This is the final draft.
Important Dates
Your final is due, according to the university timetable, at the following time:
- CRN #13324 (10:10 MWF course): Due by 3:05 PM on Friday, May 8.
- CRN #20269 (11:15 MWF course): Due by 9:45 AM on Friday, May 8.
The Grace Period for both classes ends at 11:55 PM on Monday, May 11. Please be sure that your work is submitted by the end of the grace period so that I can calculate final grades. If you have some extenuating circumstances that make these dates difficult for you, talk to me by the end of the last day of classes.
Overview
You will review your work in the course and write a completion report that outlines what you have accomplished during the term. In the workplace, this report would be similar to a self-evaluation for a performance review.
To write this report, you will review your projects, participation and class work, looking for evidence of your accomplishments. Based on your findings, you will point out your best work and argue for your grade based on your performance in the class. In addition to grading your report, I’ll use the information in your report to help determine your grade for the course.
Details
Step 1: Review your work and gather your data.
You need to collect the data on your accomplishments in the class. Be sure that you examine your four projects, your attendance, your blog posts, and your overall participation. Look for evidence of the following:
- What have you done to participate consistently during the entire term?
- Have you completed all blog posts, projects, and class work on time (that is by the end of the grace period)?
- Have you completed the expected number of blog posts (28 minimum)?
- Which forum posts demonstrate that you have contributed high quality work?
- Did you attend all class meetings (37 total)? Did you provide health services or Dean of Students documentation for any absences?
- Did you invest your best effort in the course?
You should gather the relevant numbers, links to example posts, and pull out quotations or other evidence from your projects and posts. For instance, you might demonstrate why you think a particular blog post you made is the best by linking to it, summarizing its content, and providing a quotation from it that shows its effectiveness.
Step 2: Compare your findings to the course expectations.
As explained on the syllabus, everyone began this course with a B. Your grade then shifted up or down based on your participation and work. There is also an explanation of the course expectations on the Remix Grading page.
Once you have gathered your findings about your work in the course, compare them to the details on the course expectations and conclude how well you did. Be sure that you consider your work in the entire course, and if relevant, be honest about where you fell short.
Step 3: Create your project.
Once you have gathered all of your information and drawn conclusions about your performance in the course, write your report. Explain your findings, present your evidence, and include an indication of how your accomplishments in the course compare to the expectations. Your report should be professional, and avoid any whining, begging, or the like.
Use what you know about designing content to be read online to create a report that is clear and easy to read. If it’s also fun and interesting, that’s great too. You can write a traditional web essay (a simplified version of what you did for your Interrogate the Interface project), or you can chose a different format, like an infographic, a Prezi, or a BuzzFeed-style article. The format of the report is open. You can check with me if you are worried about your choice.
Publish your report in whatever way makes sense for the format you have chosen. Most likely, you will simply publish the piece on your WordPress blog, but if it is published somewhere else, you can just link to it from your WordPress site. If you want to keep your report private, you may use a private Google Doc or something similar.
Step 4: Pay attention to the expectations for the final exam.
The grade for your final exam will be determined with the same scale as the first three projects:
| Unsatisfactory | This work is incomplete, has errors, was submitted after the deadline, or was not submitted at all. It may have significant errors in content, design, style, and/or organization. It shows that the writer didn’t put in much effort and wasn’t doing her best work. |
| Satisfactory | This work is complete and generally error free. It meets the requirement of the assignment fully, and it shows strong effort on the writer’s part. |
| Exemplary | This work meets and goes beyond the requirements of satisfactory work. It is strong, amazing work that dazzles. |
To meet the requirements of the assignment, a report will include the following:
- details on your accomplishments, including your four projects, your attendance, your blog posts, and your overall participation
- a comparison of your accomplishments to the course expectations
- a conclusion of where your work falls on the exemplary-satisfactory-unsatisfactory spectrum
An exemplary final exam will use a unique format or in some other way go beyond the basic requirements for the assignment.
Step 5: Complete the exam reflection memo and submit your work in Scholar.
In addition to your completion report, you will write a very short memo that tells me the URL for your report and explains anything special that I need to know before I read your report. Since this is the final, keep it short and sweet.
When you are ready to submit your work, use the Assignment tool on Scholar to give me your reflection memo and the link to your report.
Optional Escape Clause
Once the grades for attendance, blog posts, and Project 4 (the Remix) are recorded, I will send out a class announcement to let you know. Because your Remix projects are not due until 11:55 PM on May 6, realize that I will need a few days to get through everything. When you get the email message that the Project 4 grades are released, check your course grade in the gradebook.
If you are happy with your grade as it stands at that point, you may submit a final exam memo in Scholar that tells me that you are happy with the grade listed in Scholar. You will earn that grade for the course.
Be sure that if you choose this option, your memo in Scholar is very clear. Please mention the grade that you see, and indicate that you accept that grade for your work in the course. If you have questions about this option, please ask them by the last day of class, May 6.