BA Phot

C&N: Assessment

Due November 2020, submission deadline 30th September 2020

Back - Latest - EyV - C&N - I&P - LPE - DIC

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62%
62%
assessment table
updated table

17th December 2020, 62%

The 62% is up from 53% for EyV (and more than I expect to get for I&P). Here's the feedback sheet. I'm still looking for the report of all the marks for November Assessment.
[20Dec] Here it is.


25th September, Previous results

Here's an update on a previous post

EyV
Summer 20 - 78, 72, 72, 68, 68, 66, 66, 65, 65, 63, 63, 62, 62, 62, 58, 55, 54, 53
Mar 20 - 50, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 58, 58, 61, 62, 64
Nov 19 - 42, 48, 53, 54, 54, 55, 67
Jul 19 - 50, 52, 52, 54, 54, 59, 60, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72
Mar 19 - 59, 62, 65, 65, 65

C&N
Summer 20 - 74, 70, 66, 60, 56, 55, 50, 0
Mar 20 - 53, 57, 58, 62, 62, 63, 65, 65
Nov 19 - 62, 63, 72, 73
Jul 19 - 0 (!), 46, 48, 51, 58, 62, 63, 63, 64, 65, 66, 70
Mar 19 - 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 58, 61, 65, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72, 73, 85

I&P
Summer 20 - 72, 68, 64, 63, 58, 58, 58, 50, 47, 0
Mar 20 - 68, 62, 58, 50, 46, 43
Nov 19 - 72, 70, 68, 67, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 60, 60, 52
Jul 19 - 64
Mar 19 - 73, 60, 58, 54, 53, 51

Here are the source documents downloaded from here (the link might not stand the test of time):

Summer 20, March 20, November 19, July 19, March 19, November 18,
July 18.


24th September

Submission

As noted in the blog, I uploaded all the files today. There's a record of the submissions on the C&N Wordpress site.


13th Sep

[25Sep] the paragraphs below are initial drafts. The final verions are on the WP site.

Broadly, then there are 5 folders to fill and one document to complete.

The folders are:

1. Selection of Learning Log
Probably PDFs of the learning logs of two assignments and an introductory document.

Asg.2, Forbidden Zones, and Asg.3 Self Portraits.

Context & Narrative Final Assessment submission
Learning Logs

I am including PDF prints of two Learning Logs or they can be viewed online at Assignment 2, Photographing the Unseen, and Assignment 3 Self Portraits. These two assignments were the most time-consuming, and elaborate and also the most satisfying of the C&N work.

For Asg.2, which I titled Forbidden Zones, the subjects were areas and items where photography is (theoretically, at least) not allowed. This required subtlety and guile, including the use of a Spy Pen Camera (£13.99 on ebay). Where photography is illegal, rather than just frowned upon (that is, the House of Commons and Law Courts), the subjects are disguised and I do not reveal whether the photographs are genuine or contrived, though my tutor was sent straight prints in sealed envelope with a warning.

For Asg.3 I have imitated some of the classic photographers' self portraits simulating the settings at home because of Covid limitations.

These two examples demonstrate the conceptual development of personal projects from the base course scoping documents and Folder 2 the realisation of my concepts through the application of technology.


2. Selection of Creative Work
Selections from two assignments and an introduction. Or perhaps a selection from the four lens-based assignments.

Context & Narrative Final Assessment submission
Creative Work

I am submitting 10 images, a representative sample of the 4 lens-based assignments and one of the exercises. The links within the text below are to online sources of the images.


Assignment 1
Shakespeare, NPG
Exercise 2.3

1 and 2 are from Assignment 1 Two sides of the story, where I paired parts of my body with those of Rodin's John the Baptist at the V&A. The influence of John Coplans is clear: this meant that I had to abandon the intended homage to Coplans in Assignment 3.

3 and 4 are from Exercise 2.3, illustrating poetry. The poems chosen are Henry Reed’s Lessons of War: Naming of Parts and Zaffar Kunial's The Lyric Eye.


Assignment 2

5-7 are from Assignment 2, Photographing the unseen, which I titled Forbidden Zones. As already noted, the subjects were areas and items where photography is (theoretically, at least) not allowed, specifically,

5. from the John Soane Museum where photography is forbidden
6. from a gent's toilet, where photography is frowned upon
7. might be from the observers' gallery of the House of Commons, where photography is prohibited. The image has been blurred so that the viewer cannot be certain whether or not I have committed a contempt.


Assignment 3

8-9 are from Assignment 3, Self portraits where I emulated portraits of and self portraits by some well known photographers of the past. "Too many old, dead men" said my tutor so I added a self portrait after Lewis Morley's iconic 1963 image of Christine Keeler in the zine (page 30).


Assignment 5

10. From Assignment 5, a self portrait after Bill Brandt's Northumbrian coal miner eating his evening meal, 1937. The intention was to load the image with artifice and falsehood, in reaction to Brandt's use of the same in many of his images (though not the Northumbrian coal miner) described in the Assignment 4 essay.

These images reinforce the Learning Logs submited in Folder 1 as evidence of my application of technique to implement the ideas I conceived for the assignments and exercises.

Shakespeare, NPG
1-2. Asg.1
3-4. Exc. 2.3
5-7. Asg. 3
8-9. Asg.3
10. Asg.5
©

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3. Written Element Essay Critical Review
Asg.4 and the zine and an introduction.

Context & Narrative Final Assessment submission
Written Element

Assignment 4, the essay, is the suggested and obvious choce for this section. My subject was Bill Brandt's Northumbrian coal miner eating his evening meal, 1937. I am submitting the reworked version where the photographers whose approaches are contrasted with Brandt's (as suggested by my tutor) are less tangential than my original choices. (The original submitted version can be viewed here.)

The second submission is the zine, suggested by my tutor after Assignment 3. Its initial purpose was to address my restrictive choice of subjects for that assignment, but it grew to become a document covering all of my work in C&N. Under the pre-Covid final assessment guidelines, the zine would have been my principal assignment submission.

Both documents are provided in PDF format, but the zine is better viewed online in double-page format. One image (page 22), made for EyV, has been removed from the submitted PDF zine: it is still present online and is explained within the document. The Assignment 4 essay is also available online


4. Reflective Presentation or Evaluation

Your evaluation can take the form of a presentation, short video, or a written piece. It should be no longer than 6 minutes or 750 words. from the form

I am not going to submit a video. I will submit a written document then probably complete the video and show it on the CN web site.

[18Sep]

Context & Narrative Final Assessment submission
Reflective evaluation

This document is the Section 4 component of my C&N Final Assessment submission. Sections 1-3 each contain submission elements and an explanatory document. Section 5 contains my tutor reports.

I have made progress this year in understanding what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and gained confidence and satisfaction with my output. These, to me, are some of the  principal purposes of a photography course. The three main contributory factors in this growth have been:

Sky covid
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
image from Sky News Live

About the only negative aspect of the course has been the OCA’s abandonment of physical prints. For EyV, I (and fellow students using OCA Gmail chat) did not receive clear direction on what should be submitted for final assessment and it was with relief that I read the clear C&N submission guidelines in the course text (Boothroyd, 2017, p.8). The hurried and arguably precipitous change to digital submission has returned the C&N student population with whom I converse to EyV levels of confusion.

I think the OCA should reconsider its position on the submission of physical prints as it has abandoned these far too readily.

The effect of Covid-19 restrictions on my output has been marginal. Assignments 1 and 2 were completed before the lockdown and Assignment 3 was accomplished at home, rather than in the locations originally envisaged. Assignment 4 was researched at the V&A before it closed for lockdown and Assignment 5 was little affected. Overall, my approaches were rather more introspective than they might otherwise have been.

A unifying theme for most of the course has been Bill Brandt, source of the most successful derivative self portrait for assignment 3 and source of the subject of assignments 4 and 5. This allowed the zine covering the course to be cohesive and centred. Brandt’s influence on my own work remains strong, although I was chastened to learn of his (what I regard as a) dishonest approach to some of his subjects. Creating the zine has  allowed me to experience the strength of integrating images and text, subjects and themes to an extent that I had not realised was possible. The creation of hand-crafted booklets will define my approach to photography for the foreseeable future.
One positive effect of digital submission is that I have been forced to learn Wordpress as an alternative to my usual idiosyncratic and labyrinthine website development: the final assessment site for the course is at cn.baphot.co.uk.

Turning to the specific assessment criteria that are applied to the output:

Creativity
My approach to assignments is to begin planning as early as possible and always have a fallback project running in parallel. Within this framework, I believe that the projects developed throughout C&N have been both relevant and creative. I will continue working on Forbidden Zones as that has potential to remain interesting and fruitful with some risks to personal freedom (an image of the Crown Jewels remains a goal).

Quality
Within exercises and assignments the images created sit well together, once the viewer is aware of the context (without an explanation of the theme, any project can appear to be a more-or-less random assemblage of images, and this is especially the case with Forbidden Zones). Overall, the coursework’s coherence in reinforced by the presence of Bill Brandt.

Context
Much of the work has a historical context and its relationship to individual photographers and the arc of photographic trends is explored and explained, especially within the zine.

Technical
The images are technically competent and processed appropriately. I have learned to become far more aware of backgrounds. Both tutors and my EyV assessment have commented on my use of image borders. I have defended this practice on a number of grounds, but, fundamentally, it is a subjective choice that harks back decades to my using a Paterson enlarging easel.

References
Boothroyd, S (2017) Context and narrative. Barnsley: Open College of the Arts.
Sky News Live (2020) Sky News channel. Screen image 2 September 2020, 22:52:49.


5. Tutor Reports
Five have been uploaded today (13Sep). One seems to be badly formatted , which I can do nothing about, and one was mistitled, which I have corrected. Done 13Sep.


Here's the form.

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email 11th Sep
email 11th Sep
email 11th Sep
email 11th Sep

11th September

The G Drive has arrived,

This is your allocated November 2020 assessment GDrive folder (please note that if you are submitting more than one course unit for assessment, you will receive separate folder links for each).
Please ensure that you are referring to the Preparing for assessment guidance document and the relevant Course Guides for your course unit, which can be found on the OCA student site at: https://www.oca-student.com/resource-type/assessment-guidelines/assessment-guidelines-2020-onwards
In your folder you will see subfolders relevant to your course unit, and a document called Digital Assessment Submission Checklist. Please ensure you complete this when uploading your submission so that you can be sure you have uploaded all of your assessment requirements, and assist the assessors in identifying what you have submitted.
Good luck with your assessment.
Kind Regards
Assessment Team email 11th Sep

10th September

Assessment opens in 5 days and so it is time to get my act together.

The WordPress web site is done. I made a 2-minute video yesterday of the pages of the zine. Now to assemble a document of the responses to the Learning Outcome requirements and also the original requirements specified on page 7 of C&N.

LO1 create images that demonstrate a practical and conceptual understanding of techniques, and the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.
LO1 To evidence this part you could select learning log entries of examples of finished work that shows your practical and conceptual understanding of techniques and shows who you have tested and understood the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.

text


LO2 demonstrate an emerging critical awareness and an ability to articulate ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique.
LO2 It is likely that your learning log entries will evidence your emerging critical awareness. By selecting both learning log and assignment pieces you could show how you have articulated ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique

text


LO3 conduct research, development and production of photographic work in response to the themes explored in this unit and show a developing understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory.
LO3 Your essay in part 4 will likely help to show your understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory. To show your 11 Preparing for digital assessment research, development and production of photographic work you are advised to include assignment pieces and select learning log entries. Together these can help show assessors the connections you have made between the themes explored in this unit and your developing understanding of contemporary imagery.

text


LO4 show an ability to critique your own imagery and reflect upon your learning experience, and developing sophistication of your assessment of the work of other practitioners.
LO4 Aspects of critical writing, and commentary on learning logs is likely to evidence your ability to reflect and critique photographic practices and reflect on your own learning. Also decisions made about your own work and responses to tutor feedback can be shown. Your evaluative presentation will also help to evidence this outcome and you could include key learning log entries or assignment outcomes that relate to your reflections.

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email
email

6th September

Email from the Assessment Team, 3rd Oct.

You have applied for November 2020 assessment, to help us prepare resources, if for any reason you are not able to submit for this event, please email assessment@oca.ac.uk no later than 15 September to let us know, if you do not let us know by this date and fail to submit then this could result in a mark of 0.
If you are on track with your preparations for assessment you do not need to do anything else at this stage, we will be in touch with a link to your Grive for assessment purposes shortly. Email from the Assessment Team, 3rd Oct.

16th August

There has been another release of information on digital assessment in an email dated 14Aug.

Dear Nick

This is just a quick follow up to our recent email about the latest updates and guidance for assessment at the OCA.

We advised in our last email that we were developing additional guidance documents that clarify learning outcomes and assessment criteria for individual course units, as well as highlighting any subject specific requirements and guidance. We are still in the process of uploading these documents to the OCA student site, but so as not to delay any further, we're providing you with the following links to allow you to access them: OCA email 14th August

This leads to a number of medium-based documents and here's the one for photography. And here's a backup.

General points pp.1-2,

Remember what you’ll need to submit

When considering the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for your course unit, it is important to know what you are being asked to submit. These are known as your assessment requirements. These will typically include:

1. Learning Log entries
All levels - Submitting between 2 to 3 learning log entries for each learning outcome.

2. Creative Work
HE4/HE5 level - Selecting three assignment outcomes (excluding critical reviews/essays) or pieces of creative work. These assignment outcomes/pieces of creative work would typically constitute a series of photographs, but depending on how you have approached an assignment brief or course exercise, it could be a video outcome, an installation, an photographic artefact or other piece of digital media. It’s up to you to discern what your strongest outcomes on the course unit have been, not to select the ‘best images’ from across all of the series’ you have produced.
HE6 Body of Work unit - Submitting your body of work
HE6 Sustaining your Practice unit - Submitting your developed body of work 1 Course Guide for assessment of Photography units

3. Critical reviews
All levels - Submit any critical review/essay from your course unit.
HE6 Contextual Studies unit - Submitting your extended written piece.

4. Reflective presentation/evaluation
All levels - Your reflective presentation or evaluation will also help assessors to navigate your submission. If you choose to include images of your work in this, we suggest roughly 10 to 12 images. This could help you to visually connect your reflections to your work. If you choose to present this as video, you can keep this very simple using a mobile phone or laptop— it could show you speaking about, or even handling, your work, you could use this to show aspects of scale, texture, physicality of materials or process.

Course Guide for assessment of Photography units pp. 1-2

Also

Additional OCA resources to documenting work
What if … I can’t go outside to photograph by Andrea Norrington
Experimenting with Physical Formats and Tactile Processes to Demonstrate Critical Thinking by Rachel Smith
Discussing and Sharing the Tactile Qualities of Work by Rebecca Fairley
Student Work: video-documentary of site-based work by Bryn Davies
Photography and digital assessment— a wider picture by Dan Robinson

And some course-specific advice,

PH4CAN - Photography 1: Context and Narrative
Learning Outcomes

LO1 create images that demonstrate a practical and conceptual understanding of techniques, and the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.
LO2 demonstrate an emerging critical awareness and an ability to articulate ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique.
LO3 conduct research, development and production of photographic work in response to the themes explored in this unit and show a developing understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory.
LO4 show an ability to critique your own imagery and reflect upon your learning experience, and developing sophistication of your assessment of the work of other practitioners.

Suggestions on how to meet the Learning Outcomes

LO1 To evidence this part you could select learning log entries of examples of finished work that shows your practical and conceptual understanding of techniques and shows who you have tested and understood the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.

LO2 It is likely that your learning log entries will evidence your emerging critical awareness. By selecting both learning log and assignment pieces you could show how you have articulated ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique

LO3 Your essay in part 4 will likely help to show your understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory. To show your research, development and production of photographic work you are advised to include assignment pieces and select learning log entries. Together these can help show assessors the connections you have made between the themes explored in this unit and your developing understanding of contemporary imagery.

LO4 Aspects of critical writing, and commentary on learning logs is likely to evidence your ability to reflect and critique photographic practices and reflect on your own learning. Also decisions made about your own work and responses to tutor feedback can be shown. Your evaluative presentation will also help to 4 Course Guide for assessment of Photography units evidence this outcome and you could include key learning log entries or assignment outcomes that relate to your reflections.

Assessment Criteria
The assessment criteria for this course unit is HE4 Visual Arts, available from: https://www.oca-student.com/resource-type/assessment-criteria Course Guide for assessment of Photography units pp. 4-5

text

text Course Guide for assessment of Photography units pp.


9th August

There has been some online discussion on the matter but not much and not decisive. A document has been produced, Preparing for digital assessment for Photography units and this states,

PH4CAN - Photography 1: Context and Narrative Learning Outcomes

LO1 create images that demonstrate a practical and conceptual understanding of techniques, and the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.

LO2 demonstrate an emerging critical awareness and an ability to articulate ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique.

LO3 conduct research, development and production of photographic work in response to the themes explored in this unit and show a developing understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory.

LO4 show an ability to critique your own imagery and reflect upon your learning experience, and developing sophistication of your assessment of the work of other practitioners.

Suggestions on how to meet the Learning Outcomes

LO1 To evidence this part you could select learning log entries of examples of finished work that shows your practical and conceptual understanding of techniques and shows who you have tested and understood the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.

LO2 It is likely that your learning log entries will evidence your emerging critical awareness. By selecting both learning log and assignment pieces you could show how you have articulated ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique

LO3 Your essay in part 4 will likely help to show your understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory. To show your 11 Preparing for digital assessment research, development and production of photographic work you are advised to include assignment pieces and select learning log entries. Together these can help show assessors the connections you have made between the themes explored in this unit and your developing understanding of contemporary imagery.

LO4 Aspects of critical writing, and commentary on learning logs is likely to evidence your ability to reflect and critique photographic practices and reflect on your own learning. Also decisions made about your own work and responses to tutor feedback can be shown. Your evaluative presentation will also help to evidence this outcome and you could include key learning log entries or assignment outcomes that relate to your reflections.

Assessment Criteria
The assessment criteria for this course unit is HE4 Visual Arts, available from: https://www.oca-student.com/resource-type/assessment-criteria

OCA Preparing for digital assessment for Photography units pp.11-12

Which makes things almost no clearer at all.

I have finished the zine, I have built the new website. I have no better plan than filming the pages of the book, adding a short comment voiceover and putting this on the G drive along with pdfs of all assignments, some exercises, tutor feedback and a covering letter explaining all this.

I intend to send my tutor one of the three physical copies of the book in a package including some anti-bacterial gel, a face mask and a pair of Marigolds. Incidentally, the video of the book was kind of my tutor's idea — I am almost certain that she suggested it in passing in one of the tutorials.

And I must check that I have actually applied for November assessment. A reminder of the dates:

logo
assessment dates

Yes, here's the acknowledgment, 23rd June

finass
finass acknowledgment
finass acknowledgemnt
finass acknowledgment

Here's that document in full.


13th July

There was some useful information in a recent chat exchange.

Eeva asked, I’ve been trying to find the learning outcomes for C&N but not having much luck. Can anyone assist me on this one? Cheers.

David,
This appears on page 6 of the course notes
The learning outcomes for the course unit are:
● Create images that demonstrate a practical and conceptual understanding of techniques, and the importance of context in creating meaning and narrative.
● Demonstrate an emerging critical awareness and an ability to articulate ideas into imagery through appropriate use of technique.
● Conduct research, development and production of photographic work in response to the themes explored in this unit and show a developing understanding of contemporary imagery in relation to historical practice and theory.
● Show an ability to critique your own imagery and reflect upon your learning experience, and developing sophistication of your assessment of the work of other practitioners.

Sarah, See also page 11 in the Digital Assessment Guide, with suggestions of how to meet the outcomes.

Eeva, Thanks Sarah. I’m not in the assessment stage yet but my tutor recommended that after each assignment feedback, I should write an entry to the learning log re: meeting the learning outcomes. This will be helpful when preparing for the assessment.


23rd June

Assessment

I applied for November assessment today, much to my surprise.


2nd June, coming round

[4th June supplemental] don't appear - greenscreen needed? voice over and talk about web sites, quoting feedback response.

Readers may recall that I did not greet the Covid-induced all digital assessment changes with enthusiasm.

Here they are - Discussion - Announcement

And I said,

Hi David
I was a bit disappointed - I'm still unclear on what is expected. The key things s
eem to be 'choose 10 snaps and make a video describing your journey of learning and exploration'. Yuck.
The original guidance on C&N was once so delightfully clear, after the con[f]usion of EyV,
For assessment you’ll need to submit a cross-section of the work you’ve done on the course:
• Assignments Two to Five, together with the original tutor-annotated versions
• your learning log or blog url
• your tutor report forms.
C&N p.8 That I can handle but I'll find the video a stretch.
Perhaps by November things will have settled down and we can revert to sending prints but I doubt it - this seems to be the way they want to go.
Cheers, Nick

Having done the zine (just about) I'm a lot more positive about digital. I jotted this morning,

Be more positive
Learning opportunity
To Camera - multi camera? Greenscreen
Screen in shot - second green?
Voiceover backup
Rolling text quotations
Speech:
Moribund
Forced to address new subjects AND genres
And to acquire a practical and theoretical academic understanding of what I am doing and why
Genuine progress in that I have grown in confidence in stuff
And equally importantly my output has shown signs of growing in coherence
Describe c&n
But add the OCA has overreacted and should seek to ensure that physical printing is encouraged and do more to foster interaction between students both online and (when circumstances allow) in corpora.

Greenscreen


8th April, Previous marks

Here are the numbers:

EyV
Mar 20 - 50, 51, 52, 52, 53, 54, 58, 58, 61, 62, 64
Nov 19 - 42, 48, 53, 54, 54, 55, 67
Jul19 - 50, 52, 52, 54, 54, 59, 60, 63, 65, 66, 67, 72
Mar19 - 59, 62, 65, 65, 65

C&N
Mar 20 - 53, 57, 58, 62, 62, 63, 65, 65
Nov 19 - 62, 63, 72, 73
Jun19 - 0 (!), 46, 48, 51, 58, 62, 63, 63, 64, 65, 66, 70
Mar 19 - 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 58, 61, 65, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72, 73, 85

My post in the EyV chat group today -

Thank you all for your replies. I know that it doesn't matter, that this is the wrong way to look at it and that this is all subjective anyway, but to me, a mark in the 50s is saying 'your snaps are half as good as decent snaps'. That is the absurdity of assigning numerical values to aesthetic judgments. Mind you, I didn't like my work much either until the last two assignments.
Meantime, I'm forging ahead with C&N, which I'm finding even more fun, helped by a more positive tutor.
Cheers, NickB

8th April, C&N Requirements

It was noted in the Preamble that the assessment submission requirements for C&N are, pleasingly, far more precise and explicit than those for EyV, namely,

For assessment you’ll need to submit a cross-section of the work you’ve done on the
course:
• Assignments Two to Five, together with the original tutor-annotated versions
• your learning log or blog url
• your tutor report forms. C&N p.8

Page created 27-Nov-2019 | Page updated 22-Sep-2021