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• Anne Dymond, University of Lethbridge

Assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning; however, it is often unexamined or left to individual course instructors. Queries about what constitutes meaningful, inclusive, or transformative assessment can support our innovative teaching practices and approaches to curriculum renewal. Such reconsiderations are integral to overall program development, to envisioning and meeting learning outcomes, and to diversifying the discipline in meaningful ways. Topics that consider specific learning activities and assessments would be of interest, such as ungrading, contract grading, labour-based grading, peer assessment, or teaching writing in the era of ChatGPT. We are particularly interested in papers that move from specifics of assignments to broader considerations of the role of assessment in efforts to decolonize and diversify the discipline; or of the relation of discipline-specific skills to desired outcomes framed in terms of marketable skills and careers, the holistic development of the learner, or educating for social and ecological responsibility.

keywords: pedagogy, assessment, learning outcomes

session type: panel

Labour-Based Grading in the Art History Classroom: Lessons in Trying to Create a More Equitable and Inclusive Classroom

• Devon Smither, University of Lethbridge

Labour-based grading, sometimes referred to as contract grading, is a type of grading assessment in which grades are based on the amount of labour that is agreed upon between students and the instructor. This grading method focuses on learning as labour, rather than the &quality& of the work that is produced. In the 2022-2023 academic year, I implemented labour-based grading in my five upper-level art history courses. In this presentation I will outline the core principles of labour-based grading, offer examples of how I implemented this assessment format in my courses, discuss the successes and challenges that I faced using this method, including student feedback. This presentation will encourage attendees to reflect on the role that assessment and grading play in their pedagogy and offer an introduction to the ways that labour-based grading can build equity and inclusion in the classroom. How can a reappraisal of our grading schemas help us innovate our assignments and assessments? How does a reconsideration of our assessment practices also lead to a reconsideration of the learning outcomes in our discipline?

keywords: grading, assessment, labour, innovative pedagogy

Decolonizing the Studio Critique in the Visual Art Classroom

• Christine D’Onofrio, University of British Columbia

The critique is a highly used signature pedagogy in Visual Art classrooms, but it has developed a somewhat notorious reputation. Rooted in mythical ideals of the art academy, it often emphasizes formal description ‘neutrality’ that is fraught with bias, dispensing an authority-driven educational practice performed during a vulnerable moment in the creative process. Its unchallenged facilitation enables institutional racism, (Chavez, 2020) puts students in an adversarial relation to the world, (hooks, 2003) and fails to negotiate diverse subject-positions, references, methods and histories. Yet the critique continues to be a dominant evaluative device for learning, (Unkefer, 2021) through peer and faculty feedback about their work. This paper questions if this commonly accepted method is still useful to responding to our present condition, or if its presumed ideological framework has expired. (Latour, 2004) I will narrate my exploration of reimagining critique formats in my classroom with the goal of decolonizing approaches. I focused on process, community and transformation in an aim to reshape the experience in a welcoming environment. However, more complex potentials of active learning-unlearning-relearning (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018) were left unexplored. Unsettling the system by separating what is coerced from knowledge, exposing the conditions of accessibility, (Butler, 2002) can negotiate a purposeful act of decolonizing. Decolonizing is a necessarily unstable, difficult and irresolute process, as one’s identifications, positions and assertions are recognized as only some among others. In this context, critique is a means to negotiate conflict, in an interrogatory or investigatory conviviality (DeSouza, 2018).

keywords: studio critique, decolonizing, community, reflective

Reassessing Assessment: Alternative Grading Strategies in the Art History Classroom

• Tracey Eckersley, University of Wyoming

Like many instructors, I have observed students’ increased disengagement with course material post-COVID. While I have always included active learning assignments and gamification to accommodate students of different abilities and interests, this year I focused on explaining why I am teaching what I do—in syllabi, class lectures, and assignment prompts I now describe why students need to learn the material in relation to course objectives, the changing field of art history, and their own academic and professional goals; this approach has also helped me create more meaningful assignments with clearer instructions. I did not, however, revise my traditional rubric-based grading system. This disconnect became apparent at a recent teaching retreat at which we focused on the challenges of timely grading and having students use feedback constructively. As a result, I have reformulated how I grade assignments based on why students are doing them and am now incorporating a variety of techniques including peer-evaluation, student-driven progress reports, “ungrading” strategies, and creative assessment activities. These will not only allow me to respond to students more quickly but will also grant them more agency in their learning process.

keywords: studio critique, decolonizing, community, reflective

Orienting Assessment to Social Outcomes and Pedagogies of Repair

• Jillian Lerner, University of British Columbia

What kind of assessments are appropriate for social justice pedagogies and community-engaged learning? Reorientations are urgently needed as we turn from mastery education (a banking model of content and knowledge acquisition) to depth education that expands the affective and relational dimensions of learning (Andreotti) and aligns academic learning pathways with life and communities beyond. The question of how we measure learning requires a broader inquiry into the learning processes and outcomes we hope to foster as we strive to decolonize our field and educate for human responsibility: what aspects of thinking and relating, what study behaviours, social attitudes, and dispositions for life-long learning will our instructional activities and assessment tasks lead students to practice and develop? I will address the challenges of integrated learning design (working backwards from objectives to activities and assessments) and present my evolving research on models of "authentic assessment," relational success criteria, formative feedback, reflective practice, and qualitative data gathering that suit my pedagogical work in reparative histories of art and photography. My teaching practices aim to nourish students' capacities for self-reflexivity, cultural humility, and social responsibility as they contribute to storywork in meaningful engagements with artifacts, archives, and community partners. I will share my questions and findings about approaches that serve to both cultivate and evaluate these affective, social, and place-based dimensions of learning.

keywords: social justice pedagogies, relational accountability

Engaging with ChatGPT: Critical AI Literacy in the Art History Classroom

• Emilie Brancato & Lori Riva, OCAD University

Generative AI (GAI) applications have become mainstream at a pivotal moment, as artists and art historians continue to navigate shifts in educational practice resulting from COVID and critical conversations around racism, appropriation and representation. Furthermore, GAI troubles long held assumptions about how creativity and communication (written or visual) are valued and assessed (Armstrong 2023; Thaker 2023) and unsettles existing definitions of plagiarism (Eaton 2023). Questions around neo-colonial data gathering practices (Couldry & Mejia 2019), monoculturality (Rettburg, 2022) and the social and environmental impacts of GAI (Bender, et al. 2021) implicate ongoing conversations about bias, equity and representation. Students and faculty co-constructing critical AI literacy will be a key strategy to navigate these complexities responsibly and ethically, yet where and how do these conversations fit into discipline-specific courses like art history? What would an assignment or classroom activity consider when asking students to critically explore their relationship to the technology and how they plan to use it? How can a GAI app like ChatGPT be used to initiate critical dialogue in a first-year art history survey course?

Assignments related to formal and contextual analyses present ideal opportunities to explore these questions. A tool like ChatGPT could arguably demystify relevant writing and research conventions yet could also prevent students from acquiring important critical and analytical skills, if overused. Drawing on translingual and anti-racist pedagogies, this presentation articulates some theoretical considerations and shares a specific visual analysis assignment to demonstrate how art historians can develop critical AI literacy (Bali, April 1,2023) and engage with ChatGPT in a way that, as Maha Bali says, “helps build trust and belonging [between students and faculty] rather than mistrust and suspicion.” (April 16, 2023)

keywords: art history, generative AI, critical AI literacy, anti-racist pedagogy, art pedagogy