Sustained Investigation: Inquiry and Development: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
36 flashcard terms for AP 2-D Art & Design Unit 3, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 20-question quiz — free, no account needed.
The AP Art and Design term for the questions and ideas that guide making; the Sustained Investigation must be driven by an inquiry stated in the written evidence.
Sustained Investigation Requirements
15 images showing practice, experimentation, and revision, plus written responses (1,200 characters on the inquiry and how it developed, 100 characters per image on materials, processes, ideas).
Practice
Repeated engagement with materials, processes, or ideas over time, building skill and understanding; the CED lists it alongside experimentation and revision.
Experimentation
Trying new approaches, materials, or ideas to discover what happens; risk-taking that may fail is still evidence of investigation.
Revision
Reworking, editing, or making a new version in response to what was learned from earlier attempts; visible change between images is strong evidence.
Sustained Investigation Scoring Rows
Scored on Inquiry, Practice/Experimentation/Revision, Materials/Processes/Ideas, and 2-D Art and Design Skills, each on a 1 to 5 scale, contributing 60% of the portfolio.
Score 5 Evidence
Written and visual evidence show a clearly stated inquiry that guides the work, sustained practice/experimentation/revision, synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas, and advanced 2-D skills.
Synthesis
Integration of materials, processes, and ideas so they reinforce one another rather than existing separately; a key marker of top-scoring investigations.
Ideation
Generating many possible directions through sketches, mind maps, lists, and thumbnails before committing to a series.
Thumbnail Sketches
Small quick compositional studies used to test arrangements and choose the strongest before working at full scale.
Sketchbook as Evidence
Photographs of sketchbook pages, tests, and annotations can serve as Sustained Investigation images when they show inquiry and development.
Process Documentation
Photographs of a work at multiple stages, including cropped details, that make the sequence of decisions visible to a reader.
Iteration
Producing a series of versions of an idea, each responding to the last, so that development over time is legible.
Series
A group of related works that explore variations of one idea, allowing comparison and demonstrating sustained focus.
Detail Image
A closely cropped photograph of part of a work, used to reveal surface, technique, or a critical decision not visible in the whole.
Written Evidence Prompt 1
Identify the question(s) or inquiry that guided your sustained investigation.
Written Evidence Prompt 2
Describe how your sustained investigation shows evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision guided by your question(s) or inquiry.
Character Limits
The two written responses share a 1,200-character limit including spaces; each image gets 100 characters for materials, 100 for processes, and 100 for ideas in some years, or a combined short response depending on the platform.
Written evidence should name actual materials and processes ('cut paper collage layered under encaustic') rather than generic phrases like 'various media'.
Ideas Field
The portion of the per-image writing that states what the piece is about or which aspect of the inquiry it explores.
Sequencing Images
Ordering the 15 images to show development, whether chronological, thematic, or from experiment to resolution, helps readers follow the inquiry.
Risk-Taking
Attempting an outcome that might fail; the CED values evidence that the artist pushed beyond safe or familiar solutions.
Reflection
Looking back at what was made to identify what worked and what did not, then using that to plan the next step.
Feedback Loop
Making, critiquing, and revising in cycles; critique from peers or teachers feeds the next iteration.
Conceptual Development
The way an idea deepens or shifts across the investigation, which is as valid to document as technical growth.
Constraints
Self-imposed limits (one palette, one process, one subject) that focus experimentation and make comparisons across the series meaningful.
Working from Observation
Drawing or photographing directly from life or one's own reference photos, which protects artistic integrity and produces original imagery.
Reference Photos
Photographs taken by the artist as source material; using someone else's photograph without transformation is a plagiarism risk.
Timeline Management
Planning the year so that early experiments, mid-year development, and late resolution all leave time to photograph and write.
Sustained Investigation vs. Theme
A theme names a subject; an inquiry poses a question that can be pursued through making and answered visually in different ways.
Evidence vs. Explanation
Readers score what they can see in the images and read in the writing; a claim of experimentation without visible variation is weak evidence.
Materials, Processes, and Ideas Row
Score depends on how well images and writing show that materials, processes, and ideas are used together to explore the inquiry.
2-D Skills Row
Assesses control of the elements and principles of 2-D design across the images, from little control (1) to advanced, purposeful use (5).
Score 1 to 2 Patterns
Little or no relationship between stated inquiry and images, minimal variation among works, or copied imagery with no transformation.
Non-Linear Development
Investigations may loop back, abandon directions, or branch; readers reward visible decision-making, not straight-line progress.
Digital Submission
Images are uploaded as JPEGs to the AP Digital Portfolio with dimension and file-size limits; teachers verify and forward by the early May deadline.