This technique sees students collectively travel to a public space or event relevant to their discipline (such as a gallery, museum, public building, exhibition, creative production or open space), and simulate a disciplinary presentation task in situ. The in situ element is central to this task, as it facilitates an authentic learning experience that replicates professional contexts of presenting to a public audience, whilst offering the familiarity of a peer group. Prior to the presentation each student is assigned a specific work or stimulus piece that they research and discuss during the exercise. During the simulation students assume the role of a tour guide in turn, and provide a short presentation addressing peers, staff and (if present) other public attendees, that outlines the features, context, and significance of their assigned stimulus. As this assessment has an explicit focus on building oral communication skills, students are primarily marked on the quality of their oral performance, including ability to cater to a public audience (rather than an exclusively academic one). In ARTT2128 the class travels to the UQ Art Museum together during dedicated class time to participate in an exhibition tour, drawing on current exhibition works as the stimulus for presentations.
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 20-40
- CLASS LEVEL
- Second year, Third year
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- Medium security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- Low time
- FEATURES
- Authentic
- TAGS
- presentation, field visit, oral presentation, practical exam, peer-led learning, simulation/role play
Advantages
This authentic assessment applies theory beyond the classroom by allowing students to practically engage with the course context in an active and dynamic way. This task fosters skills in oral communication and presentation, and teaches students the importance of adapting communication styles for specific audiences. Readily adaptable technique for HaSS disciplines: Social Science students might visit a relevant museum or public display; Music students may imagine introducing a public music event or production; and Political Science students could overview political landmarks or buildings.
Challenges
Students may be anxious about giving an oral presentation in a public space – staff should encourage students to prepare well for the task through formative exercises.
This assessment is limited to smaller class sizes or tutorial groups in cases where exhibitions have limited number of works; or where the presence of a large student cohort would not disrupt the institution's regular operation.
Tips for implementation
Coordinators should provide students with an itinerary of the tour (including order of presentations and assigned stimuli) - this serves the dual purpose of ensuring the timely functioning of the tour and of limiting student anxieties about when they are due give their presentation.
How it supports academic integrity
In addition to their presentations being observed, students submit a written copy of their presentation via TurnItIn. Additionally, students are marked primarily on their oral communication skills rather than the quality of their written work; which may be a disincentive for students to outsource this assessment.
Dr Amelia Barikin
a.barikin@uq.edu.au
I am a Senior Lecturer in Art History in the School of Communication and Arts. My research often focusses on the relationship between contemporary art and time, working across the areas of philosophy, time studies, art history and critical theory. I completed my art history PhD at the University of Melbourne. Prior to joining UQ, I was ARC Senior Research Associate at the University of Melbourne, and have also worked as a curator and editor with various Australian arts institutions. In 2013 I was the recipient of an Art Gallery of New South Wales residential fellowship at the Cité internationale des arts, Paris, and have presented invited talks on my research at numerous institutions including for the Biennale of Sydney, Mildura Palimpsest Biennale, Wellington City Gallery New Zealand, Marian Goodman Gallery New York, the Australian Center for the Moving Image, Institute of Modern Art Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Gertrude Contemporary, Auckland University of Technology, Institute for Visual Research University of Oxford, Artspace Sydney, and Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts, Finland.
My books include the monograph Parallel Presents: The Art of Pierre Huyghe (MIT Press, 2012, winner of AAANZ Best Book Prize 2013); the co-edited anthology and now low-key cult classic Making Worlds: Art and Science Fiction (Surpllus, 2015); Pierre Huyghe: TarraWarra International 2015 (catalogue for the first major solo exhibition of Huyghe's work in Australia); Tom Nicholson: Lines Towards Another (IMA and Sternberg Press, 2018); and Robert Smithson: Time Crystals (Monash University Publishing, 2018), the latter published to accompany a major exhibition of works by Robert Smithson that I co-curated with Chris McAuliffe for presentation at the UQ Art Museum and Monash University Museum of Art. My research has been supported by organisations including the Australian Council for the Arts, Arts Victoria, the Terra Foundation for American Art, City of Melbourne, the Australia Korea Foundation, the Australian Research Council, and the Gordon Darling Foundation, and I also publish widely in arts magazines and exhibition catalogues.
Currently available to supervise art history MPhil and PhD projects: I particularly welcome applications from researchers working in the areas of contemporary art, queer theory, feminisms, geophilosophy, science fiction, Australian art, or time studies (or all of the above!). Find out more