work. · It is not clear how the artists can be used. · The resource materials and guides are clear, but they didn’t seem to flow from the previous section in terms of readability. · The newest Bloom’s Taxonomy should be used in the revision of the VTG.