School of Art, Long Beach State University

Art 111 v2016a

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Glenn Zucman

Draft

School of Art
California State University, Long Beach
Standard Course Outline

Art 111 Experiencing Art

I. General Information

A. Course Number: Art 111
B. Title: Experiencing Art
C. Units: 3
D. Prerequisites: None
E. Responsible faculty: Glenn Zucman & Karen Kleinfelder
F. SCO Prepared by: Glenn Zucman & Karen Kleinfelder
G. Date prepared: February 29, 2016

II. Catalog Description

Art 111. Experiencing Art (3) Prerequisites: None.

Exploration of art and contemporary culture through hands-on experience in diverse art media and gallery settings. Developing creativity and discovery through viewing and discussing art made by students from the CSULB School of Art.

III. Curriculum Justifications

The existing course Art 110: Introduction to the Visual Arts is being retired at the end of Summer Session 2017. From it 2 new General Education courses are being created, one focusing on Art History, and this course, Art 111 focusing on Experiencing Art.

This is a C-1, The Arts, General Education course.

Essential GE Skills

Primary

  • Creativity & Discovery
  • Interdisciplinary Learning
Creativity & Discovery

Students will discover new ideas and perspectives on aesthetics and expression through considering the work of dozens of SOA Artists. Their weekly written analysis of these SOA Student art exhibitions will enrich their skills in critical thinking, and in the media and languages of art. Students will have the opportunity to leverage these new ideas through their own weekly art activities where they create works in a wide range of contemporary media. As an introductory course, students should feel safe in experimenting with new ideas and risk taking.

Creativity & Discovery Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
  1. Acquiring Competencies
  2. Taking Risks
  3. Innovative Thinking
Interdisciplinary Learning

Art111 leverages the CSULB School of Art’s unique 5-gallery complex and its ambitious exhibition schedule to provide students from across the CSULB campus community with the opportunity to bring their own fields of study and life experiences to bear on the consideration of emerging artists and their myriad forms of exploration of art, life, and culture in the 21st century.

Interdisciplinary Learning Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
  1. Connections to Experience
  2. Reflection and Self-Assessment

Secondary

  • Written Communication
  • Critical Thinking

IV. Student Learning Outcomes

The following student learning outcomes should be listed on every syllabus:

  1. Students will acquire entry-level competency with a range of art media from traditional to new media. (Acquire Competency)
    A. Measurable Benchmarks: Attempt weekly art activities ranging from traditional media such as Painting & Sculpture to new media such as Ephemeral Messaging & 3D Design. (activities may vary by instructor)
    B. Evaluation Instruments: Weekly essays on the student’s personal ePortfolio analyzing their experience and synthesizing new ideas
    C. Strategies for Skill Development: Encourage diversity and facility for students by exploring 12 art activities that are as diverse as possible

  2. Students will confront fears of embarrassment, failure, and other limits, to take Activities (projects) beyond original parameters and into new materials, forms, ideas & solutions. (Taking Risks)
    A. Measurable Benchmarks: In weekly Art Experiences, Weekly Conversations with SOA Artists, and Weekly Conversations with Art 111 Peers, students demonstrate new forms of formal and conceptual understanding and willingness to experiment and explore.
    B. Evaluation Instruments: several dozen essays on the student’s personal ePortfolio. Each essay should exhibit critical thinking and new insights into art, media, and aesthetics.
    C. Strategies for Skill Development: Feedback from instructor and classmates encouraging students to continue to expand their willingness to explore new media, new ideas, and the edges of art.

  3. Students will explore novel and unique ideas in the creation of new, boundary crossing solutions to Activity prompts and encounters with Artists. Students will challenge their ideas of art and its domain. (Innovative Thinking)
    A. Measurable Benchmarks: Weekly activities by students with fast feedback from faculty and classmates.
    B. Evaluation Instruments: several dozen weekly essays on the student’s personal ePortfolio.
    C. Strategies for Skill Development: Through weekly SOA Student Gallery visits students will engage in the SOA gallery culture and expand its dialog. In weekly Art Experiences students will be encouraged to try new media and expand their technical, conceptual, and personal comfort zones.

  4. Students will connect relevant experience and academic knowledge (life experience, academic experience) to deepen understanding & broaden point of view. (Connections to Experience)
    A. Measurable Benchmarks: Level of ideas and experience integrated into student work and analysis across the weeks of the semester
    B. Evaluation Instruments: several dozen weekly essays on the student’s personal ePortfolio.
    C. Strategies for Skill Development: Group and individual feedback showing examples of where students have made strong connections to life and academic experience, or where such connections might have been more robust.

  5. Students will demonstrate a developing sense of self as a creative learner, building on prior experiences to respond to new and challenging contexts in the arts.
    A. Measurable Benchmarks: Degree of Reflection and Self-Assessment exhibited across the weeks of the semester as students try new Art Activities and have Conversations with SOA artists. (Reflection and Self-Assessment)
    B. Evaluation Instruments: several dozen weekly essays on the student’s personal ePortfolio.
    C. Strategies for Skill Development: Group and individual feedback showing examples of where students have demonstrated a sense of self as a creative learner. Examples of where students have built on prior experiences to respond to new challenges or how they might have more deeply connected prior experiences to new and challenging contexts.

V. Outline of Subject Matter

The following is a broad outline of topics to be covered. Subject matter and sequence of topics
may vary by instructor.

  • Create a personal website (SLO #5)
  • Weekly Art Activities, from Painting & Sculpture to Social Photography & Alternate Reality Gaming, each designed to introduce students to another set of Media, Ideas, and Personal Discoveries in Art. (SLO #1, SLO #2, SLO #3)
  • Weekly Conversations with CSULB SOA Student Artists, each intended to introduce students to a wide range of art ideas and media as practiced by artists working in the 21st century. (SLO #3, SLO #4)
  • Weekly Conversations with Art 111 Classmates, each intended to introduce students to connections and diversity within their cohort. Art 111 students view SOA Artists’ work together and use it as discussion material to explore their own culture vis-a-vis contemporary art. (SLO #4, SLO #5)
  • Write several dozen blog posts across the semester, each reflecting on Competencies Acquired, Risks Taken, Innovative Thinking, Connections to Experience, and Reflection & Self-Assessment (SLO #1, SLO #2, SLO #3, SLO #4, SLO #5)
  • Create an ePortfolio (SLO #4, SLO #5)

VI. Methods of Instruction

This course focuses on active student engagement and interaction with student-artists from the CSULB School of Art. Each week consists of 3 primary projects:

  1. Art Activity – a range of media from traditional media like Painting & Sculpture to new media like Instagram and 3D Game Design.
  2. Conversation with an Artist – Each week students visit the 5 CSULB SOA Art Galleries located in the Gallery Courtyard between FA2 & FA3. Here they view 4-5 new exhibitions each week and select one of the exhibiting artists for a conversation.
  3. Conversation with a Classmate – Each week students have a conversation with one classmate they don’t already know. They discuss background and career interests, look at the art in the galleries together, and discuss the “Question of the Week” together.
  4. Experiential Writing – At the end of each week these 3 Projects are “turned in” via blog posts on the student’s personal website.

Format

Sections of Art111 may be offered in Face-to-Face, 100% Online, and Hybrid formats.

VII. Information about Texts & Readings

The following are examples of texts for this course:

A. Activity Briefs

12 Activity Briefs from course website, for example:

  1. Web Design
  2. Sculpture
  3. Social Photography
  4. Ethnography
  5. Painting
  6. Ephemeral Art
  7. Identity Art
  8. Portrait Photography
  9. Game Design 1 (3D Design)
  10. Game Design 2 (Augmented Reality)
  11. Fiber Art
  12. ePortfolio

B. Primary Sources

Primary Sources: reading 40 – 60 websites from CSULB SOA Student Artists

VIII. Selected Bibliography

As a 21st-century-focused course, this bibliography relies on online-based primary sources as much as possible. Most of the links below are the artist’s own websites. Most of the individuals listed are artists. Some would not take the label “artist” nor exhibit in an art gallery or art museum, yet because their work involves critical practice or critical making, they are also included here.

IX. Instructional Policies Requirements

Instructors may specify their own policies with regard to plagiarism, withdrawal, absences, etc., as long as the policies are consistent with the University policies published in the CSULB Catalog. It is expected that every course will follow University policies on Attendance (PS 01-01), Course Syllabi and Standard Course Outlines (PS 11-07), Final Course Grades, Grading Procedures, and Final Assessments (PS 05-07), and Withdrawals (PS 02-02).

All sections of the course will have a syllabus that includes the information required by the syllabus policy adopted by the Academic Senate. Instructors will include information on how students may make up work for excused absences. When class participation is a required part of the course, syllabi will include information on how participation is assessed. Syllabi will include a rubric for how written communication is to be evaluated.

X. Course Assessment

The exact set of course assignments will vary depending on the instructor. University policy requires that no single evaluation of student achievement may count for more than one-third of the final grade. Appropriate assignments may include:

  • Create a personal website (SLO #5) 5% of course grade
  • Weekly Art Activities (SLO #1, SLO #2, SLO #3) 35% of course grade
  • Weekly Conversations with CSULB SOA Student Artists (SLO #3, SLO #4) 35% of course grade
  • Weekly Conversations with Art 111 Classmates (SLO #4, SLO #5) 15% of course grade
  • Write several dozen blog posts across the semester (SLO #1, SLO #2, SLO #3, SLO #4, SLO #5) (points for this work assessed through the other assignments)
  • Create an ePortfolio (SLO #4, SLO #5) 10% of course grade

Grading Policies

Grading policies and procedures and the percentage of the course grade associated with each assessment must be explicit on each instructor’s syllabus. Instructors must develop scoring guidelines for assessments, which must be made available to students.

Final Course Grade

  • 90-100% = A – mastery of the relevant course standards
  • 80-89% = B – above average proficiency of the relevant course standards
  • 70-79% = C – satisfactory proficiency of the relevant course standards
  • 60-69% = D – partial proficiency of the relevant course standards
  • Below 60% = F – little or no proficiency of the relevant course standards

XI. Consistency of SCO Standards across Sections

Art 111 is not currently offered from multiple instructors. If the School of Art were to offer sections from multiple instructors, consistency would be monitored through the School of Art Curriculum Committee, and the Head of the Foundation program would review the SCO and offer advice and/or materials to each faculty member new to teaching the course. All future syllabi will conform to the SCO. The responsible faculty or Head of the Foundation program may offer or require regular review of instructors’ course materials as well as anonymous samples of student work.

Students in the SOA Gallery courtyard
Students in the CSULB School of Art’s Gallery Courtyard

Additional Documents

Resources

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