Grading, Feedback and Policies

tl;dr: Do interesting work and you'll be fine. Make sure it's submitted on time. Grading and feedback is focused on creative projects. There will be some opportunities for extra credit.

The course is focused on exploring distance learning by making interesting creative work. To get a good grade you’ll need to:

The most important element: the work you do. Make an effort, try new approaches, experiment technologies, and apply them in interesting and unexpected ways. They key to getting a stellar grade will mean finding an exciting interactive strategy, for online products and services.

Grading

To facilitate grading all students are expected to prepare digital pages for their work (e.g. GitHub Repos, Gallery projects, Google Documents). All work must be submitted or presented by the deadline. Late work will not be accepted.

This course will largely assign independent work. For independent projects, all work submitted must represent a distinct product by that individual and may not be produced in partnership with any peer within the class. Group projects allow for collaboration but expect that all members contribute to the final work equally. Work submitted for assessment in one class may not be submitted in full or in part for assessment in a second class.

Breakdown of grades

Final grades for the course will be broken down as follows:

Note: this is subject to change

Discoveries

Discoveries will be graded as pass/fail:

This will be applied to EACH discovery.

To guarantee you pass the assignment, make sure you have:

Guide

Guides will also be graded as pass/fail:

To guarantee you pass the assignment, make sure you have:

Skill Development Projects

Skill development projects will be graded on a 0-5 scale.

Each skill development project will be accompanied with a series of steps to be implemented. They will break down a problem into a series of steps. Each step must be completed to gain full points for the project.

Creative Projects

These projects are a way for you to showcase:

Take note: The most important thing for this project is to come up with a compelling concept - something interesting, informed, aware or critical. The breakdown of the grades favors your ability to come up with an idea like this. Focus on the idea before implementation!

As such, each creative project will be graded as follows:

Grading Standards / Rubric

Grading Scale

The grading scale for the course is as follows:

Late work

As the course is designed for in-class review and discussion of almost every assignment (readings, research, creative projects), late work is not accepted. Without delivering your work on time, you will not get the benefit of in-class feedback, discussion and critique that it brings. More importantly, it can hold up the progress of the class as a whole.

The only exceptions will be in the case of medical or family emergencies or other pre-arranged university-approved absences.

Grading, Assignments and Your Wellbeing

Besides all of the above, your health and wellbeing is first priority. Particularly as the semester comes to a close and there are many competing deadlines, assignments and priorities, first and foremost, take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website at http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you have questions about this or your coursework, please let me know.