Portraying Assessment: The Fear of Never Being Good Enough

Portraying Assessment: The Fear of Never Being Good Enough

Plymouth University 5th Annual PedRIO Conference Dr Peter Day

Context

• Art Crit Key Findings – Dr Peter Day

• Recent work using images to explore students perceptions of assessment

• Portraying Assessment – Using Photo

Elicitation and Auto Driving

The Art Crit – Key Findings How do you make a Firing Squad Less Scary?

Day, P. 2013 “How to make a Firing Squad Less Scary: The Art Critique.” The Journal of

Learning Development in Higher Education 5.

Deep concerns amongst students towards being criticised; students expressed emotional and fear-focused responses towards feedback, amplified by the public nature of the Crit. The Crit (University) model is the opposite of the prescriptive teaching style students have previously encountered Students value the Crit and (verbal) feedback, however it appears to be the least successful model for those who are struggling the most. These students have nothing or little to present and feel ignored. The process is divisive, splitting those students for whom the process works and those for whom it does not.

Recent work on using images in HE research on assessment

Brown, Gavin T. L., and Zhenlin Wang. 2013. "Illustrating Assessment: How Hong Kong University Students Conceive of the Purposes of Assessment." Studies in Higher Education 38

(7)

McKillop, C. . 2006. "Drawing on Assessment: Using Visual Representations to Understand Students’ Experiences of

Assessment in Art and Design." Art,Design & Communication in Higher Education 5 (2)

Portraying Assessment – Using Photo Elicitation

In September 2014 at Induction Level 4 Photography Undergraduate students were asked to do two things 1. Take an image using any image making device that visualised

assessment to them

2. Analyse the image produced in words This was the beginning of a two phase - Oct 2014 and March 2015 – photo elicitation of students views on assessment (& current academic year 2015/6)

Using Photo Elicitation

Types of Photography Elicitation: • Photo Voice, Reflexive Photography (community photography, Photo Novella,

and Autodriving

• Visual methods: the domain of anthropologists a rapid increase in Photography Elicitation and popularity amongst sociologists and social researchers. Most specifically social health with young people

• Responded and Researcher creates data : using a medium they are familiar with images, expressive and has the immediacy and interactivity (Wiles, Prosser, Bagnoli 2008)

• Photo-elicitation a qualitative research method is used to extract feelings, experiences, personal and participatory responses. It is empowering and non threatening, by being participatory

• Driving Participants to analyse and comment upon photographs which are produced by the interviewees themselves. Focus on personal issues and expression (emotional – stress/fear)

• The informants create the photographs (evidence/data), and the data review is based upon and driven by informants who are seeing their own behaviour. (Heisley and Levy 1991)

• Making Sense and Communication: the informant can see familiar information/practices in an unfamiliar way, whilst at the same time making this meaningful to an outsider

• Transitional: Coping with change, challenges, transition through insight, reflection and strategy

• Acknowledge positive outcomes/Results

• Learn about owned experiences through photography/imagery

Auto Driving

First Phase Outcomes

The word fear appears on all but two of the written analysis of assessment from 20 samples (19 female 1 male respondent) The beginning of the Journey and the Journey begins with Fear. Fear includes these generic elements: • Time management and workload • Falling Behind • Fear of the unknown/the new There is stress and and anxiety created by failure (potential failure) • Loss of respect and or face • Loss of personal confidence and ability to achieve • Not being good enough

Phase 1 Feedback October 2015 Level 4

Atelophobia

The Fear of Imperfection.

The Fear of Never Being Good Enough

this image shows a simple definition of the correct term of being inferior and of never being sufficient enough to succeed this image explains simply and clearly fear is present and assesment causes anxiety though these can be solved with time and experience during the study period.

Assessment Pressure Re-sit Fail

this image represents my feelings and anxiety when thinking about my work being assessed and the fact of being scrutinized the notebook shows the fears and the ultimate fears of failure and being a dissapointment to others

Falling behind and failing

This photo shows a student who has fallen behind on his work. Falling behind and failing I believe is the worst fear you can have through out education. From past experience in college I have learned that falling behind is very stressful and catching back up is just as bad. The mess on the bed describes how his head is feeling because when you have fallen behind your head is a mess and you will never do the optimum amount of work.

My View

My view of assessments..

(Struggling,

Challenging,

Stressing,

Difficult

etc)

Failure

Failure.

Feeling as if not good enough at what you want to do.

Alone.

Feeling of you can't speak up or voice out an opinion

Falling behind is the worst fear you can have Fears of failure and being a disappointment to others

I’m going to feel like someone is shining a dirty great light right on

me…not exactly torture, but nowhere to run. My image is of me pulling my best ‘screamy’ face

Hope it leads you to where you want to be, fear you wont succeed..the

fear and anxiety of getting work done on time

I fear that I will struggle and find it hard to juggle all of my work along with my own social time

Being told I’ve made the wrong choice

I’m sending you a photo of three raisins……

Phase 1 Feedback October 2015 Level 4

An insight into the powerful personal and emotional impacts of assessment: • The it’s only me syndrome - Assessment impacts in the following ways: 1. Personal health & well being; 2. A greater sense of failure in personal and educational life; 3. A fear to achieve/ of success; 4. Isolation

• Creates a sense of failure and worthlessness; anonymity and invisibility within a

system = Greater ownership and personalisation of learning.

• What’s the relevance? The gap between tutor/institution and student demands, The perception of standards it’s just the fulfilment of assessment demands that creates disruption inside and outside of education. • Create a transparent understanding of these impacts at each transitional stage of HE and to facilitate and measure these impacts

Key Findings & Desires

Second Phase Outcomes

The middle of the Journey the Fear is somewhat diminished

Fear is being replaced by – worry, nervy, non better or worse, struggle Worry (Fear) still includes these generic elements: • Falling Behind • Fear of the not meeting the known or will the parameters get worse, the

tasks harder • Time management and workload – an assessment workout, fit(ness) for

purpose regime There is continuing stress and and anxiety created by failure (potential failure) This is now mixed: • Loss/Gain of personal confidence and ability to achieve • Not being good enough - mixed with the sense of achieving and

achievement

Still no subject comments

Phase 2 Feedback March 2015

Hopeful Horrendous

I still feel the slight worry about assessment but I realised that assessments can help me to improve my work so I am hopeful

Shopping List

This image represents assessment for me since i deal with my upcoming assessments with lists to manage time and tasks

It’s chaotic

It's chaotic, messy and and all feels extremely out of control. assessment itself doesn't scare me just the thought of failing myself.

A little help from my friends..

Assessment..... The abject fear has passed, but still get a bit nervy.... Nothing I can't handle with a little help from my friends

Balloon

When i think about assessment I feel like my brain disappears leaving me with head full of air, i can't remember anything. Just like the ballon.

Starting to emerge the emotive and anxiety backdrop to studies. The subject

studied has not featured in any commentary. These are the ambient concerns.

When I think about assessment my brain disappears leaving me with a head full of air

Feels extremely out of control

Get my work done more efficiently so I also have more time to myself and

feel more free

Gain a buzz by working through the struggle

I was a caged bird

Selected Respondents analysis Phase 2

Second Phase Outcomes – 2016 Fitness for Purpose Fitness First

Assessment, in my mind, is a stop on a long journey to some where else

The red stop signal in the image represents, to me, the assessment stage. This is when one is required to stop or pause and present work so far for evaluation, the stop light represents danger to a train driver, I also see assesments as a way of pointing out danger, to highlight if i'm falling behind or not producing good quality work so the "journey" will not be completed.

The green signal obviously represents go and, when I'm assessed, this is the signal I would hope to see afterwards, to represent all is well and I'm good to proceed, which is the signal a train driver

3 sketchbooks 22 images

After thirteen weeks of hard work this is the coursework I have completed.

There are three sketchbooks and twenty-two images spread over three portfolios.

Workflow

I also think that further experience will help me to become more organised in my approach and workflow, making the whole process slightly quicker.

I am happy with the results of the assessment as it has given me more confidence to produce and create work in the future. I am pleased with the volume of work I have managed to produce and I feel I was able to understand the assignment briefs quite well.

Less Stress

Although I was a lot less stressed with this semester/year's hand in as I was aware of how I would be marked etc,

I felt as though I was rushing around doing a lot of different things for different modules as I was adamant I wanted a first in each module. I was also worried in the back of my mind that the marking would be a lot harsher due to being second year.

Man Mountain

I have chosen props which are commonly linked to assessment such as books. I have purposely placed the books onto of one another, emphasizing the amount of work to be done.

By placing the subject next to these props it highlights the amount due to it equalling the height of the subject, becoming a dominant force within the frame.

Quitting

'When you feel like quitting, think about why you started'

from a purely personal perspective, I'm finding that as the course advances I'm less and less

concerned with how my work is marked, and much more concerned with what I get out of

the process...

It's nice if something is well received but it's not a primary concern, rather my own

opinion of the practical work I'm producing is paramount.

Push yourself

Just take a look back at how far you have come. Don't give up and keep striving forward.

Push yourself harder and go that extra mile

RNA

My Beautiful Cat

Every time i try to reflect on being assessed I feel like I want to hide somewhere very quite and get on with my projects.

Just like my beautiful cat Khaleesi.

A key lesson learnt

Early intervention

Next steps

28 November 2014 Rich Exchanges 41

Bibliography: Harper D (2002) Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation Visual Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1, 13-26 Hurworth, R. & Sweeney, M. (1995) The Use of the Visual Image in a Variety of Australian Evaluations. Evaluation Practice, 16, 2, 153-164. Heisley D and Levey S.J (1991) Autodriving: A Photocollection Technique. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 257-272 Karen Rice, Sarah Primak, and Heather Girvin (2013) Through Their Eyes: Using Photography with Youth Who Experienced Trauma The Qualitative Report Volume 18, Article 52, 1-14