DM STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT 2012
Compiled by Susan Bonner with input from all Full Time Digital Media Faculty:
Bill Fischer, Gary Williams, Kasey McCargar, Brad Yarhouse, Mike Dollar and Susan Bonner
PROGRAM OUTCOMES:
These are derived from Susan's study of the common threads running through our program, our mission statement and Bloom's taxonomy (progressive learning). DM Faculty have agreed that these are the 6 core outcomes for the Digital Media Program.
Students will be able to:
recognize or understand or analyze associated media markets, delivery systems, copyright and fair use issues.
recognize or understand or analyze how to Define, Plan, Present and execute projects in verbal, visual and written formats
recognize or apply or analyze Industry Standard Practices, including design and production workflows, delivery systems, hardware and software.
recognize or understand or demonstrate how to Critique and receive critique for projects, relative to the stated objectives, as a member of a review group and then advance them accordingly.
synthesize a new concept and or process for creating innovative digital media.
Cross=platform: consider this and list appropriate (web, print, retail, mobile, broadcast, film, etc.)
The Digital Media Program has created goals and outcomes and they are listed in the Mission Statement for the program:
Digital Media Graduates will be innovative artists and designers, well prepared to create rich media experiences that combine imaging, animation, sound and interactivity. With substantial flexibility in the degree of specialization/generalization built into the curriculum, students will be able to develop portfolios in one or more of these professional media markets:
Digital Imaging
2D Animation
3D Animation
Motion Graphics
Interactive Design
The Digital Media program is designed to provide opportunities that are
cross-platform and user-experience driven. They blend self-directed learning with hands-on instruction by experienced professionals. Projects and studio work may be centered around public service content, market driven content or student driven content, while allowing the freedom of creative expression that is necessary for every artist and designer to find their own voice.
This mission statement is new as of this year and incorporated improvements to student learning based on a thorough assessment of student learning that happened in conjunction with the Program Assessment of 2010/ 2011.
MEASURES:
Direct evidence of student learning include informal surveys of student learning and reviewing student work at the end of their course of study at the Annual exhibition as well as discussing work formally with alumni and industry professionals. Through these methods we are able to analyze if student learning is at the level needed.
Indirect evidence of student learning includes employability stats.
• Evidence of Employability can be viewed on line on the About Digital Media Section of the Weblab under each focus of the program.
http://www.kendall-web-lab.com/weblab3/about-2d.php
ASSESSMENT AT THE PROGRAM LEVEL:
How the program studio work progresses in intensity and complexity throughout the program, while providing opportunities for independent study:
The Digital Media Program seeks to teach the students based on the goals of the program. The student pursues foundational work in Imaging, Drawing and Graphic Design and then progresses towards higher level work in 2D and 3D animation, motion graphics, digital imaging and interactive design. Evidence of the building of these strengths can be found on the weblab and in our hallways. Work is presented to industry leaders and alumni to help assess the student’s strengths in their chosen area.
There are many opportunities to work on group projects, which our surveyed students find the best way to accomplish complicated cross platform work. Independent study takes place at the upper level courses where students can find opportunity to pursue their self-developed goals, but this independence is in most cases within the structure of an existing course where the students can be a part of a valuable community.
That community is important to student learning. The addition of the Cintiq Lab and the Audio/Video lab have brought students together, in an environment where they are working in the lab outside of class. This competitive and helpful environment is an important part of the Digital Media Student’s success when surveyed. The community within Digital Media could be improved by improved proximity to each other. A facilities change would need to be implemented with support of the administration to bring students and faculty on one floor.
How the program seeks to integrate the students’ experiences in General Education and Art History:
Digital Media students are continually asked to fold into projects an awareness of culture. As a result of the need to develop more culturally engaged students, this year we enacted a policy which asks students in 8 specific courses to create works for Public Service. (See the Public Service Project site https://sites.google.com/site/dmadvising2/publicserviceprojects
Our courses provide many opportunities to present work in front of peers and professionals in a written and oral presentation. They are also evaluated on their insightful critique of others. At each step of the process we reinforce the ability to discuss and express ideas clearly. Within the Digital Media Courses, Art History is folded into the research process, as projects are developed students are asked to benchmark their ideas against what has preceded art historically and what is current and innovative in our culture.
However, students surveyed would like to see more Art History and Gen Ed course offerings that meet the specific to the needs of the Digital Media student, such as Animation History. When such a course was offered it provided valuable insight into the connection of history and current work.
How the curriculum appears relevant and complete: (What are the key factors for achieving employment in the program's targeted industries? What is the progression of student learning towards those goals?)
In Digital Media, the software that students learn to create their art is a gage that we can use to ensure they are meeting the industry standards required to gain employment. Students need to keep up to date with all of the current software and to be able to create cross platform work. However that is just a component of developing successful students who are innovative, creative thinkers who will become change-agents in a rapidly evolving digital culture. Students are encouraged to become self directed in their course work which creates a flexible artist ready to master any software that will be required for the job at hand.
Industry has a need for the interdisciplinary artist, one that can do character design, background design and user interface design in addition to animation. The applicant who has a diverse list of skills is able work well with other team members as well as wears many hats for the company. This is evident in the Industry Report about Drew Hill from WMS Gaming. Even though this is the largest gaming company in Chicago, Drew is a valuable asset because of his diverse list of skills. For the Interactive Design student those that are able to do coding and imaging and design are more sought after as evident in the
Digital Media Courses invite industry Professionals and Alumni to participate in the review of student work. This helps to develop relationships between the industry and the student. The awareness of the industries requirements helps the students to be prepared for employment as they develop a portfolio, which is aimed towards a targeted genre. The student who has a diverse set of skills are sought after as is evident in the Industry Report on Drew Hill of WMS gaming.
Is the student work consistent with the goals of the curriculum? Measure based on employment - Give us a list of students who have gained employment in the industry.
The goals of the curriculum are outlined in our mission statement and assessed below:
Innovative- yes. They are asked to create original concepts in every course and we have professional studio courses that entail group projects focused on highly innovative outcomes.
Valid Portfolios- yes.. The list of students who have gained employment in the industry can be found on the Kendall Weblab under About DM and listed by Program Focus.
http://www.kendall-web-lab.com/weblab3/about-2d.php
Cross-platform- yes… All students can apply their fundamental imaging and design skills to interactive, animated and still media for 2 or more of the following: web, mobile, TV, film, print, retail, game.
User-experience driven- yes… Process is built into most courses and encouraged through the site Digital Media User Experience Design.
https://sites.google.com/site/dmuserexperiencedesign/
Self-directed learning- yes: Student learning depends on tapping into our classroom culture… where ideas, techniques, critiques and tools are shared freely, fluidly and rapidly. Students also make frequent use of on-line tutorials.
Service, market and student driven content- yes.. There is ample evidence of all that on the Weblab.
Freedom of creative expression- though integrated to varying degrees in most courses, the 2 Thesis semesters focus on this experience.
LESSONS LEARNED AND ACTION TAKEN BASED ON STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT:
This year the Digital Media program did a complete assessment of two of the five focuses: Digital Imaging and Interactive Design. Action areas were determined and addressed within the curriculum.
There are several action items that have already been addressed as a result of a close look at the Digital Imaging focus of the program. We have incorporated more figure drawing with digital input into the curriculum as well as using more linear perspective digital drawing. For Interactive Design and Digital Imaging students are creating work in platforms that can publish media that is compatible with Web Browsers, iOS and Android. These action areas were recognized as a result of two assessments at the focus level and have already been implemented this year.
Details of the Interactive Assessment: https://sites.google.com/site/dmselfstudy/2011-interactive
Details of the Imaging Focus Assessment: https://sites.google.com/site/dmindustryreports/assessment-digitalimaging2012
Further action will be to have a more formal exit interview with students that will identify strengths and weaknesses in student learning.
Action has begun on the connection between Digital Media and General Education. More action is needed for Art History courses that support the Digital Media student. This will require support from these programs and the administration.
The Digital Media Faculty will continue to hold an annual meeting of full time faculty to discuss the evidence about student learning and to choose action items to address. This communication also takes place with the adjuncts by program focus.
ASSESSMENT AT THE FOCUS LEVEL
- DIGITAL IMAGING:
The Full Digital Imaging Assessment in the form of a Digital Imaging Content Matrix can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqDieURSp_VPdEFVRmZESEhkSW9lS2xyU0NYTi1ZVFE
In order to perform assessment of the Digital Imaging Focus, a Digital Imaging Content Matrix was developed to see if the skills required for the focus were consistently learned by the Digital Imaging students to prepare them for graduation. Content from all of the courses in the focus were looked at and broken down by these topics: Figure, Environment, Objects, Layout, Reference, Lighting, Software, Output, Input, Themes. Action items based on this assessment include:
• A need for more linear perspective in architectural drawing as our students are developing environments for Game, Animation and Film. This has begun in Spring 2012.
• More Graphic Design Layouts for projects needed to be brought into the storyboarding course and have already been implemented in Digital Imaging II and Imaging for Game Animation and Film. This has begun in Spring 2012.
• Reference photography was needed more for figurative work, but we would need a facilities improvement to allow for easier light control.
• More use of Digital Posable and Lightable figures will be used in the advanced courses.
• Prepping for Cross Platform work including IOS and Android and Computer games needs to be looked at especially in Game, Animation and Film and Concept and Production Design. This has been implemented.
• The introduction of the Digital Media iPad will help in the prep of images for mobile devices. This is being incorporated.
• The Public Service Themes have been brought into Digital Imaging I, Digital Imaging II and StoryBoarding. This has begun in Spring 2012.
ASSESSMENT AT THE FOCUS LEVEL
- INTERACTIVE DESIGN:
A complete assessment of the Interactive Design focus was done this year. Full details can be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/dmselfstudy/2011-interactive
There are three major trends that will drive adjustments in our curriculum moving forward:
1. Our enrollment is rapidly shifting to a majority of students being Illustration/2D Animation focused and we are seeing a rapid reduction in Interactive Design focused students. An Introduction to Game Design starts to make sense there.
2. As Chris Sanborn said when he visited Kendall a couple months ago "From this point forward, the most useful media will follow you around from your laptop to your phone to your tablet to your work computer".
• That means developing in platforms that can publish media that is compatible with Web Browsers, iOS and Android.
• We will need to utilize platforms that fit well with our laptop strategy which is Adobe-centric (all of our students are required to own the Master Suite). For Interactive Design that probably means Dreamweaver, Flash and now Edge coupled with other open-source technologies like Wordpress, PHP, mySQL and Javascript.
3. There appears to be some shared understanding that we are finding it difficult, in our courses, to integrate as much Graphic and Conceptual Design as we would like. We will start to include template use and the User Experience Design process. See the DMUX site. https://sites.google.com/site/dmuserexperiencedesign/
ASSESSMENT AT THE COURSE LEVEL:
All Interactive Design Focus courses were assessed in 2011. An example of that assessment can be found here in the required course for the Digital Media Major:
Based on the assessment of the Interactive Design Focus (see above), an Action Plan was determined:
DM 235 Interactive Design I:
Interactive Design I will remain a required course for all DM majors. Students will generally be 2nd semester Sophomores and first semester Juniors. The majority of students will be focused in illustration, game design and animation.
Beginning Fall 2012:
• Continue to create simple (Google Sites) web 2.0 site for tracking their project and/or creating a quick on-line portfolio.
• Change from Actionscript 2 to Actionscript 3
• Student will create games by designing and swapping assets in a choice of provided game templates. 5-10 games would be available. At least 2 would not require illustration skills and could be executed from a graphic design perspective.
In order for the games to work within the portfolio review user experience, they should take no longer than 30 seconds for the player to understand and 'get' the game design (example). Templates that were exportable to Flash, iOS and Android would be best if we could find them or develop them.
DIG DEEPER
Attached below are the Details of the DM Program Assessment of 2012. You can find all of the Full Time Faculty responding to questions that helped to compile this document.