ART CRITICISM AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL

From the initial prequestionnaires on architecture, we discovered that students knew little about it. Their major response was "I don't know." A second way to determine the extent of students' preconceptions about architecture was to discuss a model with them through art criticism questions. Art criticism is a process of learning to look and talk about art (Feldman, 1970). The method has four stages: description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment. Plan the questions in advance and others will evolve during the discussion. Mr. W made a small, clay replica [adobe house].

DESCRIPTION & ANALYSIS

T, "What is this?"

Ss, "Shelter, storage place, and house."

T, "Made of what materials?"

Ss, "Clay balls, small logs [twigs] on roof, and pine needles on top."

T, "What is the house's dominant shape?"

Ss, "Rectangle."

S "I see circular balls and a triangular shape on the roof."

T, "What kind of texture?"

S, "Both bumpy with clay bricks and smooth at parts on the roof."

T, "What is the major color?"

Ss, "Off-white, gray."

T, "Is the house shape more 2-D or 3-D? What are the three dimensions?

They knew the term but forgot the names of the three dimensions [length, width, and depth].

TECHNICAL QUESTIONS

The most responses came from technical questions.

T, "Where does one start to build it?"

S. "At the bottom."

T, "You mean at the "foundation."

T, "How do you build up the clay bricks?

S, "Modern people today use cement."

T, "How high to build the house?"

S, "[The roof] should be higher than a person."

T, "How to build the roof?"

S, "With sticks?"

Students knew little of roof construction.The instructor then directed their attention to the cross-layering of logs, another layer of plant material for insulation, and the top layer of desert clay mud [caliche]

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INTERPRETATION

T, "What does this work mean to us?"

S, "It's for shelter, storage."

T, "What symbols do you find? For example a lion means courage."

Ss, "Our home, for family, and strength."

JUDGMENT

T, "Why was this house important? Is it photographically real, expresses an emotion or idea, unique form or building style, its function or use?

S, "Useful to sleep in or to store things."

[Art Criticism lasted about 20 minutes, due to outside interruptions at the door.]

WHAT OTHER QUESTIONS CAN YOU ASK?

HOW ELSE WOULD YOU CONDUCT THIS ART CRITICISM LESSON?

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Students from (Darlene Ritter's) Tavan Elementary School in Scottsdale discuss the architectural model.

REFERENCES

Feldman, E. (1970). Becoming human through art. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Mittler, G. (1986). Art in focus. Peoria, IL: Glencoe.

More responses came from technical questions.

Next, I asked where does one start to build it? They knew "at the bottom." I introduced the word "foundation." This followed with questions about how to attach the clay bricks, how high to build it, and how to build the roof. Students knew that modern people today use cement and that the roof should be higher than a person, but they knew little of roof construction. Then I encouraged students to interpret the house. I asked, "What does this work mean to us?" Responses included: It's for shelter, storage. What symbols do you find? After several examples, they answered their home, for family, and strength. Finally, the class discussed its importance, The majority of students (hand raising) found it was mostly useful to sleep in or to store things. [Art Criticism lasted about 20 minutes, due to outside interruptions at the door.]