Criteria
• Demonstration of subject-based
knowledge and understanding –
Broad and comparative
understanding of subject content;
knowledge of the appropriate
historical, intellectual, cultural or
institutional contexts.
• Demonstration of research skills –
Information retrieval and
organisation, use of IT to assist
research, ability to evaluate IT
sources; the ability to design and
carry out a research project and
locate and evaluate evidence from a
wide range of primary and secondary
sources (visual, oral, aural or textual).
• Demonstration of critical and
evaluation skills – Engagement with
concepts, values and debates;
evidence of analysis, reflection,
critical thinking, synthesis and
interpretation in relation to relevant
issues and enquiries.
• Communication – The ability to
communicate ideas and knowledge in
written form and to support them
with relevant visual material in ways
that are clearly presented.
Reflection after tutor feedback:
The tutor responded positively to my summaries of the 3 chapters. She notes that there are additional things that I may consider
when considering an a specific heading, so I will continue to broaden my outlook on this. I have managed to find some additional
books, other versions of Art History, which are helping get a better context. She mentioned that I should try and compare works
in my next assignment that are not as similar, although I thought part of the comparison was to point out how the Romans were
inspired by the Greeks.
Reflection
I have demonstrated my knowledge well in the learning log, creating summaries of
the guide, WHA as well as additional reading from the internet. I also took out some
books for further reading regarding Greek, Roman and Medieval history. I have
created connections and context to this information through my assignments, in
particular the annotations of the Greek and Roman sculptures. This activity allowed
me to find what inspired these artists and how these two cultures are related. I
further used my knowledge gained of Gothic and Medieval architecture to analyze a
cathedral I visited.
The WHA provides a good background of events, but is not particularly descriptive
regarding significance or cultural detail. I often found that I needed to do additional
reading to create a more well-rounded idea of the different periods. In Part 1, much
of the work I was looking at was local or too specific to find books for in our local
library (especially as I live in an Asian country), however, architecture and cultural
history seems to be a more universal subject, so I was able to find more text. It was
good to get different perspectives, though many of the books repeated the same
knowledge. This served as a good way of knowing that the sources are reliable as
many of the ideas are confirmed. I watched some videos to get background
information on sculptures and architectural terminology and I read several blog posts
of others analyzing works and architecture to gain a better understanding of the
terminology and process.
These skills are best demonstrated through how I have chosen to summarize and
present the work in my learning log and assignments. My findings in my learning log
are presented in a way to show understanding. I try to keep summaries simple and to
the point, while providing context or meaning. I imagine that someone with no prior
knowledge of these periods in history could read my log and have a good overview.
In my assignments I had to synthesize all information, forcing me to be critical of
what is important and best suited to fulfill the assignment. Through analyzing a
building I visited in Hong Kong, which was built much later than medieval times, I
have made connections to an architectural tradition and seen how history still
inspires artists today.
I believe I have presented my work in the most practical and sensible way. I have
tried to maintain a flow in my work and have used visual evidence and references in
many of may explanations. I have presented the work with evidence, reasoning and
additional sources to show that understand the subject matter. I have considered the
appropriate terminology in my communications, particularly in the sculpture
annotations and building analysis (However, I have found it challenging to whittle
such a vast amount of information down to one page or 500 words). I have also used
my sketchbook to explore the topic visually by creating sketches of sculptures and
architectural features.