Alternative Methodology for Diagnostic Assessment of Written and Verbal Responses to Works of Art

Instruments currently available to assess written statements about works of art do not adequately account for cognitive conceptions of learning. That is, they do not discriminate between the learner’s knowledge-base and knowledge-seeking strategies, higher-order and lower-order understandings, and misunderstandings. The development of an assessment instrument, referred to as a Diagnostic Profile of art understandings, begins to lessen this gap in art education research on student assessment (Stavropoulos, 1992).