Faculty Resources

Teaching Resources

Grading, Feedback, and Critique

Evaluation of students work is probably the biggest component of a teacher’s work at the Academy of Art University. Lecturing and demonstrating concepts is an effective way to communicate information to students, but most of the real teaching occurs as teachers coach students through projects.

Grading
Grading is the most concise, most talked about component of feedback. A grade is the overall evaluation of a student’s work, distilled into a letter. Grades are important for communicating the overall acceptability of a student’s work. They serve as simple “codes” that communicate students’ progress to the greater University and to the students themselves. Review the University’s grading guidelines and check in regularly with your Department Director on your grading practices.

If you need help with ideas for simplifying your record keeping with Easy Grade Pro (now available in several Academy Departments) or Excel, send email to facultydevelopment@academyart.edu

Feedback
While grades are important at several points in the semester, they can be overdone. Bombarding students with several graded activities per class hour will surely snuff out any intrinsic motivation that they have brought to your class. Qualitative feedback — the how and why of what is good and what needs improving in a piece — is supremely important. It is at the core of learning.
» Components of Constructive Feedback

But giving clear, constructive feedback can be time consuming. Consider using rubrics and carefully plan your approach to grading and feedback. The consistency will pay off in your students learning, and you will get through the semester feeling in control of your workload.
» Efficient Grading and Feedback
» Rubrics

Critique
Critique is an essential component of virtually every course at the Academy of Art University. A good critique should not only incorporate all of the components of good feedback, but it should also be a dynamic, engaging learning experience for the entire class. A good critiquing session should show you not only who can produce the work you are expecting, but also who can recognize the criteria you have put forth and express their thoughts in a professional way.

Investing some time into the process of the critique pays off. You may distribute some critiquing principles, or have a class discussions that generate guiding goals and even shared groundrules for critiques.
» Handout on Critiquing Principles
» Making Suggestions in a Tactful Way
» Giving Helpful Feedback on a Classmate's Work

Teachers’ number one issue with critiques is “I always run out of time!” Number two is “The students whose work is not being critiqued are tuning out.” Identifying your specific goals for the critique and varying the formats of critiques can help critiques be more focused, dynamic and efficient for everyone in the classroom.
» A Successful Critique
» Formats for Critiques
» Ideas for Varying the Critique