Week 10: Course Review and Critiques
Thursday, March 11th Overview
Final Project In-Progress Critiques
Each student or project group should prepare a 10 minute presentation on their final project for the day of the critique. Following the 10 minute presentation, there will be 10-15 minutes for questions and feedback from the class.
The presentation should include the following elements:
Product - i.e. what you made:
Show images, videos, or a live demonstration of your final project. Choose a form that best corresponds with highlighting the key elements of your project. Note that if you opt for a live demonstration, it's usually a good idea to have backup recorded footage of a successful run since bugs and crashes happen.Concept and Motivation - i.e why you made it:
Clearly describe your project idea and the motivation behind it. This may include, but is not limited to - the kinds of art or design ideas you were seeking to express, the types of people you were interested in supporting, and specific technical challenges you were attempting to take on. If your idea builds off or is inspired by prior work, describe how your work extends or differs from what has been done before.Process - i.e. how you made it:
Provide an overview of the process you took in completing your final project. This should include the following: 1) a discussion of specific challenges you encountered during the process and how you addressed them, 2) how your concept and motivation evolved throughout the course of working on the project, and 3) what you learned through the process. For projects that focus on a particular algorithm (generative series, ML based approaches, etc.) your discussion of process should include an overview of your algorithm functionality.Remaining / Future work:
What do you plan to accomplish by the final submission deadline? Where would you like to take this work in the future, or what new ideas has it generated for you?
Additional Notes
The format of your presentation is up to you. You can choose to create slides, a video, or an html or markdown document with images and text. The only requirement is that you upload your presentation to Github in some form.
Keep in mind that presentation of your project s a component of the final project assignment.
Make sure to plan in advance for preparing the presentation and ensuring it fits into the allotted time.
Plan time for documentation, both during the project creation, and at the end of project completion.
See Hannah Perner Wilson's website for examples of masterful process documentation.
Note: Hannah primarily focuses on physical products but the overall concept is the same
The goal of the critique session is for the class to give and receive constructive feedback. The clarity of your presentation will directly impact the quality of feedback you receive in the final critique. Similarly, being present for your classmates presentations and offering constructive and thoughtful feedback is an important contribution.
Critique Reviewer Requirements
In addition to presenting your finished work, you also have the important role of providing feedback to your classmates
on their work.
Critique Objectives for Reviewers
To recognize the accomplishments of your fellow CSVAD students by identifying the strong points of their work and clearly articulating them in discussion.
To identify weaknesses or limitations of a project and provide constructive suggestions for how to improve them.
To suggest strategies or aspects of the work to focus on in time for the final submission deadline.
To highlight possibilities for future work in the form of new design ideas, new pathways for engineering and technical development, and possible venues for dissemination.
To develop your skills as a constructive and critical peer reviewer.
Additional Notes
Providing critical feedback can feel uncomfortable, however when delivered thoughtfully and considerately, it is a valuable and essential component of making good work. If something is confusing or unclear, ask for clarification.
Subjectivity and personal taste play an important role in critique, however you should always consider any suggestion for improvement through the lens of the author’s objectives. Think about what they are trying to accomplish and how you might help them do that more effectively.
Providing quality feedback is equally important to presenting your own work.
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Assignment
Complete final project for submission on Github by March 16th
Complete course self assessment and submit via email to jmjacobs@ucsb.edu and sdinulescu@ucsb.edu
Self assessments should be 150-300 word write ups on your own evaluation of how you performed in the class. In them you should address the following questions:
What aspects of the class you feel you did well on (projects, reading discussions, providing peer feedback, etc.) and why?
What are areas you could improve in, and what are strategies you might undertake for improvement?
What are the most relevant/ interesting/ powerful things you learned from the class? (Be specific.)
Complete the course evaluation if you have not already (Deadline March 12th)