TEP419: Assessment in Creative Arts, English and HSIE INTRODUCTION It is essential that students are given the opportunity

to explore and experiment with sound and making their own music. Christensens (1992) states, the music composition process...is a powerful means for developing elementary music, students ability to perceive what is musical about music, their ability to engage in collaborative musical production, and their metacognitive awareness of the composition process. The creative aspect is as important to the understanding of music as listening to and performing the music of others, (Sinclair C., Jeanneret, N. & O Toole, J. 2009) Hence, the reason for establishing the following assessment task: Compose a song to the tune of a well-known repertoire of your choice that tells your class about the current issues within the Antarctic continent. PRIOR LEARNING This assessment task has been designed for a stage 3, year 6 class and is based on their HSIE unit of work, Current Issues: Antarctica. Students have previously explored the following concepts: Learning Sequence 1: The place- Where it is, what is like? Learning Sequence 2: Significant events in, and interaction with, the Antarctic. Learning Sequence 3: Human involvement with the Antarctic-the impact and the decisions. Learning Sequence 4: Decision-making and the Antarctic.

Additionally, students are required to draw on their previous knowledge from Creative Arts (music) to explore the elements and concepts of music within the nature of their composed songs, such as: Duration: Rhythm, Beat, Accent and Tempo Pitch: Melody and Harmony. Tone Colour: Voice. Dynamics: Pattern of intensity and the volume of sound. Texture: Layering of voices to create a thin or full feeling.
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Structure: Verse, Chorus, Phrase, Theme and Motif. Style: Relating the category of the song based on their overarching patterns and conventions.

The students will be assessed on their ability to recall facts about the unique Antarctic continent through creating a song with application of the elements and concepts in their previous Creative Arts lessons.

Syllabus outcome(s)

Indicators of learning

ENS3.6 Explains how various beliefs and practices influence the ways in which people interact with, change and value their environment.

Examines factors that may give rise to different views about the care of places.

Evaluates alternative views about the use of natural and built environments. Examines how natural, cultural, religious, historical, economic and political factors can influence peoples interactions with environments.

Identifies the different viewpoints of groups and individuals about the uses of land.

Examines issues associated with differing values about natural and built environments.

Expresses a personal point of view on an environmental issue.

Students will learn about: Patterns of human involvement and use of environment Effects of human and natural changes to the environment Ecologically sustainable development of environments Different perspectives about the maintenance and improvement of environment.
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(Board of Studies, NSW (2007). Human Society and Its Environment K-6 Syllabus. Sydney, NSW: Board of Studies, NSW).

Performing: MUS3.1 Sings, plays and moves to a range of music, individually and in groups, demonstrating a knowledge of musical concepts. Sings songs demonstrating a greater awareness of beat, pitch, tone colour and structure. Explores basic aspects of musical concepts in their singing, e.g. varying dynamics and dynamic contrasts, varying tempo and tempo contrasts, varying the beat, exploring repertoire in different metres and using different rhythm patterns, changing voice to change tone colour, arranging musical material into different structures. Explores aspects of musical concept in singing to heighten musical understanding and perform music with a greater sense of style.

Organising Sound MUS3.2 Improvises, experiments, selects, combines and orders sound using musical concepts.

Improvises and explores musical ideas based on rhythmic and melodic and incorporates these into own compositions and as variations on others compositions.

Students learn to: Perform music through singing to a variety of music, both individually and in groups. Organise musical ideas to vary known

Learn about musical concepts: Through recognising musical features of the music they perform By organising sound, listening and performing.
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repertoire, to create new work and to notate as a means of recording and communicating musical ideas.

By responding to music through performing and organising sound activities.

THE ASSESSMENT TASK: THE ANTARCTIC JINGLE This summative assessment task consists of students to work in pairs within their ability group: Learning Support group: Making a list of all the issues within the Antarctic continent. Choose a well-known song of your choice and compose a song about the unique Antarctic continent to that tune, (Remembering). Core group: Interpret and translate (summarise) what has been learned throughout the Antarctic Unit and compose the information into a well-known song of your choice, (Understanding) Extension group: Structure Antarctica content from the four learning sequences. Choose a well-known song of your choice and compose learned Antarctica information into its sequenced parts to best understand that information within a song, (Analysing). Students will be assessed against their ability to remember/understand/analyse the Antarctica content within the four learning sequences and translate into a well-known tune of their choice. Students will use the skills they have developed in their previous Creative Arts lessons to further enhance their learning of the unit, Current Issues: Antarctica. Evidence of achievement of this task will be demonstrated through the musical elements of performing and organising sound. The purpose of this task is to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the Current Issues within Antarctica and their ability to use music to create meaning for their audience. Further this assessment task has been designed to assess the students knowledge and understanding on how beliefs about human interaction have changed over time and differ from person to person, depending on their perspective and interest in the Antarctic. Collaboratively composing and performing the compositions to show conceptual and musical understanding will also be assessed.

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In pairs, students will work co-operatively and compose a song addressing the Current Issues within Antarctica. Students will have one 60 minute lesson to plan, develop and rehearse their performances before performing to the class. Students will be given 3 minutes to perform. Students ability to creatively link Antarctica information within the song will be assessed. A discussion will occur after each performance in which both teacher and students will offer constructive feedback. Once all performances have been completed, students will complete a student-self assessment based on their own performance. The teacher will use a marking checklist to assess the students performance. Reflection will be encouraged during both the creation of the performance and at the end of the music lesson when the teacher shows video recordings of the groups compositions. Students will be encouraged to make positive comments on their compositions. Time for discussion and reflection will be included to allow students to understand the Antarctica content within the song. The resources required to implement this assessment include: Video camera 6 sheets of learning support group assessment task. 6 sheets of core group assessment task. 6 sheets of extension group assessment task. IWB.

This assessment task cross-references Gardners multiple intelligences (1983) with Blooms Taxonomy (1956). Firstly, the task is based on the concept of create and its position on the top of Blooms taxonomy (1956) emphasizes that it is the most complex of the cognitive processes. It is considered the highest-level process because you cannot create something new unless you can first make evaluative decisions about alternatives, (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). However, it also focuses on recall, the lowest level of cognitive processes, for the learning support students. An approach informed by multiple intelligences theory (Gardner, 1983) could contribute to this process by providing a paradigm for addressing diversity and accommodating individual differences, (Galitis, N. 2007). Hence when undertaking this assessment task, student will be
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able to contribute through applying different learning styles to the task. For instance, the assessment task is based on Gardners musical-rhythmic intelligence. Gardner notes that certain aspects of musical intelligence overlap with linguistic intelligence, for example, sensing rhythm and the ability to recognize timbre and tonality variations. Music also involves a symbol system, which relates to logical-mathematical intelligence, (Nolen, 2005). In addition, spatial intelligence also operates at a metaphorical level, whereby individuals create and work on products, performances or concepts by thinking about them in spatial format. Whereas, students who have intrapersonal intelligence are great at information processing and can derive previous learning experiences. Thus, differentiation is incorporated within the process of the assessment through accommodating to different students learning styles, (Maker 1982a, 1982b, 1986). Moreover, differentiation can be seen through other areas of process modification within the assessment task. These include: Higher levels of thinking - involving cognitive challenge using Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Processes (1983). Creative thinking - involving imagination, intuitive approaches and brainstorming techniques. open-endedness - encouraging risk-taking and the response that is right for the student by stressing there is no one right answer, Freedom of choice-involving students in evaluation of choices of topics, e.g. composing a song based on the students choice of learning sequence: Learning Sequence 1: The place- Where it is, what is like? Learning Sequence 2: Significant events in, and interaction with, the Antarctic. Learning Sequence 3: Human involvement with the Antarctic-the impact and the decisions. Learning Sequence 4: Decision-making and the Antarctic.

RATIONAL AND JUSTIFICATION This is a rich assessment task and is appropriate and relevant as students are engaged in a creative, engaging meaningful task, which allows them to demonstrate their knowledge and
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understanding of issues and decision-making involved in human interaction with a significant world environment, the Antarctic. The eight intelligences nominated by Gardner are all actively employed in this assessment. For students whose intelligence profile predisposes them to working in different art forms, The Arts learning area represents a rich and satisfying means of exploring the world and for expressing and communicating their understandings, (Dinham, J. 2011). Constructive Feedback is the way of supporting learning and improvement that avoids empty praise and harsh criticism. A feature of constructive feedback is that children are to make their own observations about the strengths of their work or the strategies they that can lead to improvements, (Dinham, J. 2011). In this process-orientated assessment task, the emphasis is shifted away from the assessment of the final product alone and focused as well on the learning process. Therefore there are lots of opportunities to reinforce the positive responses children have made to the challenges presented and to guide their work towards the attainment of more successful outcomes. Sinclair, Jeanneret and Otool (2009) recognise that learning which is based on integrating the arts invites children into a process of learning that involves the senses, the imagination and personal experience (Taylor & Andrews 1993). The skills, which will be implemented through the use of music composition provides students with the opportunity to explore and develop their imaginations. Students will therefore be able to become more confident in experimenting with their own creativity and stepping outside their comfort zone. Chiert and Hunsberger (2008) have acknowledged that developing the imagination can assist in other learning areas such as communicating. A rubric will be used to assess and record the students achievement of the task. This criterion is used to ensure there is consistency within the task and that it is fair as all students are being assessed against the same criteria. In addition as students are working in pairs, the teacher will move around the classroom and complete a record sheet to make notes of the students learning. This allows the teacher to identify any areas, which may require more guidance, and to also note what the students are doing well. Therefore, assessment will be ongoing throughout this task and will allow for the teacher to also assess their own teaching, (Killen, 2005).

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In addition students will complete a self-assessment so they are able to observe and reflect on their growth in their drama skills and understanding of the HSIE content being examined, (Killen, 2005). CONCLUSION The assessment data, recorded from this task will be compared against students previous learning and how they had performed in order to assess their progress. This is a summative task to assess students understanding of Current issues in Antarctica and the data will be used as a basis for reporting and identifying the achievement of the outcomes being addressed in this task. Reliable testing is the degree in which test scores are free from errors or measurement (Killen 2005). The rubric and on-going assessment strategies will aid to this task being a reliable indication of learning as this allows the marking of the assessment task to be consistent. A reliable test ensures teachers know what the students have achieved in terms of the outcomes, provides useful feedback to their students and are able to use the results to improve their teaching. The rubric included in this assessment task also contributes to valid testing as the rubric acts as a guide and ensures the task is measuring what is meant to be measured (Killen 2005). Other alternative approaches to assessment, could involve informal measures of assessing students understanding. Questioning is an effective way to gain insight into students thinking and provides opportunities for students to verbalise thinking. Furthermore, we must note assessment for learning is an essential and integrated part of teaching and learning which emphasises the interactions between learning and manageable assessment strategies that promote learning. Therefore assessment needs to be on going and embedded in learning activities. Teachers need to reflect on what students have achieved and modify their programs to improve student learning (Killen, 2005). To conclude assessment for learning is inclusive of all learners and this is evident within this developed assessment task. It is imperative that assessment is developed against well-defined standards that are free of bias, and are made under conditions that permit students to achieve their best.

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Reference List: Board of Studies, NSW (2000). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies NSW. Board of Studies, NSW (2007). Human Society and Its Environment K-6: Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies NSW. Board of Studies, NSW (2006). Human Society and Its Environment K-6: Units of Work. Sydney: Board of Studies NSW. Dinham, J. (2011). Delivering Authentic Arts Education. Victoria: Cengage Learning Galitis, I. (2007) The right tool for the job? Use of the Multiple Intelligences and Bloom's Taxonomy grid. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 16 (1), 12-19. Killen, R. (2005). Programming and Assessment for Quality Teaching and Learning. Melbourne: Thomson/Social Science Press Nolen, J. L. (2005). Multiple intelligences in the classroom. Education Horizons, 8 (6), 14-16 Sinclair C., Jeanneret, N. & OToole, J. (2009). Education in the Arts: Teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

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Student RUBRIC FOR PERFORMING MUSIC COMPOSITION Criteria Fails to meet criteria Meets criteria at a limited level Insufficient information given about the Current issues with Antarctica and has difficulty incorporati ng information into a compositio n. Limited evidence of musical concepts and elements to create meaning for the audience and demonstrat es limited knowledge of Antarctica Meets criteria at a satisfactory level A good understandin g of Current Issues within Antarctica and links the information into a composition Meets criteria at a substantial level Comprehensiv e understanding of Current Issues within Antarctica and structures the information into a composition Meets criteria at a superior level

Draw on previous knowledge of the Current Issues within Antarctica and incorporate the information within the song.

Unable to draw on previous knowledge and establish a composition

Developed depth and complexity of Current Issues within Antarctica and transforms information into a coherent, well structured composition.

Applying musical concepts and elements to create meaning for the audience and demonstrates their knowledge of Current issues within Antarctica in a concise way. Collaborativel y composing and performing the compositions to show conceptual and musical understanding

No evidence of musical concepts and elements

Musical concepts and elements established to create meaning for the audience and demonstrate s a sound knowledge of Antarctica.

Evidence of superior use of musical concepts and element to create meaning for the audience and demonstrates a thorough knowledge of Antarctica.

Outstanding application of musical concepts and elements to create meaning for the audience and demonstrates their extensive knowledge of Antarctica.

Unable to work with partner in a collaborativ e way.

Poor group cohesion time not utilised during each lesson

Evidence of collaboratio n in performing composition to show substantial musical understandi ng

Students worked together cooperatively and a positive and supportive learning environment was established. Comprehensi

All students worked cooperatively and provided adequate feedback to others. A supportive learning environment is evident this was shown through
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ve understandin g of music.

performance. Outstanding knowledge of music.

Comments:

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CHECKLIST FOR INDICATOR TOWARDS ACHIEVED BEYOND COMMENTS

ENS3.6 Examines factors that may give rise to different views about the care of places. Evaluates alternative views about the use of natural and built environments Examines how natural, cultural, religious, historical, economic and political factors can influence peoples interactions with environments Identifies the different viewpoints of groups and individuals about the uses of land. Examines issues associated with differing values about natural and built environments Expresses a personal point of view on an environmental issue.
Comments

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CHECKLIST INDICATOR TOWARDS ACHIEVED BEYOND Comments

Performing: MUS3.1 Sings songs demonstrating a greater awareness of beat, pitch, tone colour and structure. Explores basic aspects of musical concepts in their singing. Explores aspects of musical concept in singing to heighten musical understanding and perform music with a greater sense of style.

Organising Sound MUS3.2 Improvises and explores musical ideas based on rhythmic and melodic and incorporates these into own compositions and as variations on others compositions.
Comments

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