Film production as a means to measure learning
This section will have two main themes of ‘product’ and ‘process’ but will also consider the value of film production for making assessment more valid and enabling authentic assessment.
When including film production as an assessment method, you need to think whether the making and/or film content is the sole focus of the assessment or whether the film is adding to another method of assessment; adding a visual strand of evidence to, say, an essay, portfolio, or patchwork assessment.
All assessment methods should be constructively aligned to the intended learning outcomes, and in the case of film/video production this requires us to be clear whether we are assessing the process of making the film or video (including scripting, editing, composition, etc.) or assessing the finished product in terms of its scholarly content (accepting basic recordings and raw footage) or both.
It is apparent that the former will require the opportunity for students to develop the skills of the film-maker to some degree and have access to the appropriate kit, whilst the latter may accept a basic video made on a tablet or phone for instance.
In addition, we have to recognise that if we plan to assess either process or both process and product, then students will need some grounding in the theoretical underpinning of visual media; the fundamentals of aesthetic and visual culture theory.
Valid assessment: the test measure what it is supposed to measure; the characteristic(s) that you want demonstrated have to be evidenced in order to pass the test.
Authentic assessment: a form of assessment in which students perform real-world tasks that demonstrate application of essential knowledge and skills.
The important point here is the real world which allows us to measure transferable and employability skills.
If we want to know for example if someone is safe to drive independently on the road then, yes, we want to know that they have knowledge of the rules of the road and the vehicle that they are driving and this can be tested in a valid way by a quiz, essay or computer simulation (valid assessment).
However, to know that they have a baseline competency to drive safely the valid approach is to observe their performance out on the highway over a period of time (valid and authentic assessment).
Film production can therefore provide a meaningful assessment opportunity when the assessment outcomes are clearly aligned to the skills, competencies and knowledge that students are expected to be able to demonstrate.