Midterm Self-Evaluation
Due Tuesday, October 13 at 10pm, submit through Moodle. **Note the change from the usual Sunday due date**
Halfway through the semester you’ll be required to complete a midterm self-evaluation. This text is designed to get you to think about the work you’ve created so far, what you’ve learned in relation to the course concepts and theory, and what you want to change or continue moving forward. Think of this as a document where you will reflect critically on your learning progress, as well as how your own individual context beyond this course has affected your work so far.
Before drafting your response, take time to look back over your work thus far, as well as the portfolio agreement that we co-created at the beginning of the semester. Now is a great time to propose changes to any of those course goals. Although that will of course be an agreement we have to reach together, part of the purpose of this approach is to allow for flexibility as your ideas about the course and your work change, or as your own individual situation shifts. If you would like to change those goals, be as specific as possible here about what changes you’d like to make and why.
I’ve listed questions below to help guide your response, but I do not expect you to answer every question. The questions instead are meant to help you get started—feel free to reach beyond them if you have concerns or insights that the questions don’t cover. The most important part of this response is that you highlight your successes thus far and share your concerns with me. If there are questions or worries that arise as you’re writing that you’re running into trouble articulating or just want to talk one-on-one about, do reach out and we can schedule a virtual meeting. Aim for 1-2 pages (single-spaced) in your response.
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What do you think has been your strongest work or efforts in the course and why? How do you plan to have your final portfolio reflect that work?
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What efforts or assignments didn’t work out for you, and why? What did you learn from those frustrations or failures?
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What do you plan to change about your approach to the class in the future? On the other hand, what habits or strategies do you want to maintain?
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What do you wish you had spent more time on and why?
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What work did you enjoy the most and why?
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What work challenged you the most and why?
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How has your idea about the course, or your plans for your work, changed since the beginning of the semester?
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Have you completed all of the work that’s been assigned? If not, why?
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How would you characterize your role as a participant in the class? How have you contributed to our community (both in and out of class)?
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What questions do you have for me? What concerns do you have for your work going forward?
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And finally, what grade would you give yourself for your work so far in the class? NOTE: Make sure you include/answer this question if you wish me to respond about your grade.
As I mentioned above, don’t try to answer every question listed here! Pick a few that are most relevant to you and your progress in the class.
Final Self-Evaluation
Due December 18 at 4:30pm with your final portfolio, included either on your website or as part of your Moodle submission.
While your midterm self-evaluation was an in-progress check-in, your final self-evaluation will be an argumentative text, similar to your individual SOGCs, where you outline the work you’ve completed in the course this semester, explain how you’ve met the course goals as well as the goals we constructed in your portfolio agreement, and give yourself a final grade for the course. You can also draw on particular genres as you complete this self-evaluation, such as the artist’s statement and the portfolio cover letter, which we’ll discuss in class.
As you did with the previous self-evaluation, make sure to look over your work throughout the semester, as well as the most recent version of the portfolio agreement that we co-created at the beginning of the semester. Using the portfolio agreement as your guide, explain how your work this semester meets the goals that you set out to achieve, and walk through what the pieces in your portfolio say about you as a creator, as well as how your ideas about media and your specific media skills have changed over the course of the semester.
Since you’ve walked through your specific choices and goals for each major project in your SOGCs, this is the space to draw more overarching conclusions about your progress as a learner and your work over the course of the semester. Explain why you included the pieces that you did in your portfolio, as well as the rationale behind your portfolio design.
Finally, in the last portion of your self-evaluation, give yourself a grade for the course and back up that grade. If you’re missing elements from your portfolio agreement, this is the space to explain why—perhaps you made an informed choice by deciding to focus more on revision for one piece rather than working to include another. Or perhaps you included a piece that isn’t as polished as you would like it to be, but feel that it reflects an important lesson that you learned this semester.
Ultimately, your self-evaluation should focus primarily on your progress and process as a writer/designer. The pieces you include in your portfolio are a reflection of that, but they aren’t the whole story.
Though I reserve the right to make changes to the grade you propose as needed, I promise to involve you in a conversation if that is the case. This will likely only apply in the instance where there is a large gap between your portfolio agreement and the work in your portfolio that isn’t adequately explained by your self-evaluation. Otherwise, the grade that you propose will be your final grade for the course.
Never a bad idea to base your goals on Jessica's daily affirmations. "I can do anything good!"
Consider too how you might discuss the design of your portfolio and how it reflects your personality, aesthetic, and the style of the content. Click here for examples.