To earn the grade listed in this table, the student must complete all of the items listed under that grade.
I am dead serious about deadlines.
Assignments that are not complete by their deadline are an automatic No Pass.
| Earned Grade Specifications [#Tokens : #No Pass] |
D | C | B | A |
| Class Participation (frequency) [1:1] | 60% | 70% | 80% | 100% |
| # Weekly Quizzes (perfect score) [1:1] | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| # Blog Assignments (Complete) [2:1] | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10+ |
| Tests/Exams/Project (minimum average score) | 67% | 75% | 80% | 90% |
Class Participation (frequency)
In this course, we learn about theories and phenomena concerning visual thinking and visual communication. We learn by thinking about and questioning why we see what we see and by applying that knowledge to create effective visual artifacts.
Before every class, you will receive a prompt to think, question, apply based on the readings. You create a response, upload it. Then we will discuss the results during class. Each work requires the names of the people who created it. This evidence combined with your participation online will count as the Class Participation grade. If you are in class every time we discuss your submission, it follows that you will have a Class Participation frequency of 100%. If you miss one discussion but submit online, you get half credit. If you miss the work and discussion, you get a 0 for that class participation grade. If you do 50% of the work and attendance, you will get 50% for class participation.
Weekly Vocabulary Quizzes (perfect score)
The Weekly Vocabulary Quizzes (published weekly on Saturday at 11:59 pm) are meant to help you identify where you might be solid or shaky on the language we are learning in class. They are based on the weekly readings as outlined in the syllabus. Quizzes are not optional, however, they are not graded in the traditional way.
• Each quiz is Pass/No Pass — a perfect score is a Pass.
• However, if you fail to attempt the quiz at all, you lose a 1/2 point on your final grade for not meeting the criteria of this aspect of the course.
Blog Assignments (complete)
There are 12 blog assignments in total. Each assignment is graded Pass/No Pass. For each assignment you must complete ALL the specifications for a Pass.
- A checklist form is included in each Blog Assignment posted on this site listing all the specifications for that assignment.
- The student must complete and check off each item by the deadline of the assignment.
- Assignments completed after the deadline do not PASS.
- Your assignment is graded solely on the information found on your Portfolio Blog.
Assessments – Tests and Exams (average score)
There are two tests and a final exam in this course:
- Mid Term Test
- Show Me Test (optional)
- Final Project Grade (online show and tell)
Students must earn the score listed above as an average of the three assessments under the grade in the table.
TOKENS
Tokens are a means to recover from missed activities or failed assignments. There is only One “token” activity available for this course:
Create a work according to a Token Blog Post Specification.
Attend a designated event/talk and post according to the Token specifications. Each comment (executed to specifications) is worth 1 Token.
The maximum number of Token you can attempt is 10 — that’s about one event per week during the semester. Be aware that there are very few allowable events happening this semester or during the final two weeks of the semester. So plan ahead.
The number of tokens that can be used to replace a No Pass is indicated in the table above. Students must indicate by the last class of the semester, how the token is to be used.