Learning Goals

The Senior Seminar is the course in which you as a DTC majors must demonstrate achieved competency with the University Learning Goals and the 10 learning goals that underlie the CMDC Program.  You have already been introduced to all of these goals during your experience in the program because the goals are keyed to courses that make up the core and concentrations in the DTC major. Now, at the end of the DTC experience you must show that you have met all 10 of these goals:

1.  Capstone Project
Students are presented an opportunity or multiple opportunities for a project. Most if not all of students will work on a team creating a media object (video, website, animation) for a non-profit. The point of this project is to show that students have attained the critical/creative thinking skills and technical “chops” needed for producing an effective media object.

University Learning Goals:

• Information Literacy
• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Diversity

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• Goal 1 Demonstrate competency with computers for designing, distributing, retrieving, and preserving digital works in various mediums for humane and effective human-computer interactions
• Goal 2 Synthesize media forms for multimedia contexts
• Goal 3 Employ the principles of visual form for sophisticated image manipulation
• Goal 4 Understand the production and assessment of media objects
• Goal 5 Know the basics of information architecture and knowledge management along with ways digital information can be structured for retrieval and archival purposes for different audiences
• Goal 6 Question the way digital media functions in multiple cultural contexts
• Goal 7 Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoring

2.  Proposal
All teams must produce a formal, written proposal that outlines the scope of the Capstone Project for the client.  It contains the project’s rationale, methods, timeline, process, and contribution. The point of this assignment is to provide a road map for the development of your Capstone Project.

University Learning Goals:

• Communication

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• Goal 10: Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums

3.  Presentations
All students will give two 20- minute presentations in which teams share both the in- progress and completed project with other members of the class, the client, and other interested parties (other students, alums, and visitors). The point of the presentations is to share the methods and processes by which students have developed your Capstone Project.

University Learning Goals:

• Information Literacy
• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Communication

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• Goal 7 Recognize various forms of language processing and their implications for media authoring
• Goal 10: Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums

4.  Self-Reflective Essay
At the end of the course, students will be expected to produce a 15-20 page essay that reflects on their competency with the 10 CMDC Learning Goals and Objectives. This is a formal paper in which students discuss each goal in conjunction to the many projects, assignments, and readings undertaken in the program.  The point of the reflection essay is to allow students to explain in detail what they have learned during the preparation of the major.

University Learning Goals:

• Depth, Breadth, and Integration of Learning
• Diversity

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• All 10 learning goals.

5.  Resume  and Cover Letter
At the end of the course, students will have produced a formal resume that can be used for submission to a graduate program or for application for a job.  The point of this assignment is to prepare students for life beyond the program.

University Learning Goals:

• Communication

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• Goal 10: Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums

6.  Electronic Portfolio
Also at the end of the course, students will have produced an online portfolio that can be used for submission to graduate school or for application for a job. The point of this assignment is to prepare students for life beyond the program.

University Learning Goals:

• Communication

CMDC Goals & Objectives:

• Goal 10: Be practiced and capable communicators in all mediums