Field          Arts and Crafts

 

Review of Art History Level 2 achievement and unit standards

 

Unit standards

Subfield

Domain

ID

Visual Arts

Art History

5798-5802, 10963, 10964

 

Achievement standards

Domain

ID

Subject reference

Art History

90227

Art History 2.1

90228

Art History 2.2

90229

Art History 2.3

90230

Art History 2.4

90231

Art History 2.5

90232

Art History 2.6

 

The Ministry of Education and NZQA National Qualifications Services have completed the review of the achievement and unit standards listed above.

 

New Registration date                           November 2011

 

Date new versions published             November 2011

 

Planned review date                              December 2014

 

Summary of review and consultation process

 

In 2008 the Ministry of Education (MoE) and NZQA began to review achievement and unit standards in light of the revised New Zealand Curriculum (NZC).  This Alignment of Standards (AoS) review also addressed duplication of outcomes, credit parity, fairness, consistency, and coherence.  The AoS review was guided by the revised NZC itself and the Principles for Standards Review.  A copy of the NZC is available at: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.

 

Teacher subject associations were involved in the review, and draft achievement standards were the focus of wide consultation, especially with secondary schools and teachers.  Extensive resources, including student exemplars, were also developed to support these standards, and are available on the MoE and/or the NZQA websites.

 

The review of unit standards included consultation with tertiary providers to assess continued relevance and likely future use of the standards.  Unit standards that duplicate achievement standard outcomes and those without the likelihood of future tertiary use were recommended for expiry.

 

National consultation was undertaken in 2010, with the results analysed by Research New Zealand.  The responses were generally positive.

 

The review of these Level 2 unit and achievement standards was completed in time for implementation in schools in 2012.  The review of unit and achievement standards at Level 1 was completed in time for implementation in schools in 2011.  Standards at Level 3 will be implemented in 2013.

 

Main changes resulting from the review

 

·         All NZC Level 7 (NZQF Level 2) outcomes derived from the NZC are now assessed using achievement standards, and there are no longer any unit standards linked to the NZC.

·         Existing achievement standards were reviewed and new achievement standards were developed to align with the NZC.  See table below.

·         Grading criteria for achievement standards were reviewed in accordance with the Standards Review Guidelines.

·         Unit standards that recognised similar outcomes as achievement standards were replaced or recommended for expiry.  See table below.

 

For a more detailed description of the review of, and the changes to, the Art History standards see the appendix at the end of this report.

 

Impact on Consent and Moderation Requirements (CMR)

(Formerly known as AMAP)

 

All new achievement standards were registered on CMR 0233.

 

Impact of changes on NCEA Exclusions List

 

For transition purposes, the following exclusions will apply for new achievement standards.

 

Achievement standard

Excluded against each of these standards

91180 (2.1)

90227

91181 (2.2)

90228

91182 (2.3)

5800, 90230

91183 (2.4)

90229

91184 (2.5)

5802, 90231

91185 (2.6)

5799

91186 (2.7)

5801, 90232

 

Review Categories and changes to classification, title, level, and credits

 

The following summary shows the changes made to the standards as a result of the review.  All changes are in bold.  Where a new or a new version of an externally assessed achievement standard is registered, the following designation appears after the title [Externally Assessed].

 

Key to review category

A

Dates changed, but no other changes are made - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number

B

Changes made, but the overall outcome remains the same - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number

C

Major changes that necessitate the registration of a replacement achievement standard with a new ID

D

Achievement standard will expire and not be replaced

 

Externally assessed achievement standards categorised as category C expire at the end of

December 2011

 

Internally assessed achievement standards and unit standards categorised as category C or D expire at the end of

December 2012

 

Arts and Crafts > Visual Arts > Art History

ID

Title

Level

Credit

Review Category

5798

Examine and compare art works

2

6

D

5799

91185

Communicate responses to art

Communicate a considered personal response to art works

2

2

4

4

C

5800

 

90230

91182

Investigate art within cultural and/or social contexts

Examine an art movement

Examine the influence of context(s) on art works [Externally Assessed]

2

 

2

2

6

 

4

4

C

 

C

5801

90232

91186

Examine art in the environment

Examine art works in their environmental contexts

Demonstrate understanding of art works in relation to their physical environments

2

2

2

4

4

4

C

C

5802

 

90231

91184

Gather and process information and apply it to a selected art history topic

Research an art history topic

Communicate understanding of an art history topic

2

 

2

2

4

 

4

4

C

 

C

10963

Investigate an art movement

2

6

D

10964

Examine iconography in art

2

4

D

90227

91180

Discuss art works

Examine the effects of formal elements of art works [Externally Assessed]

2

2

4

4

C

90228

91181

Examine subjects and themes in art

Examine the meanings conveyed by art works [Externally Assessed]

2

2

4

4

C

90229

91183

Examine techniques used in art

Examine how media are used to create effects in art works

2

2

4

4

C

Appendix

 

Development of L2 Standards

 

Process of Aligning Standards with the New Zealand Curriculum

The process began with analysing the curriculum document to determine where Art History sat within the curriculum ie Visual Arts.  A draft essence statement was developed to determine the essential concepts and skills of the subject.  The key competencies were then linked to Art History teaching practice.  Existing achievement standards and unit standards were audited against the achievement objectives in the Visuals Arts curriculum and against the key competencies.  New achievement standards were then developed based on this audit and in response to feedback from interest groups.

 

The content of the achievement standards was therefore updated to ensure alignment with the Visual Arts strands: 'Communicating and Interpreting' and 'Understanding the Arts in Context'.  Many of the Level 7 achievement objectives such as 'Use critical analysis to interpret and respond to art works', and 'Research and analyse how art works are constructed and presented to communicate meanings' are relevant to the study of Art History and align closely with art historical skills.

Some of the skills assessed in unit standards 5798, 5800, 5801, 5802, 10963, and 10964 were incorporated into the newly developed Level 2 achievement standards.  Where the new achievement standards recognise similar skills to those recognised by the unit and achievement standards, this is reflected in the replacement relationships.

 

Addressing Credit Parity

The credit weightings for the Level 2 achievement standards remain unchanged with each standard worth 4 credits.  This recognises the equal importance of each of the assessed outcomes and also reflects the equivalence of work anticipated for each standard.

 

External and Internal Assessment

Seven Level 2 Art History standards were developed: three are externally assessed and four are internally assessed.  It is not expected that students will be assessed against all of these standards.  The removal of the 24 credit limit at each level of the Art History matrix provides a wider range of internal standards for teachers and students to select from; and also enables teachers to decide on a suitable balance of external and internal assessment.

 

What has changed?

 

All of the newly developed Level 2 Art History achievement standards now include a single achievement criterion so that a single learning outcome is assessed.  For example, AS91183 (2.4) Examine how media are used to create effects in art works requires students to 'Examine how media are used to create effects…' for the Achieved grade and to 'Examine perceptively how media are used to create effects...' for the Excellence grade.  This change clarifies the criteria for assessment.  Where comparisons are made in the following paragraphs, these comparisons are between the reviewed standards and the newly developed standards.

 

2.1 Examine the effects of formal elements of art works (AS91180)

 

The phrase 'formal elements' in this standard replaces 'key characteristics' in the replaced AS90227 for consistency with the terminology used in the newly developed Level 1 standards.  This standard focuses on students demonstrating their ability to examine properties of art works such as colour and composition.

 

2.2 Examine the meanings conveyed by art works (AS91181)

 

The broader term 'meanings' in this standard replaces the phrase 'subject matter and themes' in the replaced AS90228.  This enables a broader discussion of the meanings conveyed by art works.

 

2.3 Examine the influence of context(s) on art works (AS91182)

 

AS90230 Examine an art movement (2.4) and unit standard 5800, Investigate art within cultural and/or social contexts, were replaced by this standard which focuses on the influence of contexts on art works rather than focusing on context and art movements.

 

2.4 Examine how media are used to create effects in art works (AS91183)

 

The term 'media' in this standard replaces the term 'techniques' in the replaced AS90229.  In this standard, the term 'media' is more broadly defined as 'the materials and/or medium and/or technical means used to create art works'.  This definition enables a wider range of approaches to be explored, eg the effects of paint application through to the effects created by digital media.

 

2.5 Communicate understanding of an art history topic (AS91184)

 

The intent of this standard is similar to that of the replaced AS90231 Research an art history topic (2.5), but the steps in undertaking research (including the term 'Develop a research plan...') are no longer included in the achievement criteria.  The replacement standard instead focuses on students communicating understanding of the art history topic.  Some elements of a research approach are nevertheless required and are stated in the explanatory notes, eg 'selecting and processing relevant information'.  These changes enable more holistic assessment of students' work.

 

This standard also replaced unit standard 5802, Gather and process information and apply it to a selected art history topic.

 

2.6 Communicate a considered personal response to art works (AS91185)

 

This standard is a newly developed standard; it replaces unit standard 5799, Communicate responses to art, but it does not replace any of the reviewed standards.  The standard focuses on student responses to art works.  Assessment against this standard could involve discussion of art works seen at exhibitions or, for example, art works accessible in local communities.

 

2.7 Demonstrate understanding of art works in relation to their physical environments (AS91186)

 

This standard replaces AS90232 and unit standard 5801.  The term 'physical environment' distinguishes the focus of this standard from the 'contexts' focus of AS91182  Examine the influence of context(s) on art works (2.3).