I just went to my final for my Design in the Home class.
BLAHHHHHHHH
It was just a little tour of my professor's home and then we picked up our graded big projects. I pulled of a glamorous c-.
Here's the story. We had a blank floor plan. We had to design all of it, color it with $40 colored pencils and then mount it very nicely on a board. We also had to get samples of flooring, paint, and pictures of how we envisioned our lovely homes. Correction: how we envisioned our professor's lovely home.
During the class, people would constantly be going up to the professor and asking if he liked this color, or if he liked this carpet choice. They wanted to know what his opinion was because he was grading it.
Let me back up to the first day of class:
"This class is graded solely on creativity. I want to look at your design and be inspired. You will be graded on your talent."
Talent and creativity according to who? So people would pick colors that they knew he would like. They would use marble and place built in bookshelves so he would like them.
Because I will be designing a home in the future that my professor lives in? I don't think so.
So I decided something. As my classmates went to class every morning and waiting patiently in line to get his feedback and find out if he liked what he had chosen, I mean, what they had chosen to design. I slept. I didn't go to class and I did my project on my own time. I colored it the way I wanted. I chose paint samples that I liked and flooring that I thought was practical and pretty. I liked the feel of my board and the way I shaded my couches.
He did not.
I'm not here at BYU to try and please my professors just to get a good grade. I'm not here to design the perfect home for him either. I didn't go and spend $50 dollars on my mounting board like he said I would need to. I bought it for $3. I wasn't going to pay for my grade, nor grovel at his feet just so I could get a good grade.
I love education and learning. I just don't love the game we have to play to get good grades.
Go you!! I would have felt the same way. And for the record, I am positive you should have received an A+. 'Cause I'm just that sure your designs are amazing. =)
ReplyDeleteI think the problem here is a miscommunication of the purpose of the class. Sounds like you took the class as a means of learning design principles that you could use in your fast approaching homebuilding exploits. Whereas it sounds as though your teacher was trying to present the class from a professional perspective where you are given a client with specific tastes and must creatively design around what your client wants.
ReplyDeleteNow don't get me wrong I agree that the way in which he approached the situation is too biased to be fair. It would have been a better learning experience to be given a hypothetical situation, with a hypothetical client then to have to design something for the professor's own home.
True! There was a definite miscommunication. If he wanted to help us design for a client that would have been entirely different. And I would have expected him to list their preferences. We did that for ourselves at the beginning though, based on what we would need in the future. He always emphasized that we were designing it for ourselves and after saying his opinion would say, "but it is your choice and your house, so do whatever you want". He also never told us what he did and did not like. It was always a guessing games as to what he would change around that day. Some days he liked your carpet some days he did not.
ReplyDeleteYikes! He sounds a little flaky to me...
ReplyDeleteHaving taken this class, I think Ashley's idea to grade it according to a client's tastes would have been such an improvement!
ReplyDeleteamen. welcome to visual arts!! Story of my life.
ReplyDeleteGiven the miscommunication with your professor, I encourage you to argue for a better grade.
ReplyDeleteDad (tuition payor)
AH! I totally understand! I took that class last winter semester and did the same thing. I went to my dad for a few design tips, but other than that, all on my own and I had almost the same outcome as you. Dumb class. I didn't really even like his house either! The orange rolls he served were tasty though :)
ReplyDelete