Orientation Notes

Useful Links

  • UBC TA Union Website
  • Bryn Dharmaratne, AHVA Graduate Secretary – ahva.grad@ubc.ca
  • Greg Gibson, AHVA Undergraduate Coordinator – greg.gibson@ubc.ca
  • Arts ISIT Helpdesk at:  helpdesk@ubc.ca or visit C113 or Arts ISIT Phone:  (604) 827-2787 for IT and AV assistance, this is also where you get your card access for classrooms if they are not open.
  • Faculty Service Centre (FSC) should be available to you to see your class list and to contact students, please contact Greg if this is not working.
  • Canvas *Note that you need Canvas “Teacher” if you are using the app, also note the app stinks and the web version is much better.
  • As UBC staff/students you should be able to access LinkedIn Learning for free, and perhaps even? Adobe Creative Cloud

Schedule

VISA 110 “Regular” class
Lecture:  Monday 10-11am (on Zoom)
VISA 110 CAP class
Lecture:  Monday 2-3pm (Buchanan A202)

Hours

2019/2020 Term 2 Dates:

  • Term start:  Monday January 9
  • First lecture:  Monday January 9
  • First lab: Thursday January 9
  • Last day to drop (without a W):  January 23
  • Midterm Break:  February 20-24
  • Final day of class:  Thursday, April 13

Please review your contract.

Extended Hour Expectations:
The following is a summary for 2 classes, 50% TAship – 192 hours

  • VISA 110 Meeting: 1 1/2 hour
  • AHVA/CTLT Training (for those starting teaching in term 2) 5 hours
  • Lecture (attendance required, please inform me if you cannot make one) 12 weeks 12 hours
  • Office hours (1 hour a week for 12 weeks) 12 hours
  • Studio teaching contact hours 48 hours
  • Class Preparation 2 hours a week 24 hours
  • Workshop 2 hours
  • Student Correspondence (emails, extra meetings beyond office hours, etc) 12 hours
  • Other (includes scheduling emails, consults, classroom maintenance, online corrections, quiz question contributions, feedback about curriculum, etc…)   hrs
  • Grading (for 2 classes):
    • Individual grading is record keeping & final grade calculation with absences & cusps, participation, reading and feedback/critiques
    • Group Grading will happen three times, and takes approximately 5 hours each, for a total of 15 hours
  • Vacation Time 4 hours

Class Format

  • 12 Weeks
  • 1 small and 2 major projects
  • 5 classes of “feedback sessions” (aka critiques)
  • 2 reading discussions
  • Online Quizzes (graded automatically by Canvas)
  • Lecture Participation (mostly graded by Christine)
  • Lab Participation & Artistic Growth

Blended Classroom

While the theoretical and historical lessons about machine in art and representation are the most important part of the class, you will find that the technical demos will be a main student preoccupation.  To help in the many levels of background knowledge of both yours and the students knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, I’ve created an online technical demonstration library as a resource for the class. As a result, students are expected to do 1 hour of online learning per week, and lab sections are thus only 2 hours (instead of 3) of class time to compensate.  This is what makes it a blended learning class structure.

You will still get technical questions, and I recommend that you review the online resources so that you can direct them to the video they may need to re-watch. You may also be giving ad-hoc mini-tutorials, or for topics not covered in the videos on Canvas, you may want to tell them to do a google search for a video on the internet that might be able to help them.  Be able to “find” what you need in order to execute is an important lesson from this class.

Because there are students who feel they need more personalized help, there will be 2 workshop times per week during the term for them to use the lab and get technical help.  You are required to lead the workshop a certain number of times during the year -depending on your course allocation.  Overall, please cover the topics outlined in the workshop schedule, and be sure that they can answer the quiz questions of the modules references as a way to grasp if you are showing them the correct tools.  I have also provided presentations and other resources in this blog for you to use if you wish to pursue more detailed demonstrations.


TA Responsibilities

  • Attend all orientation meetings
  • Learn course goals, syllabus, procedures, rules and regulations before class starts
  • Familiarize yourself with Canvas and ComPAIR technologies
  • Conduct labs, office hours, assigned workshops and attend lectures, and please be on time
  • Maintain a respectful environment, be fair and cordial to students, and time-manage class
  • Enhance course subjects, and answer questions about lecture component/tie into labs
  • Guide students and act as a liaison between lecture and lab
  • Answer student questions in allocated office hours or allocated email time, labs, or on Canvas
  • For questions you cannot answer that students might ask, be sure you know how to find the answer
  • Lead discussions, conduct meetings and facilitate critiques in lab time
  • Keep records of student grades, attendance and performance in class
  • Read and prepare discussion questions for class, relevant to lecture and content
  • Record grades in Canvas in a timely manner for students to be able to improve
  • Respond to student questions about grading in a way that helps them to improve on the next project (or in life!)
  • Understand grading scheme & UBC expectations, and grade fairly
  • Bring concerns, critiques, issues or requests of the students to the lecturer’s attention
  • Calculate overall grade for students, including cusp alterations
  • If preparation time permits, you may create lectures or workshops of your own for lab time.

Grading

Please review UBC’s Grading Policy for the Arts:

Grading Criteria
The following guidelines offer a broad-brush characterization of the type of work that might be associated with various ranges of grades. The intent here is to encourage general consistency across the faculty rather than to provide precise specifications.80% to 100% (A- to A+)
Exceptional performance: strong evidence of original thinking; good organization; capacity to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations; evidence of extensive knowledge base.

 

UBC GUIDELINES

68% to 79% (B- to B+)
Competent performance: evidence of grasp of subject matter; some evidence of critical capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of relevant issues; evidence of familiarity with the literature.

50% to 67% (D to C+)
Adequate performance: understanding of the subject matter; ability to develop solutions to simple problems in the material; acceptable but uninspired work, not seriously faulty but lacking style and vigour.

00% to 49% (F)
Inadequate performance: little or no evidence of understanding of the subject matter; weakness in critical and analytic skills; limited or irrelevant use of the literature.

Distribution of Grades
Results in an average class of reasonable size will normally fall somewhere within the following broad UBC limits:

Grade “A” 5% to 25% of the class
no more than 4 in a 20 person class
Grades “A” and “B” combined not more than 75% of the class
Grade “F” it is worrisome if 20% or more of the class fails
  • Participation, Critiques, Peer Review, Workshops, Activities, etc.. grading will be graded independently, only the two large projects will be graded partially as a group, keep in mind UBC standards
  • Please use rubrics for guidance, if you feel rubrics need to be adjusted please recommend missing elements so I can adjust, if not for this session than for the next iteration (I cannot change a rubric after just one grade has gone in)
  • Be careful of your hours, writing comments takes lots of time, use the rubrics as your comments instead
  • Prepare for Group Grading Meetings by:
    • bring in 1-2 works per lab that you teach for each of these categories:
      • “Outstanding, Incredible, Stunning” works
      • “Exactly what I expected/average” works
      • Below average, or below expectation works
      • WTF works! (try and keep it to 2 but if you have more, do bring them in)
  • Return grades and assignments in a timely matter, 1-2 weeks after final due date
  • Group discussion and grading (proposed) meeting times are:
    • Monday January 23 @ 1pm – discussion meeting (about CLAS, etc)
    • Friday February 10 @ 1pm – grading meeting (5-6 hours)
    • Monday February 27 @ 1pm – discussion meeting
    • Friday March 17 @ 1pm – grading meeting (4-5 hours)
    • Monday March 27 @ 1pm – discussion meeting
    • week of April 17-21 (TBD) – final grading meeting (4-5 hours)
      *Please put these days/times in your calendar, and notify me ASAP if there are ones you cannot attend.  For grading meetings please bring food/drink to keep you going.

Discussion & Other Considerations

  • Censorship and trigger warnings
  • Arts Academic Advising
  • Christine contacting you regarding requests or concessions
  • Grade Inquiries
  • Unable to teach because of illness/events/etc…
  • Final Class Lecture(s) Artist Talks?
  • Please report all odd, troublesome, near troublesome, or curious situations to me, to put on file and to help you through, always feel free to come to me for advice, practice, guidance, etc… Do not hesitate to approach me for anything, I am here for you!

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