It's all about me! (That's not me, but I did take it yesterday)
I’ve been pretty quiet updating all my blogs. That’s likely due to working and studying is all I do. That’s not quite true. I’m attempting some weak effort to date and I may have set up a tentative date for about 2-3 weeks from now as that is when it will fit my schedule.
I’m in week 6/7 of the 15 week semester and my best take away from the program at this point is “It is all about me!”
What I mean is that doing an online MFA is a very demanding activity if I make it a very demanding activity. I wouldn’t mind being a valedictorian, but I better work my tail off to get anywhere near there.
AAU admits near 100% of the applicants and thus your classmate mix will be…well…mixed.
I suppose this is no different from any other in-person or online class but the basic requirements are fairly simple to meet and some folks just can’t get them right. Having completed my MBA in ‘94 I remember well what student life wwas like and as an instructor/lecturer around the turn of the century I recall that some students just don’t get it too. I’m not trying to get by, I’m trying to do my absolute best so I can get the most out of this experience. I’m paying a lot for these classes. I pay for them in cash that I make from a part-time job that eats into almost all my free time. I damn well better make good use of my time and effort!
Some basics:
Submit stuff on time. It’s better to so early during the assignment windows but poeple will be people and many turn them in on the last day.
Respond to your classmates work and do so in a meaningful way. This means thinking about the assignment, the work or the other student, and then constructing criticism aobut the work in a way that speaks to the course material. Certainly, a comment that “I love that image” can be appropiate but when that is the bulk of hte comment it does not address the requirement of thoughtful discussion. Online is potentially SO MUCH BETTER at doing this as you can look at the work of another student and then ponder it and answer it later. You don’t have to respond to everything you see. The more I respond to work in a thoughtful way the more I learn so I do that. I try to make a point of responding to everyone that posts work, I can’t always get to everything but I try.
There are no surprises so don’t be surprised. There is a quiz at the end of every weeks’ work. So do the quiz after you have turned in all the work for that week.
The basics are basically, show up (nice flexibility in an online course), do assignments (turning them in early gets you the opportunity to redo sometimes), do quizes, and get it all in by deadline.
Self-motivation is a huge part of taking online classes. I thought this would be the case and it is! I turn assignments in as soon as possible and as early in the week as I can. I respond to lots of other work. I mean how tough is it to do 10-12 reviews of a paragraph or two, sometimes it is tough actually, but it helps build discipline and that is something every artist can use.
I also blog here less and on my regular blog because I’m busy with classes…like I should be!
After all I’m doing this for me!
The Demotivating Bad Class
June 15th, 2010The lowest grade in my lighting class went to this image. : -)
It was bound to happen.
I took a class and the experience was abysmal, dreadful, and appallingly bad. It would be easy enough to pan a course and an instructor but that won’t do a good job explaining my perceptions during the semester.
Lighting is an elective course. It was my first elective course at AAU and I can’t recommend it. My experience here gives it a solid D-minus. Tamara Hubbard , Associate Director of Online photography MFA, and I had a dialog concerning issues surrounding both the course and the person assigned to teach it. Three points stood out from this discussion:
For the first point: I don’t agree. I am an experienced photographer but I only do a little studio work and I really wanted to take something that I knew I was good at but would greatly improved my skills and knowledge of the subject by taking this elective. Other classes I’ve taken had students with a huge range of abilities from poor to excellent yet it seemed that most students that applied themselves did really good work and improved personally over the duration of the term. The director did encourage me to contact her directly about future course suggestions which I find to be very commendable.
Second: So the course is being revised. This means that I do not recommend the PH608: Lighting class I took in Spring 2010. It also means I cannot make any judgments on any revised course until I see the new course material.
Third: The MFA-Photography AAU folks do occasional online town hall meetings. I haven’t attended one but one of my fellow students did and her takeaway was that if you have particular issues with a class then contact a director. I didn’t want to be a whiny student so I contact a couple other students in my class, and I discovered that the issues I had were also held by some other students as well. One of the students actually met face-to-face with one of the directors and did voice concerns about the course and instructor. This made my follow up easier as all I had to do was validate how I and the other student felt and I could be contacted for additional information.
Being able to document and criticize (both positively and negatively) is very important when praising a course/instructor. Being able to easily communicate that to the directors of the program speaks highly to the department’s desire to build and maintain a strong program.
This is my second Master’s. I draw on my experience as an MBA student where I went into a class and didn’t like the instructor or the material and I would change my courses to reflect that. As an online student I have to remind myself that I am the master of my schedule and education, therefore I need to be informed about my classes and take action when I feel there are serious problems with a class.
The worst thing about the lighting class wasn’t the waste of money, nor the waste of time – the worst aspect of that class was the incredible de-motivation felt by this student which drove me to do mediocre work in a class I was initially very excited about taking.
The best thing that came out of this class was learning that the department appears to really care about the program, the course, and the quality of the instructors.
[UPDATE 6/17/10 : I've learned that the person that taught my section is also teaching at least one Summer section - email me if you want to know the instructor (or go find another post). I have (for better or worse) suggested to a former classmate to drop that class or find another instructor that is teaching it. It is that bad a class in my personal opinion]
[UPDATE 8/29/10 : I believe this instructor is still teaching the lighting class at AAU. My recommendation is that you do not take this class. If you want to take it I would suggest contacting the Director and ask for a complete course listing for this class which will allow you to decide if if you REALLY want to take it.
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Posted in Courses, General Comments, PH 608: Lighting
Tags: AAU attened class course course material course suggestions Director elective course image caption instructor lighting student Tamara Hubbard town hall meetings