Foundations for analysing art: Curating and creating content for an online museum assessment at Level 0

The analysis of art has an important critical function within an interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities foundation year. Assessment activities focused on the analysis of art and visual culture are undertaken by all students regardless of their future degree progression route. This introduces students with diverse subject specialist interests to theories and practices of art history and related disciplines. Writing from the perspective of a university foundation year educator, this article will explore a case study of how art is activated in this distinct educational context. A focus on a ‘writing for an online museum’ assessment within an Arts and Humanities foundation year in a Lifelong Learning Centre at a UK university forms the basis of this case study. It will discuss how the application of the mode of a ‘virtual’ museum, utilized specifically to denote an online setting, can support foundation-year learners to communicate academic concepts and critical thinking.