AN INVESTIGATION OF ASSESSMENT PRACTICES USED BY CREATIVE ARTS TEACHERS
Abstract
Purpose of the study: To investigate the assessment practices used by creative arts teachers
Problem: The purpose of the standard based creative arts curriculum in Ghana requires learners to acquire, develop and demonstrate the subject specific practices and the core competencies. This calls for appropriate teacher development to understand the best practices pertaining to arts assessment strategies and assessment needs in order to align teaching, learning and assessment effectively. Hence, the need to investigate teachers’ assessment practices to ascertain whether the purpose of the standard based curriculum for creative arts is on course or not.
Methodology: This study was a quantitative study. It was designed for investigating the assessment practices used by creative arts teachers in Domaa East Municipal, Ghana. Purposive and convenient sampling technique was used to sample 60 teachers teaching creative arts. Teachers assessment practices were measured using questionnaire designed based on the assessments for arts and the recommended creative arts assessment practices stipulated in the the creative arts curriculum by National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA, 2019), which consists of 17 item on scale of a 5-point. The Instrument was piloted with 20 creative arts teachers in the Sekyere South District of Ashanti Region which gave internal consistency reliability of α=0.71. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results: The findings of the study revealed that creative arts teachers are able to assess leaners creative activities and artworks in relation to the curriculum with the exception of having challenges with few creative arts assessment methods.
Recommendations: It is therefore, recommended that training is offered to teachers on creative arts assessment and document analysis and observational study be carried on creative arts teachers’ assessment practices to ascertain challenges encountered by teachers.
Keywords: Assessment practices, Creative arts, Assessment for learning, Assessment as learning, Assessment of learning
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