Musical Theatre Assessment: Perspectives on the efficacy of continuous assessment

Abstract

This chapter reports on aspects of a larger project conducted on learning and teaching practices in a tertiary musical theatre program. Learning and teaching activities that focus strongly on performance outcomes are often difficult to assess objectively, particularly in relation to the balance of process and performance. This project reported on here sought to illuminate the perceptions of participants in relation to assessment practices. The site in question has implemented and evaluated a process of continuous assessment in which staff members allocate marks in relation to student progress on a weekly basis. The students are given access to this feedback at three intervals throughout the semester, alongside informal feedback. Marks are awarded for up to 20 sub-activities within the broad areas of acting, dance with sub-categories for each of jazz, tap and ballet, performance project, singing and speech. This assessment process is embedded in a degree structure that has adopted a sliding scale of formative and summative assessment across the 3-year degree: the first year is marked almost entirely on process and the final year almost entirely on performance. Through focus group interviews with participants, the efficacy of this assessment process was documented. Students in the second year of the program were interviewed to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach, though this chapter focuses on teachers’ experience of the process. The findings give a nuanced picture of the participants’ interface with the assessment process. These findings, combined with artefacts from the program are presented as a model for teachers in institutional and private studio settings. It is anticipated that this may be of interest to those who seek to prepare students for the realities of the profession in musical theatre and other voice-based training programs.