Selected Works - Scoring Guidelines
Selected Works Section
This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design with minimal constraints. Each work is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
Students should carefully select works that best demonstrate their skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The submission can be a group of related works, unrelated works, or a combination of related and unrelated works. These works may also be submitted in the Sustained Investigation section, but they don’t have to be.
Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted, that directly and completely address the prompts, and that provide further evidence of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas shown in the work. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
There is no preferred (or unacceptable) material, process, idea, style, or content. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
Requirements & Prompts
Submit five works that demonstrate:
2-D/3-D/drawing skills (depending on type of portfolio submitted)
Synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
For each work, state the following in writing:
For specific details on how works or images of works are submitted for each portfolio type, see page 35 of the AP Art and Design Course and Exam Description, Effective Fall 2019.
SCORING CRITERIA
The five works will be evaluated collectively and holistically based on the following three scoring criteria:
This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design with minimal constraints. Each work is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
Students should carefully select works that best demonstrate their skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The submission can be a group of related works, unrelated works, or a combination of related and unrelated works. These works may also be submitted in the Sustained Investigation section, but they don’t have to be.
Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted, that directly and completely address the prompts, and that provide further evidence of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas shown in the work. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
There is no preferred (or unacceptable) material, process, idea, style, or content. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
Requirements & Prompts
Submit five works that demonstrate:
2-D/3-D/drawing skills (depending on type of portfolio submitted)
Synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
For each work, state the following in writing:
- Idea(s) visually evident (100 characters maximum, including spaces)
- Materials used (100 characters maximum, including spaces)
- Processes used (100 characters maximum, including spaces)
For specific details on how works or images of works are submitted for each portfolio type, see page 35 of the AP Art and Design Course and Exam Description, Effective Fall 2019.
SCORING CRITERIA
The five works will be evaluated collectively and holistically based on the following three scoring criteria:
The most successful portfolio submissions will demonstrate:
Visual evidence of advanced 2-D, 3-D, or drawing skills
Visual evidence of synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
Visual evidence of the written idea in all five works of art
Visual evidence of advanced 2-D, 3-D, or drawing skills
Visual evidence of synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
Visual evidence of the written idea in all five works of art
Sustained Investigation - Scoring Guidelines
Sustained Investigation Section
This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design based on an in-depth investigation of materials, processes, and ideas done over time. Sustained Investigation is work united by a single guiding inquiry. It involves practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Works from the Sustained Investigation section may also be submitted in the Selected Works section, but they don’t have to be.
Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses to these prompts are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted; that directly and completely address the prompts; and that provide evidence of inquiry-based sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Return to Table of Contents
There is no preferred (or unacceptable) basis of inquiry, type of investigation, or use of material, process, idea, style, or content for the Sustained Investigation. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
Requirements & Prompts
Submit 15 images that demonstrate:
Questions that guide the sustained investigation are typically formulated at the beginning of portfolio development. Students should formulate their questions or inquiry based on their own experiences and ideas. These should be further developed by students throughout the sustained investigation.
Identify the following for each image:
For images that document process or show detail, students should enter “N/A” for size (see Additional Information About the Sustained Investigation Section on the following page for more details). For digital and virtual work, students should enter the size of the intended visual display
SCORING CRITERIA
The 15 images are evaluated collectively based on four scoring criteria. Each of the four scoring criteria is evaluated separately and assigned an independent score. The final score for the Sustained Investigation section is calculated based on the relative weight of each of the four scoring criteria. The four scoring criteria along with their corresponding skills and section weighting is as follows:
This section of the AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams offers students the opportunity to make and present works of art and design based on an in-depth investigation of materials, processes, and ideas done over time. Sustained Investigation is work united by a single guiding inquiry. It involves practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section is expected to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. Works from the Sustained Investigation section may also be submitted in the Selected Works section, but they don’t have to be.
Along with each work, students are required to submit written responses to prompts about the work. Responses to these prompts are evaluated along with the images that students submit. The most successful responses in terms of assessment are those that are clearly related to the images of work submitted; that directly and completely address the prompts; and that provide evidence of inquiry-based sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision. Responses are not evaluated for correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Return to Table of Contents
There is no preferred (or unacceptable) basis of inquiry, type of investigation, or use of material, process, idea, style, or content for the Sustained Investigation. Students should be the principal artist or designer of the work they submit. If work involved collaboration, the student submitting the work needs to have made all key decisions about materials, processes, and ideas used and needs to have performed the activities that produced the work.
Requirements & Prompts
Submit 15 images that demonstrate:
- Sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision
- Sustained investigation of materials, processes, and ideas
- Synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
- 2-D/3-D/drawing skills (depending on type of portfolio submitted)
- Identify the questions or inquiry that guided your sustained investigation
- Describe how your sustained investigation shows evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision guided by your questions or inquiry (1200 characters maximum, including spaces, for response to both prompts)
Questions that guide the sustained investigation are typically formulated at the beginning of portfolio development. Students should formulate their questions or inquiry based on their own experiences and ideas. These should be further developed by students throughout the sustained investigation.
Identify the following for each image:
- Materials used (100 characters maximum, including spaces)
- Processes used (100 characters maximum, including spaces)
- Size (height × width × depth, in inches)
For images that document process or show detail, students should enter “N/A” for size (see Additional Information About the Sustained Investigation Section on the following page for more details). For digital and virtual work, students should enter the size of the intended visual display
SCORING CRITERIA
The 15 images are evaluated collectively based on four scoring criteria. Each of the four scoring criteria is evaluated separately and assigned an independent score. The final score for the Sustained Investigation section is calculated based on the relative weight of each of the four scoring criteria. The four scoring criteria along with their corresponding skills and section weighting is as follows:
The most successful portfolio submissions will demonstrate:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION SECTION Throughout their sustained investigation, students need to document—with images and words—practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas as well as skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. From their documentation of thinking and making, students select images and writing to include in their portfolio that most effectively demonstrate sustained investigation according to AP Art and Design Portfolio Exam assessment criteria.
Process documentation images included in the portfolio should show evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas and/ or of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas, providing insight on students’ inquiry, thinking, and making. Detail images should be submitted only when it is important to see a close-up view of a work as evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision or of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
When submitting work for the Sustained Investigation section, students should carefully consider the sequence of their images. There is no required order; images should be presented to best demonstrate sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. Students should also consider the relationship of their images with the written information they submit
- Written and visual evidence of questions/inquiry that furthers the sustained investigation
- Written and visual evidence of practice, experimentation, and/or revision that furthers the sustained investigation
- Visual evidence of synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas
- Visual evidence of advanced 2-D, 3-D, or drawing skills
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION SECTION Throughout their sustained investigation, students need to document—with images and words—practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas as well as skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. From their documentation of thinking and making, students select images and writing to include in their portfolio that most effectively demonstrate sustained investigation according to AP Art and Design Portfolio Exam assessment criteria.
Process documentation images included in the portfolio should show evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas and/ or of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas, providing insight on students’ inquiry, thinking, and making. Detail images should be submitted only when it is important to see a close-up view of a work as evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision or of skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
When submitting work for the Sustained Investigation section, students should carefully consider the sequence of their images. There is no required order; images should be presented to best demonstrate sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision using materials, processes, and ideas. Students should also consider the relationship of their images with the written information they submit
