Your final project will be self-directed and should link topics explored in class with specific practices and issues that interest you most, centering on your chosen theme for the semester. You may or may not choose to return to and build upon projects started in class this semester. Collaboration is also an option as long as each person has a set of clearly outlined responsibilities that are submitted for approval.
It is also encouraged that you think about this final project as the first step toward your capstone where you can experiment with ideas and test project feasibility.
You will workshop your project in class on November 29.
Your engagement in this process and responsiveness to feedback in the development of your project is part of your grade.
You will present your final project in class on December 6.
You may use any presentation format you like, including an interactive one, but there must be a visual component (it’s fine if this is just a screen showing your completed project). Plan for your presentation to take at least five and no more than ten minutes. Tell us:
– what your project is
– why you made it
– how you made it, including challenges you faced along the way
– how it sums up your semester in DCC and/or experience in this class
– where you would go from here in further developing or distributing it
By December 9, you must post your project online with a write-up of your presentation. You are welcome to expand on what you said in class, but must include all the points listed above. If you want to write this before your presentation, that’s fine! Write at least 500 words.
This is the rubric I use to assess DCC projects. The factors are in order of importance.
1. Thoughtful engagement with course concepts and assignment. Are you meeting the expectations that have been set up for the assignment? How vividly can I see the influence of readings and discussions in your work?
2. Nuance and complexity of ideas explored. How deeply are you reckoning with the challenges and contradictions that surround the aspects of media, culture, and identity on which you are focusing?
3. Evidence of effort exerted. Have you put substantial time and energy into this work, researching beyond class material and seeking help with conceptual and technical difficulties as they arose?
4. Originality and imagination. How fresh and exciting are the concept and execution? Is there scope for further development beyond this class?
5. Technical proficiency. How effectively are you making use of the methods you have chosen? This doesn’t necessarily mean that your project will be technically elaborate, but that you understand the affordances of the method you are using and are taking advantage of them.