Grades in Art/Design classes

[kjofkw]

<p>This is double posted on the Art Majors thread, but I wanted parent input, and thought more would read it here. </p>

<p>How do you get beyond the subjective nature of grading in art/design studios? I kept hearing from faculty & tour guides at design schools that “grades aren’t important”. In fact, I know in one of my d’s classes, they did not periodically give grades along the way – although plenty of “critiques”. Everyone’s work is critiqued, so students have no clue how they are doing, or if they are not doing well, how to improve. They are simply surprised at the end. While the professors believe grades are not important, they are still given. Plus they can significantly affect scholarship renewal, choices of graduate schools, etc. If not important, it makes more sense to make these courses pass/fail, but that is a separate discussion.l</p>

<p>Final grades were posted recently. I could tell my d. was very surprised and disappointed this semester in a studio course. She had an “A” at midterm. She had numerous crits throughout the semester, and for the most part, they seemed very positive, and the professor seemed to like her work. She received a “B” as her final grade. No warning, no explanation, no opportunity for discussion (the year has ended). Unlike many courses with final exams, she cannot even point to a blown test as logical explanation. She was just surprised (and obviously disappointed). A “B” is by no means any type of failure. This was just another one of those design classes where the feedback was inconsistent with the final grade. The critiques were good even to the end of the class, the one and only grade (midterm) was the A, and then out of the blue (in her eyes), it was dropped. If she had a “B” at the midterm, it probably wouldn’t have mattered, because she would be expecting it as the final grade. The issue is more the surprise factor.</p>

<p>Question: Is it valid to ask the professor via email “why”? I agree she does not want to appear to be grade-grubbing. At the same time, as originally asked on the art thread regarding another design course, how are these students supposed to learn and grow, if the grade feedback is so arbitrary, non-existent, or changed unknown to the student? I thought she should politely explain to the professor that she is not asking for a grade change, but that she was surprised at the drop, and that she would like to learn from some feedback as to why it occurred. Others feel it is water under the bridge and that only harm will come of such a request (the teacher will probably complain about the student to fellow teachers, and reputations will be affected for future courses). Others think perhaps it is a simple mistake. My ultimate reason for suggesting she ask is twofold. First, I think that is the only way she will understand, and learn from the system. Second, if indeed, grading is that arbitrary, I feel the professors need to explain the process, and in doing so perhaps understand their own system a little better. But challenges, no matter how polite, are usually not well received.</p>

<p>I don’t know how to advise her – if at all.</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I think your suggestion is fine. I feel for her, it is frustrating. It doesn’t get better out in the real world. I am both an artist and architect so I have some experience with this. I got B’s in my drawing classes as an undergrad that I didn’t really think I deserved. I’ve learned though that there is a huge subjective element to how art work is judged. I’ve shown my artwork at many outdoor shows, and over and over again people buy pieces that I almost didn’t include because I didn’t think they were good enough. In group shows, I’ve nearly always been baffled by at least some of the award winners. </p>

<p>I’m very glad that when I went to grad school in architecture school everything was pass/fail. Those first job offers were based on our portfolios not our non-existent grades. Your daughter’s job offers will also probably be based on a portfolio, so while I do think it would be fine to ask about the grade, she should also be aware that down the road someone maylook at the work she did in that class and love it, even if it only got a B.</p>

[Flatbush_Faithful]

<p>My son just finished a Design program, and no one he interviewed with asked about his grades (although he put his GPA on his resume.) It was all portfolio. If the grade your daughter got bothers her, though, I don’t see why she can’t email the professor and ask what the professors thinking was. Mistakes do happen.</p>

[soozievt]

<p>Keep in mind that a B is still a very good grade in college although I understand that she was surprised and has nothing to go on to know what earned her the B. It is reasonable if she poses the question to the professor…not so much as “why a B?” but what feedback she can get as to what she needs to improve in order to raise her grades in the future. </p>

<p>One of my kids is in a performing arts major and in her studio classes, EVERY class is graded on a rubric with points from 1-10 for every aspect/crtieria and then the points are added for the grade. The grade report for that class shows the numerical number on the rubric for each criteria and has many narrative comments. I think for a design course, criteria on a rubric or something similar should be given in advance and the student graded on each subjective criteria and some written evaluative comments should be included. The grade should not be a total surprise at the end and also should be able to be broken down into grading on various criteria.</p>

[momrath]

<p>kjofkw, No matter how much schools and teachers try to calibrate, grades always have a subjective element. Hopefully you sometimes win as well as sometimes lose. </p>

<p>My son’s experience was often exactly what you describe. At his college – and I would think at many schools with grade deflation – a solid A is not easily come by and the A minus is pretty much the gold standard. So why after a semester of late nights at the studio did that grade slide off the fence to become a B plus? Statistically when GPA’s are calculated the A- and the B+ are just a few decimal points away from each other but psychologically there’s such a big difference.</p>

<p>At most colleges there are carefully laid out criteria and guidelines for grades. When the A- became the B+ the professor was always able to justify his/her judgment. It didn’t help the grade, but it helped a lot to understand the criteria for next time, even with a different instructor. </p>

<p>So yes, do encourage you daughter to sit down with the professor (or e-mail if that’s the only option) and ask what she can do better in the future. This is standard procedure and an expression of surprise and disappointment is not viewed as a hostile challenge. </p>

<p>The other point of encouragement I would make is, at least at my son’s school, the curve was especially harsh for firstyear classes and very few A’s were given. It loosened up both literally and perceptively as kids progressed up the ladder and understood better what was required of them.</p>

[taxguy]

<p>My daughter found this in one of her courses. She received NO graded during the semester. At the end, she got a “B.”
For the life of her, she said that, "there is no way I could tell you want I did wrong to not get an “A” or what I did right in order to get at least a “B.” She was NOT given a lot of critique from the professor but did get a lot from the other students which she utilized for her final project. Frankly, I felt there was a bit of unfairness in this situation.</p>