I tutored today in the writing center and one of the questions Elise had was about the Artist's Statement. We looked up some examples and talked about what she might want to say about her piece. I really like the idea of requiring an Author/Artist's Statement with projects. It seems like it would stimulate reflection, and maybe help the student as they are revising. What do y'all think? Should it be part of the final grade somehow?
In the encyclopedia entries section of the BBG they address the issue of students using Wikipedia as an academic reference. They cite a study the journal Nature conducted that showed Wikipedia had no more errors than The Encyclopedia Brittanica. I'm not arguing for Wikipedia as a source, but what do y'all think of using it as a tool to help students assess sources. The references after Wikipedia entries are a way in which we assess the accuracy of the entry. If the student can prove the entry they want to cite is well sourced should they be able to use it?
I personally think, for multimodal work like this, the artist's statement should comprise most of the grade, or have the most emphasis placed on it. It is an opportunity for the student to connect what they have done to the lessons being taught, and it encourages thoughtful/purposeful design. A student can create almost anything, and even if it looks great, if they don't understand what they've done and why...the lesson has not been completed. Aesthetics are not our aim, but rather the thoughts and intention behind each design choice, and the artist's statement forces them to engage with those decisions and verbalize why they made them. It also works to level the playing field in terms of resources, and lets students who don't have access to as much as others explain intentionality (even if the final product is not as polished in appearance as another) outside of the sphere of what has physically been produced.
ReplyDeleteI personally love using Wikipedia to discover sources and new ideas, and as long as that is how it is being utilized I think it is perfectly fine. I also think it's smart to include that when discussing sources, as realistically most students will interact with it in some capacity when conducting research, so we might as well help them understand how to use it as a tool in a way that will help ensure their information is correct and credible (and not plagiarism). I do think that citing Wikipedia articles themselves won't work, as they are not static entries, so anyone could alter it and those who read their work could not necessarily access that information being cited in their paper. I think explaining that to students might also help them to understand why they can't and how to get around that, as well as what it means to be credible (ie if the site can change at any point by any person, not only do you not have a credible author, but you can't help people find that exact information in the future because you can't guarantee that it will still be there after you submit your paper).