Grading & Rubrics

Point distribution

Grade scale: A ≥ 90 · B ≥ 80 · C ≥ 70 · D ≥ 60 · F < 60

Due date calendar

All milestones are due in Canvas by the start of class, 9:00 AM.

Attendance & participation rubric (10 points)

Arriving without work to present is the functional equivalent of an absence — the consultation cannot do its job.

Universal milestone rubric

Applied to every 10-point milestone, weighted according to the milestone's stage.

Completeness — 3 points

Everything the assignment asked for is present and delivered in an openable, viewable, playable form.

| 3 | Every deliverable present, correctly formatted, ready to review |
| 2 | Minor omissions or format problems |
| 1 | Significant components missing |
| 0 | Largely absent, or files cannot be opened |

Execution quality — 3 points

Craft, measured against professional standards in the student's discipline and against their own demonstrated ceiling.

| 3 | Meets or approaches a professional bar; clean and controlled |
| 2 | Competent with visible rough areas |
| 1 | Substantial technical or aesthetic problems unaddressed |
| 0 | Below the standard expected at this level |

Response to direction — 2 points

Evidence that the previous consultation's notes were acted on.

| 2 | Prior notes clearly addressed; where a note was rejected, the reasoning is articulated |
| 1 | Some notes addressed, others ignored without comment |
| 0 | No evidence of response |

Documentation & professionalism — 2 points

Written material, file management, naming, and delivery.

| 2 | Clear writing, organized files, correct naming, proper attribution, clean presentation |
| 1 | Adequate but careless in places |
| 0 | Disorganized, unattributed, or unreadable |

Stage weighting

The same rubric, but different emphasis by milestone type:

Research / Thumbnails milestones weight completeness and documentation most heavily. At this stage the instructor is assessing thinking, planning, breadth of exploration, and honesty about gaps — not polish.

First draft / Tutorial milestones weight completeness and response to direction most heavily. The question is whether the whole thing exists and whether last week's critique landed.

Final render milestones weight execution quality and documentation most heavily. Here the standard is professional finish and portfolio readiness.

What raises a grade

• The whole piece present at a rough standard, early, rather than one section polished
• Notes from the previous week visibly addressed
• Honest assessment of your own weaknesses in written reflections
• Scope adjusted proactively when it became clear the original plan was too large
• Documentation and breakdown material captured during production rather than reconstructed after
• Work published somewhere a recruiter could find it
• Substantive engagement in your classmate's critique

What lowers a grade

• Arriving at consultation with nothing to show
• The same note appearing in critique three weeks running
• Files that will not open, links that are not shared, builds that will not launch
• Missing or vague attribution on Project 1 or on tutorial sources
• Undisclosed use of generative AI
• Backloading — nothing exists until the week before the deadline
• Written reflections that describe what you did without evaluating it

Revision policy

Every milestone except final renders may be revised once after critique, within one week, for regrade. This is deliberate: the course is built on iteration, and a milestone grade should reflect what you can do after receiving direction rather than before.

Final renders are not revisable — they are the point at which the work is assessed as delivered.

Grade conversion reference