BENCHMARK POTS

[Stokrocki, M. (2005). Reconsidering Everyday Assessment in the Art Classroom: Ceramics and Science. Journal of Policy Studies in Art Education.

 

This site consists of clay pottery, pinched pots, coiled pots, test tiles, and slab animals, with which teachers and students could compare stages of their production (Stokrocki, 2003). Boughton (2004) refers to these examples as benchmarks, samples of student work selected by moderators to exemplify specific levels of achievement. The work samples clearly indicate the limits of performance within each level (p. 596). The first pots were pinched without instruction and studentscompared what they learned to their coiled pots, the next ones that they constructed. Test tiles showed results of their glaze calculations, and clay animals were made for fun and not graded.

 

 

PREPOTS: FIRST POTS - NO INSTRUCTION

Include a pretest without any teaching. Students and teachers need to see growth from their first art piece to their last. Here are one class's examples of pinch pots and problems:bases too heavy, walls are too thin (need to be at least 1/2"thick), uneven, wobbly, and rims are sloppy. To assess the pots, sit with them and discuss the clear criteria [even thickness, smooth walls, balanced] improving questioning, and providing feedback. To solve problems: Embed problem documenting and measuring tools (calipers) in everyday lessons. One student said, "Start over, make the walls thicker. Remember to slip & score clay so it won't explode [get air bubbles in it."

 

POST TEST: COMPARE THE FIRST POT WITH THE NEXT ONE

Discuss one thing that worked [a success], one thing that didn't work [a problem], and one thing to do differently [a solution]. Make the coils about one half-inch thick with even thickness. Connect each coil using the process of slip (adding clay like glue) and score (texturing the clay so parts grip together), and add color.

I borrowed Davies (2003) categories of confirmation, consolidation, and integration of new knowledge to encourage students to evaluate their learning. Students were asked to confirm briefly what they learned by explaining their problems and giving some evidence for their choices. They were able to partially consolidate, a way of reducing and combining, their answers. To get students to integrate new knowledge, encourage them ask questions, compare processes, and form conclusions.

ALTERNATIVE CHOICE QUESTIONS: Important considerations as you examine your pot are (a) the bottom too thin or thick, (b) the weight of the pot--too heavy or light, c) the glaze too thick or too thin, and d) the decoration too crowded, too boring, or needs texture?

Pinch Pot is the first one: coil pot is the next pot.

A. [Male pot: pinched, coiled]

Criteria for Judging coil pottery Explain one thing that worked, one thing that didn't work, and one thing to do differently. Consider craftsmanship: even density of walls from 1/4 to 1/2" thick. Use a caliper to measure thickness. Consider added pattern--repeated lines and shapes: too much or not enough. also consider the e xpressive qualities: What symbols & motifs? What do they mean? Think about use of color: In the tradition of natural ceramics, color accentuates the clay. It does not hide it. Consider glaze quality [shiny or dull]. Engobe glaze is not shiny. Glaze that is underfired is dull.

One thing that worked: Students responded: Good density (coil), 1/2"; kind a; good ping-- a high pitch, My engobe is darker than the regular clay (contrast) A wavy line for water and fish; I used a fish & bubbles pattern because I am a swimmer (Monica); leaves mean nature (ahmad); zigzags & feathersÑdonÕt mean anything (Michele); stars and circle pattern (John--no meaning); Added man in the maze and my coil pot has a face (Chandra).

One thing that didn't work: Students responded: My pinch pot falls down and needs to be thicker. [He shaved the base for balance]; walls too skinny; uneven density; Different thickness at top; coil is thinner at the bottom. You can't see the different colors of clay underneath because the clear glaze hides them. Glaze looks underfired--too dull. Engobe was too thick.

One thing to do differently: Students responded: Make coil thicker, even, and the top flatter. Make coils consistent (too thick). Smooth coils; My glaze is dark blue on my coil pot and is missing on the rim that I will re-glaze (for consistency. Make my glaze consistent; use another color than clear (safe or timid).

 

RESULTS

Most comments pertained to craftsmanship and the concern for even density, a term that they learned. Three students referred to the pitch of a pot as high as a sign of a pots density. Technical qualities are the first things they understand and the facts that teachers Students mostly identified their glazes correctly as matt and clear or engobe -- clay color, but were disappointed that the glaze color was uneven. I reiterated that they must stir the glaze from the bottom. They indirectly learned that glaze is not paint. They recognized inconsistency of color and realized that they need to glaze with the same color inside the pot. Pattern was not relevant to them and used them sparingly or timidly because they were unimportant at the beginning of the course. They basically described them and chose simple, easy ones. Teachers should encourage pattern development. Although I required that they make 3 different types of patterns, they choose the easy ones. Later, I required more advanced ones, such as radial (floor plan).

 

a. Restate questions and concepts in different ways and prompt for quality answers.

Mary: Explain one thing that didn't work [a problem].

John: [The pinch pot] it's cracked and lopsided. I didn't re-enforce it [at the bottom].

Mary: Discuss one thing to do differently [a solution].

John: Add more clay to bottom?

Mary: No, the clay will crack. What is another way to solve this problem?

John: Wet it [the clay] and slip and score. Redo it.

Mary: Discuss one thing that worked with your coil pot?

John: It came out right.

Mary: Please explain what you mean: Consistent thickness, even rim?

John: Consistent thickness, flat at top, thicker at base.

Mary: Why thicker at the bottom?

John: For balance.

 

B [Male coil to left, unside down pinched to right]

Clarify and elaborate their answers:

Mary: Elaborate on what you said. Be specific about what you observed.

Students: Clay changes into stone; the color changes; it expands.

Mary: No, clay actually shrinks because it loses water.

 

C. [Female pots:coiled in front, pinched in rear]

 

D. [Female pots: coiled in rear with scratched design in clay engobe and pinched to right with sgraffito design]

Justify their answers:

Mary: How do you know that the clay has changed its stage?

Students: I can't make it [the pot] clay anymore.

 

Post-questionnaires

All eleven students ansered that ceramics is the study of clay, glazes, rocks, and firing. They also reported ideas about science, such as "asking questions, making hypohisis (sic), how to find knowledge, and how everything works." Students conveyed understanding that demonstrates professional knowledge according to State Standard #8 (Arizona State Art Teaching Standards, 2003) .

c. Generate new knowledge and understanding. The following discussion accompanied a raku firing in the ceramics department on the next day. Students wanted to see how hot the kiln was. Rico, a ceramic technician, opened the kiln door and students saw the red hot pots and felt the blast of hot air. They gained direct sensory knowledge. ·

d. Invite student questions. Students ask Rico: Student: How do you fire it? Rico: The initial [oxidation] firing is the same, but the oxygen is reduced when the pot is placed into [the can of] newspapers and covered with a lid. Student: Where does the smoke go? Rico: The vent takes out smoke and bad fumes. The burning newspaper makes carbon that goes into the clay and makes it gray or black. [He let them touch the pot as soon as it was cooled down with water.] Look in the kiln and tell me why the shelves are elevated off the bottom? Student: So the clay won't burn on the bottom? Rico: No, look at my gesture [swinging my arm around]. The oxygen has to? Student: Circulate? Rico: Yes, this is part of the physics of firing. Student: Why do this [raku firing]? Rico: To get a variety of metallic effects on the pot's surface. Student: Can I drink out of it? Rico: You would have to glaze it first. Student: How long does it take to cool down? Rico: It takes as long as it took to fire--usually over night. Student: When are you going to fire my pot? Rico: As soon as it's completely dry, and I'll know it is dry when it is not cool to the touch.

e. Find comparisons and exceptions: Mary: In what ways are these firing events [oxidation and raku] the same? Student: The clay is pre-fired. Mary: How is the process different? Student: This [raku] process is shorter; it seems hotter; why didn't you fire your pot first? Rico: Because it has been drying in the hot Arizona sun all day and if it explodes, I will destroy only my pot [exception] and not others. Also I can control the process. ·

f. Encourage debate and different reasoning: Student: The clay is harder? Rico: No, the clay is weaker because the temperature is lower. We make lots of mistakes. I'll throw this demonstration pot away. Student: Don't throw the pot away; I want to keep it because of the beautiful colors. Mary: Anyone want to argue with this reasoning? No one was interested in debate at this point. Mary: What relationships between firing processes do you see? Student: Use different fuels. Why does it take so long? Mary: Water evaporates and the clay turns into stone, a chemical change. The water and hydrogen [H2O] changes its chemical formula. What is this process called? Student: Vitification [sic; vitrification] to heat like glass.

g. Form conclusions: Mary: What can we conclude? Students: Firing is a lot of work. Firing takes a long time. It's too hot and clay shrinks. Firing is an experiment that doesn't always work. Glaze protects or beautifies clay. So it will hold water. Mary: Yes, some potters glaze fire several times for different effects.

 

REFERENCES

Boughton, Doug. (2004). Assessing Art Learning in Changing Contexts: High-stakes Accountability, International Standards, and Changing Conceptions of Artistic Development. In Elliot Eisner & Michael Day (Eds.).Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education. Sage. Mahwah, NJ

Davies, Anne. (2003). Learning through Assessment: Assessment for Learning in the Science Classroom. In J. M. Atkin and J. Coffey (Eds.). Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.

Mary Stokrocki (2006) Copywright