Assessment Standards Photography
Assessment Standards Photography
Assessment Standards Photography
Photography
Grades 9-12
ACS Cobham High School Art
The High School Art Department uses the standards adopted by ACS Cobham in the visual arts to
assess work done in each of its course offerings. The standards are broad and apply to a range of
activities in the visual arts, so art elective courses adapt each of the standards that relate
specifically to the particular coursework to assess the work done in each course.
Please refer to the main handout of Visual Arts Assessment Standards Grades 9-12 ACS
Cobham High School Art Department for an overview of the complete set of assessment
standards used in the visual arts in the High School at ACS Cobham.
This handout is an overview of the specific assessment standards that apply to the
Photography course, to give students an understanding of how their work is assessed.
In Photography, the coursework assessment is based on learning and applying techniques of
camera control, exposure theory, compositional principles, communicating with photography and
editing photographs digitally in Photoshop.
The coursework assessment also emphasises good organisational and research skills, the ability
to work effectively in a timely way on individual assignments, and a knowledge of historical and
current artistic and journalistic developments in photography, which help to inform and inspire the
students own work.
Safe and appropriate use of studio materials, equipment and computers is included in the
assessments, and assessments also take into account the growth and skills development
demonstrated by a student in each of these areas over time.
The grading in the course includes assessments of individual stages in research and development
of shooting assignments as well as class progress grades, which reflect effort and timeliness.
The grades are both formative and summative, with feedback on progress given during the stages
of research, idea development and initial shooting sessions, and formal grades given on
completed projects.
Final projects are assessed for creative and technical qualities relating to the approaches and
techniques used. Grading includes written evaluation of results and grades earned for each
assignment component.
There are also grades earned from worksheets, tests and quizzes of information and techniques
presented during the course, and from critiques done during the course of work-in-progress and
final project results.
Quarterly grades are computed from the average of all assessment grades earned during the
quarter.
First semester exams are comprehensive written exams and second semester exams are practical
studio-based project exams.
The following visual arts standards apply more specifically to the coursework in Photography:
1.12 Describe and apply procedures to ensure safety and proper maintenance of the
workspace, materials, and tools
1.13 Make reasonable choices of photographic methods, materials, tools, and techniques to
achieve desired effects in specific projects
RUBRICS FOR ASSESSMENT OF STANDARD 1AT THE LOWEST LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT:
The student will be largely ignorant of the variety of photographic methods and techniques
available to them, or how their own cameras work, and will not be able to make reasonable
choices about which controls or techniques to use to create effective or expressive photographs.
They will not be able to pre-visualise, shoot or edit effective photographs, and their choice and use
of methods and techniques will not contribute any sense of coherent style or expressive qualities
to their photographs.
They will not be knowledgeable about the safe and appropriate use of studio materials, equipment
or computer editing and printing programs in the production of the coursework, which will lead to
technical problems and time wasted correcting mistakes.
AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT:
The student will be thoroughly familiar with a variety of photographic shooting and computer
editing techniques and be able to plan for their use when pre-visualising, shooting and editing
photographs that are technically effective and expressively creative.
They will be able to pre-visualise, shoot and edit photographs that creatively exploit the technical
and expressive qualities of their chosen methods to enhance their originality and the coherence of
their visual style.
They will be thoroughly familiar with the safe and appropriate use of studio materials, equipment
and computer editing and printing programs in the production of their coursework, and will be able
to avoid technical problems during shooting and editing or waste time correcting errors caused by
ignorance.
4.14 Demonstrate an ability to see their own personal style and discriminate among
historical and contemporary styles
RUBRICS FOR ASSESSMENT OF STANDARD 4AT THE LOWEST LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT:
The student will fail to research and develop their photography assignments in an organised and
timely way, and their workbooks will be used sporadically or not at all in support of their idea
developments.
Preliminary shooting assignments will not be done thoughtfully or thoroughly and will fail to explore
the design and expressive potential of the assigned subject matter or theme.
They will be unable to make thoughtful choices among possible techniques and approaches for
their work, and will fail to respond to formative feedback or criticism to refine and improve their
work in a timely way, resulting in final work that is uninspired, poorly developed, lacks a sense of
artistic or stylistic coherence and shows no consideration for its display exhibition.
AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT:
The student will research and develop their photography assignments carefully, making good use
of their workbooks to document their research and their technical and creative developments, and
working in a timely way.
Their preliminary shooting assignments will be adventurous, thoughtful and thorough, resulting in a
variety of creative and design ideas explored conceptually and technically.
They will plan ahead for possible technical and creative approaches and refine their work
thoughtfully during the shooting and editing process by reflecting on formative feedback and
criticism, and by finding ongoing inspiration in the work of others.
Their final work will be stylistically coherent, inspired and informed by their persistent research and
creative refinements, and accomplished in a timely and efficient way. They will also consider
carefully and plan for the most effective way to display the finished work.
They will be able to knowledgeably discuss their work, and the work of others, in relation to the
cultural and artistic traditions of photography, and will be clearly aware of how artistic influences
and societal conventions influence the perception of their own photographic work and that of
others.