Abstract
I began using vision boards as an assessment tool for my memoir writing class four years ago. We usually think of vision boards as motivational tools promoted by self-help gurus, but when my students created visual pieces to communicate the overall sense of their memoirs, it was clear that they were labors of love, and it ended up being the most-liked assignment of the semester, according to their evaluations. In this workshop, I show you how to adapt vision boards to work for assessment in all kinds of courses, and we will also work on creating a rubric. Vision boards add the element of the concrete visual to begin to articulate the subconscious inspiration and creativity beneath the surface. To compose, students use what a visual artist might call ready-mades: clippings from magazines, photos, even 3D objects to communicate underlying themes and emotions before they are articulated on the page. This exploration of students’ ideas in a visual format is a creative and innovative approach to discovering what it is students have to say as it encourages different ways to tap into it pre-language. In addition to creating the vision boards, students presented them to the class, adding the left-brain component of articulation describing their choices. My students engaged with the project in surprising and effective ways and sharing their vision boards provided inspiration and different perspectives to approaching their own material.
Presenters
Louise KrugAssociate Professor, English, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, Kansas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Assessment, Creative, Higher Education, Visual, Fun New, Creative Writing, Tool
