Learning Goals

“I’ve always been close with artists who think of the exhibition as a medium. But underlying this is my role of facilitating, rather than creating their projects.” –Han Ulrich Obrist, 2006

“The university’s accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, requires that academic programs clearly identify their student learning outcomes and communicate them in written form to enrolled students, and that faculty take responsibility for fostering and assessing student achievement of the identified learning outcomes.” So, below you will find those associated with this course.  Note that the CMDC Program has long provided learning goals and objectives for its students; I have aligned the appropriate ones to the university’s.  DTC majors should pay attention to the CMDC goals and objectives because majors are required to meet all 10 of them before they graduate and provide evidence of this learning during the Senior Seminar.

1. Critical & Creative Thinking

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Define, analyze, and solve problems.
  • Integrate and synthesize knowledge from multiple sources.
  • Assess the accuracy and validity of findings and conclusions.
  • Understand how one thinks, reasons, and makes value judgments, including ethical and aesthetical judgments.
  • Combine and synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways.
  • Think, react, and work in an imaginative way characterized by a high degree of innovation, divergent thinking, and risk taking.

Course topics that address these learning outcomes:

  • All lectures by professor
  • Guest lectures by professional curators
  • Visits to galleries, museums, collections, and events
  • In-depth study of online sites of major international museums
  • Development of exhibit

This outcome will be evaluated primarily by:

  • Pop tests over daily readings
  • Projects:
  • 1. Laying out an exhibit based on works provided,
  • 2. developing a plan for an online exhibit,
  • 3. planning own exhibit or archive, from start to finish.
  • Summaries of Field Trips

This University Learning Goal aligns with these CMDC Learning Goals and Objectives:

  • Goal 1 Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for effective human-computer interactions
  • Goal 2 Synthesize media forms for multimedia contexts
  • Goal 4 Understand the production and assessment of media objects

4.  Information Literacy

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Determine the extent and type of information needed.
  • Implement well-designed search strategies.
  • Access information effectively and efficiently from multiple sources.
  • Assess credibility and applicability of information sources.
  • Use information to accomplish a specific purpose.
  • Access and use information ethically and legally.

Course topics that address these learning outcomes:

  • Exploration of resources used in the course
  • Research into the multimedia works used for projects
  • Exhibit layout
  • Development of formal exhibit

This outcome will be evaluated primarily by:

  • Projects:
  • 1. Laying out an exhibit based on works provided,
  • 2. developing a plan for an online exhibit,
  • 3. planning own exhibit or archive, from start to finish.

This University Learning Goal aligns with these CMDC Learning Goals and Objectives:

  • Goal 1 Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for 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

5. Communication

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Recognize how circumstances, background, values, interests, and needs shape communication sent and received.
  • Tailor messages to the audience.
  • Express concepts propositions, and beliefs in coherent, concise, and technically correct form.
  • Choose appropriate communication medium and technology.
  • Speak with comfort in front of groups.
  • Follow social norms for individual and small group interactions, which includes listening actively.

Course topics that address these learning outcomes:

  • Preparation for giving a formal presentation
  • Interacting with guest curators
  • Working with artists when planning and executing exhibit
  • Interacting with gallery personnel when setting up exhibit
  • Working in teams on projects
  • Preparation for writing a summary and curatorial statement

This outcome will be evaluated primarily by:

  • Formal Presentation
  • Summaries of Field Trips
  • Curatorial statement that will accompany students’ exhibits

This University Learning Goal aligns with these CMDC Learning Goals and 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

7.  Depth, Breadth, and Integration of Learning

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

  • Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts.
  • By showing a depth of knowledge within the chosen academic field of study based on integration of its history, core methods, techniques, vocabulary, and unsolved problems.
  • By applying the concepts of the general and specialized studies to personal, academic, service learning, professional, and/or community activities.
  • By understanding how the methods and concepts of the chosen discipline relate to those of other disciplines and by possessing the ability to engage in cross-disciplinary activities.

Course topics that address these learning outcomes:

  • Inter- and transdisciplinary multimedia art forms
  • Physical and virtual exhibits and archives
  • Production for an exhibit plan for local downtown exhibit space or online site

This outcome will be evaluated primarily by:

Projects:
1.  Laying out an exhibit based on works provided,
2. developing a plan for an online exhibit,
3. planning own exhibit or archive, from start to finish.

This University Learning Goal aligns with these CMDC Learning Goals and Objectives:

  • Goal 1 Demonstrate competency with computers for designing and distributing digital works in various mediums for 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 Identify and explain key principles of information architecture, effectively manage knowledge for both information retrieval and archival purposes, and evaluate and choose appropriate information architecture and knowledge management strategies for a given situation