EVALUATION, ASSESSMENT AND GROWTH
I work hard at developing relationships with my students, colleagues and clients. Hopefully I inform them, but they also inform me. I rely upon this community to help me make good decisions, hone my craft as a media maker, a teacher and a learner. Clients that I have worked with, and developed ongoing relationships with have given me feedback and offered me opportunities for mentorship and growth. Through my producing work in theater and the performing arts, I have brought together a community that assists me in the creation of my own media work and development. Students and departmental colleagues are a part of this growing community that I rely upon for evaluating and assessing my effectiveness as a teacher and media artist.
Most of my evaluative methods have been face-to-face feedback interviews with colleagues, clients and students. In more formal classroom experiences, I see the value in mid-term student evaluations. It is important that the course is progressing in a manner where the students are achieving their goals and learning and implementing the material. Listening to student comments, relying upon the advice of colleagues and working professionals out in the field, and remembering my own learning experiences--all these are methods I use to assist me in becoming a better teacher. Although I have no written documents to include at this time, I hope in the future to employ more tangible written evaluations that I can use as documentation of a process I have been rigorously engaged in throughout my life as an artist and teacher.
As a working designer, I also rely upon my professional experience to inform some aspects of my teaching. I have been able to solve many technical and production problems and questions and open up additional opportunities for student projects. One student wanted a particular effect with her newsletter project. It was a matter of a paper choice, which she happily went to a commercial printer and brought in her new sample swatches to class. I hope students will learn from some of my exploits and it will inform their own media making.
I have had challenges as a teacher where I have learned difficult lessons. I taught a one-day seminar on Photoshop. A female student who was a beginner was placed in an advanced class. She blamed me when in fact it was an administrative error. I tried to cater to her needs, but it was difficult to balance the class. I didn't want to compromise the learning of the other class members but I also wanted the struggling student to come away with at least some basic knowledge. My solution was during times when the other students were working on their personal projects and I as moving from desk to desk, I would backtrack and show the beginner student some of the Photoshop skills. I talked with the students after class. They were moistly satisfied with what they had learned. The female student was very belligerent and decided to complain to the administration about their error. The other students were annoyed with the beginner student, because she was belligerent. I was glad to hear that the other students did feel satisfied in their learning experience. Their expectations (and the course objectives) had been met.
