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Remix Grading

Because I want you to take risks in your final project, I will adapt the grading system so that risks will not hurt  your grade. I hope that this grading system will allow you the freedom and flexibility to take risks in your assignments while also providing time for you to re-envision and revise those drafts into more usable, sophisticated, and polished texts by the end of the term.

Grading to Date

Your grade to date is a combination of how well you did on your projects and how well you participated (measured by your attendance, in-class work, and blog posts).

Your base grade is determined by the work you have done on your first three projects:

  1. A = Your projects have been exemplary. They go beyond satisfactory work.
  2. B = Your projects have satisfactory to very/highly satisfactory.
  3. C = Your projects have been unsatisfactory. They were incomplete or unprofessional.

Your grade shifts according to these participation guidelines:

Shifts up
  1. If you attended every class session, except those for which you had a health center or Dean of Students excuse
  2. If you have all the required posts on your blog
  3. If you have worked diligently in class
  4.  If you paid attention in class

Remains unchanged
  1. If you have missed one or two sessions
  2. If you are missing one or two posts on your blog
  3. If you are usually on task in class
  4. If you have paid attention in class (e.g., you don’t ask me questions that I have already answered; you weren’t working on your computer during class presentations)

Shifts down
  1. If you missed many class sessions
  2. If you are missing many blog posts
  3. If you are frequently off-task in class
  4. If you leave class for long periods of time, arrive late, or leave early.

 

Can you change those grades?

tardis_by_dalagar-150hNo. Not unless you have a time turner or access to a time lord. This portion of your  grade is essentially set. As explained on the syllabus, there are no make-up or re-do assignments in this course.

What you can do to bring up your overall grade, however, is to do excellent work on Project 4 and make a compelling case in your final exam.

Grading for Project 4

Because Project 4 focuses on your development as a writer and your growing comprehension of writing with digital media, the grading system reflects those goals. Assigning number grades does not improve your learning or make you a better writer with digital media. I have set up this project so you can achieve the learning outcomes by completing all the related activities and by applying the feedback on your in-progress work offered in class. For these reasons, your grade is based 100 percent on your participation.

You demonstrate your commitment to improving as an author of digital media by participating in the following ways as you compose your remix project:

  1. Attendance: You attend every session. If you decide to skip sessions because we are “just working on the projects in class,” you penalize your grade on the project.
  2. Timeliness: Don’t show up late, leave early, or disappear for 15 minutes. If I do not see you in the classroom working on the project, you lower your grade on the project.
  3. Readiness: Be in the classroom and ready to go at the beginning of each session. Have what you need with you to work, and be prepared to collaborate with your classmates.
  4. Risktaking: Take risks and be willing to go back to a previous version if those risks don’t work out. Safe, easy choices will not help you improve as a writer of digital media.
  5. Feedback: You need to listen to feedback from me and your classmates and then use that feedback to revise and improve your work. If you choose not to follow our advice, you need to have a very good reason that you can articulate.

If your participation is affected by illness or other extenuating circumstances (such as a death in the family), I will take your situation into consideration as long as you provide documentation from health services or the Dean of Students (see the Absences Policy on the syllabus). If you are an excellent participant, you will not ask me if I need documentation. You will provide it when you email or talk to me about your situation.

For this project, you should be deeply engaged in your work at all times if you are aiming for excellent participation. Excellent work does not equate with showing up every day, participating once in a while, and turning in your work on time. Those are average achievements, and average work earns a C.

Everyone begins with a B/C on this project. You raise or lower that grade by the way you participate. If you’re participating in the basics of the project, then you’re probably passing and should only be concerned with your individual goal for earning a B or A. If you have questions at any time about your grade potential, please make an appointment with me.

 

Credits

Tardis image: http://dalagar.deviantart.com/art/TARDIS-284275448

100% participation system adapted from Cheryl E. Ball’s grading policy, as explained in the Instructor’s Manual to Writer/Designer and the syllabus for Ball’s Fall 2011 Multimedia Composition course.