Part C: Evaluation

Part C provides an opportunity to reflect over the entire Learning Record and the class, evaluate progress and achievement, suggest next steps for development, and give the instructor feedback about the course. At the midterm,Part C.1 helps students take stock of their progress, estimate an evaluation in the form of a grade, and reflect on their plan of work for the remainder of the semester. The instructor takes this opportunity to provide feedback based on our expectations for students at this level of instruction. It serves as a kind of "reality check" to prevent misunderstandings about the level of activity and progress we expect from students in our classes.

At the end of the course, Part C.2 reflects the student's development over the whole class and summary evaluation of achievement in the course (in the form of a grade), as supported by the evidence and interpretations in the Record. The instructor confirms that the evidence and interpretations support the student's evaluation and reports the grade earned. Where the evidence and interpretations are lacking or do not support the student's grade estimate, the instructor adjusts the grade appropriately and explains the adjustment to the student in the response to the final LR. Here are some examples:

Example of Part C.1 (Midterm)

* Estimated evaluation in terms of grade
* Suggestions for your own further development during remainder of semester
* Suggestions for class activities or for the professor to better support learning
At this point, I would give myself a C-. By the end of the semester, I hope to be recommending a much higher grade for myself, but I'm not sure how I plan to get there. I think perhaps that I have a tendency to take advantage of the informal nature of the class, but I would hate to see the class format change. I feel like I ought to learn to work within the confines of informality (what an odd phrase). If I can do well in this class, then I think there is still hope for me as a responsible student and a responsible person. And if there's still hope for me, then there's still hope for all of mankind.

I like the way the class is being handled so far, but I would like to see more opportunities for the class to interact with each other using the technology around us. More Interchanges would be great fun, and I think a mailing list or newsgroup would be an ideal way for us to network and bounce ideas off each other outside of class. And quite frankly, I'm too shy to pipe in during the class discussion. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Example of Part C.2 (final portfolio)

C.2 Final portfolio

* Reflections on semester's learning experience
* Any supplementary information or comments not included in Parts A & B
* Any suggestions for the professor for future classes
* Estimated evaluation in terms of grade

This semester I have learned many things. Some tangible and others not so easy to pinpoint. At the beginning of this semester, I thought I was advanced in the area of technology. After a few days however, I realized that through college I had avoided a very valuable resource--Macs. I had not use a Mac since the Classic came out and I wrongfully assumed that PC were much superior. Luckily, through the class I have become familiar with Macs and come to appreciate the complex workings of an operating system that makes things appear so intuitive. Other things that I have learned are how to use a scanner and programs to manipulate images such as Photoshop and Gif converter. I dabbled with Director and made several small movies. Using a video camera and a pound of silly puddy, I made a small stop-action film. This has always been an interest of mine and through this course I rediscovered it. [It is included in this portfolio although it wasn't an assignment]

I learned the effectiveness of brainstorming and using mindmaps when in the beginning stages of a project. This helped me in preparing a research paper on balancing the federal budget for a senior honors economics class. My paper earned me an A and is to date the finest piece of writing I have accomplished. In it I dealt with many complex economic models and through brainstorming activities, combined them in a fresh way.

I have also learned to navigate and create in an exciting and pliable medium called a MUD. Muds allow an author to design new worlds and fashion an environment in which the reader decides which way the story goes. In project two,.I have started another world in which a player must make split second decisions in an effort to survive while protectingthe community as an officer of the law This project is the building block of what I foresee as an expanding and growing reality. The first adventure in the Mud I call Police Story is one in which the player, as a rookie cop, must answer a robbery in progress call. In its present form, if the rookie makes the wrong move they die as would a real officer. Luckily, through the magic of Mud they can learn from the experience and return to avenge their death. I was not able to figure out how to do a few things in time for this project such as having a timed based trigger that would kill a hostage if the player did not respond fast enough. Over the summer, I feel that I learn more Mush coding and add several other adventures. Eventually, I would like to build it to such a point that I would need to port it to another server due to all of the eager traffic.

One of the less obvious areas in which I have learned is the area of confidence. Through the varied and diverse areas of writing I have been exposed to this semester, I feel much moreconfident as a writer. I have noticed a steady improvement in my essay scores this semester and this is a direct result of class work in 330c. This confidence has even crossed over to my writing of Chinese. Rather than worry about writing in Chinese, I concentrated on the same steps as I would when preparing a mind map for an English essay. Using the mind map I then sat and wrote a three page essay which is my best writing in four semesters of Mandarin.

In conclusion, this semester has been a refreshing way to end this portion of my college career. At times throughout the last six years, I have felt disenchanted with learning in college. In many classes, I found rote memorization was the key to success. The teacher told you what they thought, then on the test you tell them again what they thought. Although I know that a certain base of knowledge must be built to grow from, many teachers seem to be uninterested in challenging students to create and think on their own. This class was just what I needed to cure a serious case of senioritis. Now, rather than eagerly await the start of a new chapter, I wish I only could put off graduating just one more semester. This clarity seems much like the sharpeness of vision I encountered during the three days before the project was originally due. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and if only I had more time...Alas, the semester as well as college are over but this class has reminded me that learning is what I enjoy. I will experience this feeling as long as I seek out new and exciting challenges and I wonêt have to pay continuously escalating tuition for that privilege!

* Any suggestions for the professor for future classes

Keep up the good work. The work shops served to clear up much of the confusion I felt in the beginning of the semester.

I would recommend that in the first week you introduce students to the multimedia lab so that students may dabble with Director. I would also encourage you to follow up on your plans to get zip drives. The ability to keep all projects on one disk would make things much easier. After a while, it becomes hard to keep track of all of files on different disks.

My last suggestion is to require the groups to turn in the skeleton of their class web project the week before everything else. I feel that part of the class was hurried since we felt a time constraint with finishing the other projects.

* Estimated evaluation in terms of grade

At first, I did not understand the point of this learning record. "Why do I have do document my progress for the teacher?" I thought. After a whole semester of learning and growing I now have a better understanding. Without this record, I may not have even noticed my own progress so I can imagine how difficult it is for a teacher to do this. Every student enters the Fac 9 with a different level of expertise, a different way of looking at things. Setting one arbitrary criteria would not fairly evaluate how much learning and progress had been made.

The lessons learned in E330c have already paid huge dividends for me. I saw a steady improvement in my writing grades in both Chinese and my other writing component class. The exposure to hypertextual authoring enabled me to speak knowledgeably during a crucial interview for a consulting position.( I start in June and with luck, this time next year I will be on a project in Paris, London, or Australia!!!) The first six months of the job will be performing technical writing and the exposure to organizing and conveying information in many forms will help me immensely. The work that you see in my projects, is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of learing and growth this class has started.

At the middle of the semester, I could not see much progress or improvement in my work and felt my work to be at the B- level. I was not satisfied with my efforts in collaboration, grammar, or technical learning. Since that time I have made great efforts to improve. I began to interact with my peers more. Specifically D., L., and M. Each shared with me a different area of knowledge. D. is very knowledgeable in the area of Director and helped me create my first movie. L. talked with me about the projects and shared some of the things she learned about graphic converter and StorySpace. M. explained how the @VA commands work (the third time it kicked in) so that I could begin to add some other elements to my Mud that give it more depth and atmosphere.

To improve my grammar I bought Strunck and White's book The Elements of Style. This book gives many useful examples and will serve as a crutch while I continue to sharpen this area. I also visited the FaC Undergraduate Center for some help while revising essays for other classes as you suggested mid-semester.

In the area of technical learning, I have grown more than I imagined. Although by no means the most advanced in the class, compared to many of peers in the economic department, I am light years ahead. In my class on Technology and its Impact on Society, Dr. N. called upon me to act as a tutor on building web pages. This class helped me to feel confident when someone had a question or problem with html.. Dr. N.'s url is www.****. He has procured a grant this summer to develop his class and its web pages and you may be interested in what he is doing.

I feel that this course has helped me immensely and I will continue to use and refine the skills you have taught this semester. Based on my work both in and outside of class, my growth as a student, and my improvement this semester I feel that this olr shows that I deserve an A for E330c.