Visual Arts & Design
- Mission Statement
Art is the universal language through which we express our common aspirations and experiences. As such, it has always been a channel for appreciating and understanding the diversity of humankind. In contemporary society the use of visual media has expanded rapidly. People who formerly typed documents now design web pages. More studies are indicating that children who experience the visual arts are more successful in their other studies. Attendance at art museums is at an all time high. The need to experience, understand and successfully create visual media is increasing. The Department of Visual Arts and Design is prepared to meet these needs.
Faculty: All of our faculty are practicing professionals. WSU-DOVAD takes pride that the faculty demonstrate the level of excellence we expect of our students. - Student Learning Outcomes
- Certificate (Not Applicable)
- Associate Degree
Measurable Learning Outcomes for the Associate of Arts in Art:
Creation Innovation
- Technical Proficiency - Produce technically proficient visual work.
- Conceptual, Ethical, Critical - Utilize conceptual frameworks, ethical reasoning, and critical thinking skills in the making of visual media.
- Learn, Adapt, Apply - Demonstrate the ability to learn, adapt, and apply new techniques, tools, processes, and ideas.
Analysis Communication
- Assess, Analyze, Synthesize - Assess, analyze, and synthesize historical and contemporary information regarding visual art and design.
- Writing and Oral Communication - Communicate effectively and ethically about visual media through written or oral means.
- Recognize and Identify - Recognize and identify historically influencial styles, movements, periods, theories, and practitioners of art and design in a global context.
Professionalization Collaboration
- Contemporary Professional Practices - Implement contemporary professional practices in the field.
- Cooperation With Peers - Demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively, ethically, and effectively with peers.
- Profession, Practice, Community - Explain visual art and design as a profession, practice, and global community.
- Bachelor Degrees
Measurable Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Arts in Art and Bachelor of Fine Arts:
Creation Innovation
- Technical Proficiency - Produce technically proficient visual work.
- Conceptual, Ethical, Critical - Utilize conceptual frameworks, ethical reasoning, and critical thinking skills in the making of visual media.
- Learn, Adapt, Apply - Demonstrate the ability to learn, adapt, and apply new techniques, tools, processes, and ideas.
Analysis Communication
- Assess, Analyze, Synthesize - Assess, analyze, and synthesize historical and contemporary information regarding visual art and design.
- Writing and Oral Communication - Communicate effectively and ethically about visual media through written or oral means.
- Recognize and Identify - Recognize and identify historically influencial styles, movements, periods, theories, and practitioners of art and design in a global context.
Professionalization Collaboration
- Contemporary Professional Practices - Implement contemporary professional practices in the field.
- Cooperation With Peers - Demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively, ethically, and effectively with peers.
- Profession, Practice, Community - Explain visual art and design as a profession, practice, and global community.
- Certificate (Not Applicable)
- Curriculum Grid
- Program and Contact Information
Our world is partially understood through smell, taste, sound, and touch. But perhaps most of all we make sense of our environment through what we see. The art, architecture, mass media and even the furniture in our spaces bear distinct messages that influence our decisions and enrich life.Creative processes are exciting. Students of art and design contribute new expression to the vitality of our visual environment and learn to interpret what is seen through trained observation. Innovative thinking is absolutely necessary for success and must be balanced against research and critical judgment. Emphasis is placed on writing and the critical evaluation of artistic products. Students gain experience at preparing exhibits and portfolios for eventual professional activity.
Studies in art, art history and design offer windows of understanding to other cultures, both past and present. This is one of our primary concerns in preparing citizens for productive relations in an increasingly multicultural society.
Seventy-eight different courses are offered by the Department of Visual Arts and Design. These span traditional areas such as art history, art education, ceramics, drawing, small metals/jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and graphic design. The department is continually expanding into emerging modes of expression involving digital video, digital photography, animation, interactive design, and sound. Classes are enhanced by public lectures, seminars, workshops and special sessions by critics, historians, and visiting artistsDepartment of Visual Arts Website
Contact Information:
Matthew Choberka
2001 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408
Kimball Visual Arts Bldg, Rm 101
(801) 626-7270 - Assessment Plan
GenEd Assessment:
- DOVAD has been collecting and archiving artifacts from its GenEd courses in an effort to assess information about these courses, and their effectiveness in educating students on the relevant GenEd outcomes. These artifacts include short papers, exams, quizzes, and samples of creative works. Despite their variations, the collected artifacts clearly indicate the relevant GenEd outcomes designated by the department are all being consciously addressed. The department plans to continue to collect, assess and archive for these courses.
Foundations Assessment:- Over the last year, our Foundations Coordinator, Molly Morin, gathered information about the current state of the studio foundation curriculum through surveys, conversations and observations across the department. In cooperation with the newly formed foundations committee, she wrote objectives for the five studio foundations classes. These one-page documents clearly define learning objectives for each course, and will be distributed to instructors around the time courses are schedules. These new objectives, to be implemented broadly in Spring 2015, will allow assessment to measure outcomes in a meaningful way moving forward. In addition, a revised adjunct instructor contract codifies our expectation that adjunct instructors (who teach the bulk of these courses) will work with the department to provide evidence of outcomes. In this way, we are prepared to collect artifacts and assess the curriculum more effectively beginning in Spring 2015.
- While GenEd offerings lie outside of the Foundation Coordinator’s responsibilities, the above will serve the assessment committee as a model for collecting artifacts and measuring outcomes for the GenEd curriculum.
BFA and Program Assessment:- Each fall and spring semester a portfolio review process is used to determine entry into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program. The evaluation form used to rank student portfolios helps faculty determine readiness for advanced and self-directed study in the various studio concentrations. This evaluation form serves a related assessment function, in that it allows DOVAD faculty to consider success with learning outcomes in foundations classes (see attached BFA Review Worksheet in Section H below).
- At the end of every fall and spring semester the DOVAD faculty evaluates the work created by students enrolled in the BFA Seminar class. In addition to a verbal exchange with the students, faculty members complete assessment forms for each student. This form has been developed over time and evaluates the outcomes of the student in the areas of concept, form, and articulation (see attached BFA Seminar Assessment forms in Section H below).
- At the completion of the BFA Thesis class the students are again evaluated. There is again a verbal dialog between student and faculty, as well as an assessment form completed by the DOVAD faculty members. The thesis form is the same as the BFA Seminar form, which evaluates concept, form, and articulation. The data gathered on these forms gives the department information to gauge the success of our students at the completion of the BFA Thesis course. Since these same students were assessed using the same form for BFA Seminar we also have the ability to make comparisons between student development relative to the learning outcomes in BFA Seminar and Thesis, and to therefore evaluate the BFA program more broadly. In addition to the assessment forms, images of the completed student works are collected and archived. The department plans to continue to collect, assess and archive materials for these courses.
- The department’s assessment committee will review the information gathered from this process annually. They will evaluate the materials and then report their findings to the entire DOVAD faculty to discuss recommendations. The Department of Visual Arts and Design believes the continuation of assessing both GenEd and both BFA courses, as well as implementing a new dedication to collecting, reviewing and archiving artifacts from a variety of studio and/or art history courses, gives us the necessary information to successfully assess our effectiveness in teaching our students.
Assessment Evidence Collection Procedures:- To further expand the amount of information available for assessment of learning with the major, DOVAD will continue annually to collect, assess and archive materials from the reviews outlined above, and has also begun to collect and archive artifacts and information from five studio courses per semester from a range of disciplines taught within the department. These materials are not only from a diverse range of disciplines, they also allow the department to gather data on students in various stages of their education/development. By rotating through various classes per semester we will be able to obtain evaluative artifacts from across the spectrum of courses taught in the Department of Visual Arts and Design. You can find a copy of this schedule in the appendix of this document.
A three-year schedule for these courses has been developed by the assessment committee, and will be followed by DOVAD faculty moving forward. (Please see the proposed artifact collection schedule in the Appendix on page 24 of this document). This schedule will not only ensure a full spectrum of courses are represented each semester and year, but will also ask faculty to fairly participate in the assessment evidence collection. Each professor/instructor selected will be responsible for providing the following items to the assessment committee at the end of the semester.
- 10–20 images of work completed during the semester that the professor/instructor believes connect back to the learning objectives stated in the course syllabus.
- These images should be named using the following convention: course#_project#_001 (each image should be named sequentially)
- Do not include student names
- 10 examples of quizzes, exams, papers or other kinds of written work, which the professor/instructor believes connect back to the learning objectives stated in the course syllabus
- These documents should be in an accessible format (Word doc, or text file)
- These documents should be named using the following convention: course#_writtenassignmenttypeand#_001 (each document should be named sequentially)
- Do not include student names
- A PDF or Word file of the following:
- Course syllabus
- Any project/assignment descriptions/briefs which relate to the assessment evidence given
- A one or two paragraph summary which analyzes how the artifacts/evidence collected specifically relates to the learning outcomes stated in the course syllabus
- Should be saved as a Word doc or PDF
- Should be clearly labeled as Evidence Summary Analysis
- Should include the course number and professor/instructor name in title of document
Each professor/instructor is responsible for organizing all these files into a folder, clearly labeled with the semester and year, the course number, and their name. At the end of the semester, the professor/instructor is also responsible for loading this organized folder onto the Assessment Collection external hard drive, which will be stored in the main department office. This hard drive will contain an organized series of folders for each semester and year. The professor/instructor is responsible for locating the appropriate folder and uploading their organized course folder into that space.
- Assessment Report Submissions
2021-22
2019-20 - No report submitted
2017
2016
2015 - No report submitted - Program Review