The coursework portfolio quiz: Singapore N(A)-Level Art (6127) quiz

Paper 2, a sustained body of work worth 50 percent of the grade

Paper 1, the timed exam

An optional extra task

A single drawing done in one hour

Externally marked only, like the exam

Marked by the student

Internally assessed by the school and externally moderated by SEAB

Not assessed at all

A single two-hour exam

One afternoon

A full year with no limit

A set practical period, in the order of 30 hours across about 12 weeks

The whole investigation: theme development, experimentation and the journal

Only the most finished artwork

Only spelling in the commentary

Only the neatness of mounting

Pick the most generic topic available

Start broad, then narrow to a personal line of inquiry you genuinely care about

Copy a classmate's theme

Choose a theme you find boring so it is easy

It is quicker to finish

It needs no research

Genuine personal connection leads to more original, committed work with a real voice

It guarantees a final piece on its own

It wastes materials to show effort

It replaces the final piece

Trying, recording and judging materials shows the development the Portfolio marks, and a range of art forms and media is expected

It is not assessed at all

Record them honestly and explain what they taught you

Hide or throw them away

Pretend they succeeded

Redo them until perfect and remove the originals

Only neat, finished pages with no rough work

A clear, continuous line of development with research, studies, experiments and honest reflections

A single page made at the end

Decorative borders and no content

Dating the pages

Adding observational drawings

Leaving it to the end and reconstructing a development that never happened

Writing honest reflections each week

It should be unrelated to the development

It should clearly grow from the studies and experiments and resolve the line of inquiry

It should ignore the theme

It should be the only thing in the portfolio

Only praise the work

List the price of materials

Honestly explain your intentions, the decisions you made and what you learned

Copy the theme statement word for word

Because it is worth only a small fraction of the grade

Because it is half the grade and built over months, so the documented development is what earns marks

Because it is marked only on exam day

Because the journal is not looked at