Learning Outcomes in Art

The instructional objectives chosen for this exercise are designed for a high school art class that requires critique as well as application of the elements and principles of design.

• Upon completion of the color unit, the student demonstrate an understanding of the use of color as an element in Art.

• Upon completion of the line unit, the student will verbally differentiate characteristics between varied line quality in works of art.

• By the end of the school year, the student will create a final project utilizing the six elements and the six principles of design in their work.

Below, the learning outcomes have been paired with a test objective.

1.	Objective:	Upon completion of the color unit, the student will demonstrate the use of color as an element in Art.
	Test item:	Student will create a project using color as the main element of design in the piece.
2.	Objective:	Upon completion of the line unit, the student will verbally differentiate characteristics between varied line quality in works of art.
	Test item:	Write a five paragraph essay, one page minimum length,  discussing the characteristics and varied line quality found in the work of art provided.
3.	Objective:	By the end of the school year, the student will discuss and apply the six elements and the six principles of design in artwork.
	Test item:	The student will orally present a project utilizing the six elements and the six principles of design in their work.

Both the learning outcome and the test objective are aligned to ensure correct measure of student accomplishment in the task.  The test items are designed specifically to measure the result of the learning outcome. As each of the learning objectives and test items used for assessment are based on judgment of the classroom teacher, performance evaluations will be used to determine whether the goals for learning are met and to what degree.
The second learning outcome has an essay as a test item. Knowledge of vocabulary is to be tested with this item. Some students are more comfortable writing than they are with oral discussion. This format will allow the student time to organize thoughts and consider how best to apply vocabulary terms to demonstrate their knowledge.