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Student
Reviews (continued)
Sometimes
egos were barriers to realistic self-evaluation. On these
occasions, a favorite ploy was to ask the student to evaluate
themselves in relationship to other students on a scale of
one to ten with ten being high. Invariably, the student would
see themselves as somewhere between 8 and 10. Faculty members
would each give their rating which was generally 3 to 5. The
perception gap was made clear to the student and they were
cautioned that such misjudgments could have serious consequences
in professional practice.
I
feel strongly that all of these concerns fall within the purview
of teachers, and they should be dealt with as part of the
educational process.
By
having students put all the work up at one time, it was easier
for students to see interrelationship and carry-over from
one class to another. Design connections or transfer could
be pointed out to students by the faculty. Students could
see the work as a whole rather than as an aggregate of separate
projects with different teachers.
Students
had the benefit of input from the entire faculty and grading
was more objective. It was difficult for students to attribute
a low grade to a personality conflict with one teacher
– they had to deal with the entire faculty. It kept the
focus on work as the basis for grading. Students met the entire
faculty early in the program and were familiar with them prior
to being a student in their classes. This made the transition
into new classes easier for students as they moved through
the program.
It
is extremely important to reviews that all faculty members
participate. There should not be a situation where faculty
dash in and out of reviews, miss some altogether or sit in
but do not comment. Students are sensitive to situations where
teachers do not attend or comment. This is one of the best
opportunities for teachers to demonstrate their dedication
to the educational process and students.
Beginning
students normally suffer trepidation about reviews and are
easily intimidated. However, as they move through the program,
they gain confidence, and eventually they learn to defend
their work. I believe that in many respects, reviews helped
to condition students for handling job interviews, client
dealings and design presentations after graduation.
In
addition to fairness for the student, there are multiple benefits
from the review process in terms of teacher development. One
advantage being that every teacher knows what every other
teacher is doing in class. Another is that teachers are aware
of what students have done before they reach their classes.
Because teachers know what students are doing in other classes,
it becomes easier to reinforce one another which is to the
ultimate benefit of all students. Teacher participation in
reviews also leads to development of a common vocabulary of
terms with consistent definitions.
Some
teachers tend to grade high, others low, but in the review
procedure, there is improved consistency in grading by all
teachers. I know it has been true for me, and I suspect it
is true for all participants, but the review process is a
great learning situation. Seeing work from other classes,
listening to other teacher’s comments and evaluations
and seeing how they handle students were enlightening and
added a great deal to my own education. Spending three or
four days going through a hundred plus student’s work
at the end of each semester is a formidable task and wearing,
but I think the benefits for everyone are sufficient to make
it worthwhile. Faculty reviews to evaluate student progress
should be more extensively used than they are now.
Student
Records
In
every program in which I have been involved, there always
has been a high rate of attrition, and this is normal within
a professional education. Usually the largest number of students
withdrew or were dropped in the Sophomore level; four to six
as Juniors and two or three as Seniors. Overall, there would
be a forty to fifty percent attrition rate over the three-year
period.
At
the Minneapolis School of Art, I soon encountered problems
with failed students or their parents. Other than grades,
justification for failing students came down to the teacher’s
word against that of the student, and for me, this was an
untenable situation.
My
response was to develop a form which accommodated all the
Graphic Design courses and teachers. Each course had a separate
space for a grade and teacher comments. The student’
name, date and grade level were also recorded. At reviews,
the forms were filled out, and they were kept in alphabetical
sequence in a loose-leaf notebook. As the student moved through
the program, the forms accumulated. The notebook moved from
one teacher to the next as students moved ahead. Each new
teacher could monitor the student’s progress to that
point with all the previous teacher’s comments. In dealing
with either students or parents regarding grades or being
dropped from the program, the records were invaluable and
certainly eased our previous problems with justifying faculty
action.
The
records were also helpful in supplying information for job
references after students graduated.
Over
the years, the forms were further refined. We eventually made
a separate form for mid-term reviews. The mid-term procedure
we most often followed was to have the students stack the
work on their desk during the scheduled class-time including
a sheet of paper with their name on it. The students were
not present when the teacher went through the work. The instructor
wrote comments and gave a tentative grade for each student.
These were copied with one copy left with the student’s
work and the other put into the record book.
Keeping
these records did mean extra work for teachers but it kept
students informed, and generally, the procedure was well worth
the effort.
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