Course Syllabus

ARTC 4410 & ARTD 4060

Section: 1002
Semester: Fall 2016
Lab: 244 Wolfe Center/243 Wolfe Center & 1030 Fine Arte Center (CAVE)
Time: Friday 11:30am – 4:10pm

Instructor: Kim Turner Young
Email: ktyoung@bgsu.edu
Office: 108 FAC
Office Hours: Mondays, 11:00am-2:00pm (please email in advance to arrange an appointment)

Instructor: Amy Fidler
Email: afidler@bgsu.edu
Office: 108 FAC
Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description

This course is designed for art students who already have experience working with digital media. Students will be using their knowledge in these areas to work on large-scale multimedia projects for organizations. The course is designed to give real-world experience to students by granting maximum responsibility for the development of a professional product that will be published and seen by the public. The students will work in groups to produce the project. Some projects may involve multiple media (video, print, web, etc.), while others may be primarily a single media. All projects will involve the use of creative design skills as well as technical knowledge of digital art, and all will be done through collaboration with other students.

This semester, we have an exceptional opportunity to work with the Toledo Opera to design an educational interactive game app for young people (grades K-12), featuring the opera, “The Magic Flute.” We will also be making a video to document the process of creating the app. We will also be rebranding a NW Ohio town, and creating the branding for ARTSX, the premier BGSU School of Art event.

This project requires you to really stretch yourself creatively while working at a highly professional level. The rewards for doing so will go well beyond the academic, providing a tremendous addition to your professional portfolio.

 

Course Methods

This class a collaboration between ARTC 4410 and ARTD 4060, and will be taught by both Amy Fidler (Graphic Design) and Kim Young (Digital Arts). Students will work in teams of 6-7 graphic design and digital arts students. Each student will have a specific role on the team, requiring independent work and research. All roles are equally essential to the success of the team.

Students will build on their individual strengths in digital arts, graphic design, and leadership to work collaboratively toward a real-world goal. We will be following the Sprint process, developed by Jake Knapp, and used by Google Ventures to create and test working prototypes in just five days.

Real-world clients will also be involved in the process, and are ultimately responsible for deciding which ideas will be implemented. Students will have the invaluable opportunity to create in accordance with the client’s requirements and expectations.

 

Course Expectations

This semester, each team will develop, make, and test a working prototype of their concepts in just five days. The five days will be spread over five class meetings (see course schedule below). The client will then review the prototypes and test data. Based on client feedback, new teams will be formed to create a single final solution/prototype that meets all client requirements, and will create documentation. The Magic Flute project will continue beyond the end of the semester, allowing programmers, audio specialists, animators and others to build the app in Spring 2017.

This course requires your active engagement during team activities in class, and on your independent work outside of class. We meet just once each week, so expect it to be intense! There will be one hour for lunch from 1:00 – 2:00pm, and a ten-minute break at 3:00pm. You are encouraged to pack a lunch, but healthy snacks will be provided for the afternoon break.

Expectations for Classroom Behavior

For this class to be effective, you must be an active participant and willing collaborator. You are expected to:

• Adhere to copyright laws, and BGSU's Academic Honesty Policy (see below).
• Be there, and be on time. Activities will begin promptly at the beginning of the day, and after lunch. If you need to leave class early due to illness or other unavoidable situation, inform the instructor before class, or as soon as possible. (See Expectations for Attendance, below.)
• Be supportive of classmates. Show respect for your fellow students’ efforts, by giving your full attention during discussions and presentations.
• Communicate respectfully and professionally, both in person and in writing.
• Extend respect and professionalism to your team members, members of other teams, instructors and clients.
• Be honest, and respect others’ honesty. We may be talking about real-world issues that could get personal. Nothing of a personal nature discussed in class should be shared with others outside of class. You are not required to disclose personal information that makes you uncomfortable.
• Don’t let your team down! Do your part, and trust that all your team members will do theirs as well.
• All assignments are mandatory and must be completed on the required dates and in the proper format.
• Work only on projects for this class during class hours.
• Limit cell phone and social media use to break times. Let an instructor know if you have an emergency reason to use your phone, so you may be excused from class.
• A video documenting the app development process will be made during class. Your appearance and conduct should reflect well on you, the School of Art, and BGSU. Dress professionally on client presentation and testing days.
• BGSUGD adheres to BGSUGDprogramStandard2016-17.pdf and you must agree to follow these standards in the course. Important note: the attendance policy listed on the Program Standards document is accurate for classes that meet 2x/week. This course meets 1x/week so our attendance policy is outlined below and overrides the Program Standards.

Expectations for Deadlines

Meeting deadlines is a primary requirement of any potential employer. For this reason, late assignments will not be graded (0 grade). Exceptions to this may be made at the professor’s discretion, with timely proof of a significant extenuating circumstance. Note that lost data or technology malfunction is not an acceptable excuse for late work (see Expectations for Technology, above).

Expectations for Attendance

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class, and will be monitored until class is dismissed.

Regular attendance is extremely important for this class, for the following reasons:

• Because of holidays, we will only be meeting as a class 14 times this semester -- in the “real world,” that’s equal to just two full weeks.
• Missing one class is the same as missing an entire week of classes.
• Missing one class is the same as missing nearly 10% of the class.
• If you do not attend class, your team may not be able to proceed without you, putting the entire project in jeopardy.

Therefore, if you miss even one day of class, your final grade will be substantially impacted:

• Miss 1 class = 1 letter grade lower
• Miss 2 classes = 2 letter grades lower
• Miss 3 classes = Failing grade (drop suggested)
• Arriving for class late or leaving class before dismissal (without permission) constitutes a tardy. The accumulation of three tardies is equal to an absence.

Attendance Responsibilities

• If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to meet with your teammates, AND make an appointment with the instructor to go over what you missed.
• Monitor your attendance record, and clear up any discrepancies as soon as possible.
• If you come in late, it is your responsibility to make sure I mark your arrival.
• Arriving for class late, sleeping during class, doing non-class-related activities, or leaving class before dismissal without permission constitutes a tardy.
• Depending on how much time was missed, you may be marked either tardy or absent.
• In the event of a mental or physical health emergency or other similar crisis that may cause a student to miss more than one class, please set up an appointment with the instructor to discuss options, as soon as possible.

Expectations for Learning

See Course Objectives and Assessment, below.

Expectations for Technology and Supplies

• Digital storage: TWO Flash Drives with a minimum 8GB are required. You will be expected to back up your data after every class at a minimum, and it is recommended that you back projects up to two different drives. Failure to back up work will not be accepted as an excuse for late or missing assignments.
• Software: It is strongly recommended (but not required) that you subscribe to an Adobe Creative Cloud software suite that includes Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator. The software is on the lab computers in the Wolfe Center and on campus, but access to those may be limited. If you do purchase the software, make sure you get the educational pricing as shown in the link above. This software will be used in other Digital Arts courses as well.
• Internet connection: You must have a reliable internet connection, and a computer capable of running Canvas and the software listed above.
• Textbook is required, and should be purchased before the first day of class, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp, with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz.

 

Course Objectives and Assessment

 

The student will:

Evidence that objective was met:

Creatively apply digital arts knowledge to real-world situations. Collaboratively solve problems, generate new ideas, develop and test working prototypes. Work independently to fulfil an assigned role within a team. Work successfully with clients to design and make products that fulfill or exceed their requirements. Apply professional standards to work, communication, behavior and appearance. Learn the "Sprint" problem-solving and prototyping process. Set project goals, meet deadlines and attendance requirements.

Midterm and final critiques Client feedback on project Weekly goals and participation assessments Write responses to readings, and apply concepts from readings in classroom activities. Peer evaluations Attendance records

 

Rubrics and point values for assignments are posted for each assignment in Canvas. In general, work is graded as follows:

• A (100-90%) Excellent - Above and beyond ALL requirements
• B (89-80%) Very Good - Above and beyond SOME requirements
• C (79-70) Average - MET ALL the requirements
• D (69-60%) DID NOT MEET ALL the requirements
• F (59-0%) DID NOT MEET ANY requirements, plagiarized work, or not turned in

 

Schedule and Assignments

The schedule of assignments appears at the bottom of the Syllabus page in Canvas.

Assignments are weighted according to the table on the right of the Syllabus page in Canvas. A detailed schedule of each class will be published weekly in Canvas, available on the course Home page.

Semester Schedule

• 8/26 Class 1: introduce collaboration basics, projects, sprint process; select team members and project specialization; assign research
• 9/2 Class 2: introduce clients, the opera, learning objectives, game theory, general project goals
• 9/9 Class 3: Sprint Day 1.
• 9/16 Class 4: Sprint Day 2. Field trip to Toledo.
• 9/23 Class 5: Sprint Day 3.
• 9/30 Class 6: Sprint Day 4.
• 10/7 Class 7: Sprint Day 5
• 10/14 Class 8: Present to clients (or UX workshop?)
• 10/21, 10/28, 11/04: Classes 9, 10, 11: Make new teams to refine prototypes, develop publicity strategies
• 11/11 Week 12, no class (Veteran’s Day)
• 11/18 Class 13: Finish refining prototypes, publicity
• 11/25 Week 14, no class (Thanksgiving)
• 12/02 Class 15: Present revised prototype and Part 1 video to clients
• 12/09 Class 16: Refine and prepare to hand off to production team
• Exam Week: show final video, celebrate!

Typical Class Schedule

• Arrive 11:30am
• Class announcements 11:30-11:40am
• Work in teams 11:40am-1:00pm
• Lunch 1:00-2:00pm
• Work 2:00-3:00pm
• Break, snacks 3:00-3:10pm
• Work 3:10-4:10pm

 

Policies

Digital Arts Department Rules

• No food or drink in the classroom.
• No cell phones, or beepers on during class. ALWAYS remember to turn off (or silence) your cellphone before class.
• No sleeping during class.
• No student is permitted to disconnect, reconnect, or reconfigure any workstation without the permission of a digital arts professor.

Student Projects

Projects created in any Arts course may be used by the BGSU School of Art for the purpose of promoting the student, the department and/or the university in general. These materials may also be used by the BGSU School of Art for instructional purposes in future courses. Please inform the instructor if you do not want your projects used.

Academic Honesty

The instructor and students in this course will adhere to the University’s general Codes of Conduct defined in the BGSU Student Handbook. The Code of Academic Conduct (Academic Honesty Policy) requires that students do not engage in academic dishonesty. For details, refer to the BGSU Codes of Conduct site at https://www.bgsu.edu/student-handbook/code-of-conduct.html.

The instructor and students will adhere to the general Code of Academic Conduct as outlined of the BGSU Student Handbook. Specifically, students will not cheat, fabricate, plagiarize or facilitate academic dishonesty. Students who passively engage in cheating (i.e. allowing others to cheat off of them) may receive the same consequences as the person copying. In group work, if your partner or teammates do all the work on an assignment, you should not be listed as a contributor and should receive no credit for that work. If you allow an assignment to be submitted listing you as a contributor, but you did not contribute, this is equivalent to plagiarism.

Disability Services

I want nothing to interfere with your ability to perform well in this course. If you have a significant problem that might weaken your performance, please talk to me and/or someone from Disability Services for Students (DSS) Office. The goal of the DSS is to help provide equal access and reasonable accommodations to BGSU students with disabilities. You can contact them by phone at 372-8495, fax 372-8496, TTY 372-0582, or on the web at http://www.bgsu.edu/disability-services.html.

Religious Holidays

It is the policy of the University to make every reasonable effort to allow students to observe their religious holidays without academic penalty. In such cases, it is the obligation of the student to provide the instructor with reasonable notice of the dates of religious holidays on which he or she will be absent. Absence from classes or examinations for religious reasons does not relieve the student of responsibility for completing required work missed. Following the necessary notification, the student should consult with the instructor to determine what appropriate alternative opportunity will be provided, allowing the student to fully complete his or her academic responsibilities. (As stated in The Academic Charter, B-II.G-4.b at: http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/file919.pdf.

STUDENT VETERAN-FRIENDLY CAMPUS

BGSU educators recognize student veterans’ rights when entering and exiting the university system. If you are a student veteran, please communicate with your instructor so reasonable accommodations can be made for absence when drilling or being called to active duty. See (http://www.bgsu.edu/veteran/) for more information.

Resources

Technology Support Center (TSC)

TSC provides a central point of contact for faculty, staff and students for questions, problem reports, service requests and inquiries for University computer systems and communications technologies at BGSU. Email: tsc@bgsu.edu Phone: (419) 372-0999.

Student Technology Assistance Center (STAC)

Students looking for CANVAS support or more in-depth assistance with computer technology for a class project should contact STAC. Students can get help in person at 122 Jerome Library (1st floor), by phone (419-372-9277) or visiting their web page at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/stac.html.

University Libraries

The University Libraries supports the teaching, learning and research mission of BGSU by advancing scholarship and creativity through collections and user-centered services that connect faculty and students to high quality information resources. For more information, to reserve a study space or to make an appointment: http://www.bgsu.edu/library.html ; http://www.bgsu.edu/library/ask-us.html ; 419-372-6943; libhelp@bgsu.edu .