assignments & grading

grading criteria
There are basic expectations that any supervisor or project manager would have for
a project undertaken by a multimedia design specialist. All of your assignments must meet the following minimum basic standards to be considered for a grade of “"B"” or better. The project must be:

completed according to the assignment specifications.
completed on time.
free of typographical, grammatical and mechanical errors.
completed so as to evidence a clear grasp of multimedia production standards and design concepts.

Your storyboards also will be evaluated for:

news value
presentation editing decisions
architecture of information presentation
aesthetic design choices
creativity and innovation

Your overall grade for this course will be based on the following components. They are described in greater detail below.

Component	Point value
In-class and take-home exercises farm storyboard (20 pts) "no words" exercise (20 pts) exercise due 11/5 (20 pts) exercise due 11/12 (20 pts) exercise due 11/24 (20 pts)	100
Storyboard one, due 10/6	100
Usability test testing exercise: done in class on 10/13 and 10/15 (50 points) report, due 10/29 (100 points) presentation, due 10/29 (75 points) reflections, due 11/5 (25 points)	200
Critiques of multimedia presentations Critque one, due 9/17 (100 points) Critique two, due 11/19 (200 points)	300
Final project Pitch, presented on 12/8 (100 points) Storyboard, due 12/8 (100 points) Write-up, due 12/8 (100 points)	300
TOTAL	1000

In-class and take home exercises
In order to complete these assignments correctly, you will need to keep up with the reading and lectures during class. More particulars about each assignment will be given in class.

Storyboard
You will complete one storyboarding project during the semester that will be consist of creating a of a big-picture flow chart and panel designs More particulars about this assignment will be given in class.

Usability exercise, presentation and report
Your ability to understand the value of usability testing and execute a valuable study is essential to your success in this course. During the semester you learn to conduct usability research and will be evaluated on your ability administer a study and report on it. More specifics about the requirements of each usability test will be provided at the time of assignment.

Multimedia critiques
Your ability to meaningfully critique multimedia presentations is essential to your learning process. Twice during the semester you will be asked to write critiques of journalistic multimedia projects. More specifics about the requirements of each critique will be provided at the time of assignment.

Final project
The final project should be detailed, designed storyboards that describe all nodes of a multimedia presentation on an assigned topic. The same grading criteria used for assignments submitted during the semester will be used when evaluating your final project. Your final project is due at the start of the last class period, Tuesday, December 8, 2009. Come prepared to present and pitch your final project.