Final Grades

Grade Scale

Grades are partly objective and partly subjective. While it would be be best if grades were an accurate measure of what you learned during the course, they are actually only a measure of what I can see of your ability and understanding. This means that the more you can show me about what you are learning, the better chance I have of giving you the grade you deserve.

There are multiple opportunities for you to show me how well you are doing:

Projects

The quality of the product you produce is the most objective measure of your ability as a designer. To receive full credit a project must be turned in complete and on time. For each day late, there is a loss of a whole letter grade. The project must also meet the requirements listed in the problem statement and have an appropriate level of craft.

Subjectively, the project must have a good concept that is well implemented and display the ideas that are the focus of the lessons embodied in that project. Projects early in the quarter are designed to be idea discovery and skill builders. Later projects count more because they require the application of all the information and skills that were learned in the earlier projects.

Process

A large part of the lessons of second year are about the design process. Many of you will discover that you have no systematic process and will be delighted to find an easier way to do things. You get to display your process at desk crits and in your process record. Process quality is harder to see than product quality, so the more idea development you show me, the better I can understand your process and the better I can be our coach.

A good process record shows an attitude of inquiry and discovery: drawing and diagrams, plus words to describe and evaluate. There should be explorations of multiple alternatives with different generators rather than mere variations on a theme.

Progress

Progress is the hardest element for you to display. Hopefully you will learn far more than you can clearly demonstrate. I can see progress in desk crits, the completed process record, and in the changes in product quality from the beginning to the end of the quarter. I can also get some insight into how much you are learning by our willingness to crit and assist your classmates.

Mid-quarter and Exit Interviews

Sometime in the middle of the quarter I will talk to each student individually and will use that opportunity to have you reflect upon what you have learned so far, your process record, and what you want to emphasize for the rest of the quarter. At the end of the quarter I will hold Exit Interviews to review your work, your process record, and your grade.

My Yardstick for Grades

I reserve A's for excellent work in terms of process, craft, design, and presentation: it goes way beyond the requirements, beyond my expectations for ordinary second year accomplishment, and sets a brisk pace of inquiry.

B's are for very good work in the same categories: it is a large cut above the usual level of accomplishment and sets a moderate pace in its inquiry.

C's are for moderately good work: good and solid, meeting the requirements and a low level of inquiry. C is not a "bad" grade.

D's are for work that is slightly below par: it does not even meet the requirements, without much sense of questioning.

F's are for incomplete or inadequate work: you completely missed the boat, fell asleep at the wheel, or totally dropped the point and did not come back to pick it up.

You may receive a grade slightly higher than your average if a majority of the following traits characterize your quarter's work:
You have demonstrated exceptional improvement in the quality of your work during the quarter.
You have consistently made contributions to class discussions.
You have consistently provided help to classmates.
The adjustment of a quarter's average will usually not exceeded one step (eg, C+ to B-).

I grade hard - with the sole purpose of creating a standard of excellence that will serve you. Many students do not know the look and feel of excellence: they stop short because they have worked very hard and think that is enough. It is not. If you want to succeed, you need to push beyond the ordinary, to see the difference between the merely good and the surely excellent, to present the work that has the edge. My purpose is to give you the edge where I can.

How to Improve Your Grade

Come to class every day on time.

Use class time to work: with me or with your classmates. Do not avoid desk crits. Leave early only if it is absolutely necessary to the forward movement of your project.

Turn in complete projects on time. Don't wait to print it out until the day it is due. The printer knows when you are late and will not cooperate.

Always use an appropriate level of craft: never be sloppy, but a study model is just a study to be torn apart as needed.

Have a well-documented, good idea. Eye candy in form•Z on a poor idea does not cut it. Neither does a great idea done sloppily.

Think three-dimensionally instead of using extruded, plan-generated forms.

Have a rich process record: document research, alternative; evaluate your ideas as you go along; sketches, words, diagrams, copies of appropriate images. Put in your trace, diagram your study models.

Thorough exploration and inquiry into the problem or design issue at hand.

Share what you are learning with your classmates: cross-crits, assistance in techniques and skills, discussions of the ideas in the assignements.