UCB grading system
- Thread starter jomama
- Start date
I am disappointed by the size of the fonts in this thread.
I’m sorry that I didn’t get to this sooner. (I actually do get in fairly early, but I was teaching an improv class this morning.)
So…it is really all there in the Course Catalog.
It is not really a traditional grading system. It’s been my job to think about this since July and it wouldn’t really make sense to use traditional means of grading and evaluation for what we teach here.
As of now, the system is more of a way for teachers to communicate about their students for the benefit of their education. This communication comes in the form of comments. The point is to let the next teacher know what the student: a) excels in and b) needs work on. We encourage every teacher to write a comment or two that fits in each category based on the objectives laid out in the curriculum for the given course.
The core of our Improv Program is 101-401. These courses are what make up our core program. The comments relate to the curricula. For our advanced courses, they take the same form, but the objectives are those that have been laid out by the instructor, as our instructors develop the curriculum for their individual course.
The Comment System
It is not a secret. I tell students as early as 201 that it exists.
The comments are written in a professional manner. Comments are only written about the student’s performance with key course concepts. In my role as the Academic Supervisor, I suggest to our teacher that they write the comments as they would if they were sending them to the student to read.
Again, the comments are not a secret because they are what you should have heard (if you’ve been listening) in class. They are strengths and weaknesses that have already been pointed out to you. If your teacher isn’t doing this, you mention it on your course evaluation form or in an e-mail and I straighten it out.
They are only about course objectives and things that could effect the student’s education (EX: “This person was 10 minutes late every class. Be on him/her about that.”)
They are essentially pass/fail. In recent months, we have tried to be more selective about who passes 401. This is the end of our program, and we only want people who are ready for advanced work to be in our advanced classes. If a student fails 401, they are notified by the Training Center Manager (Shannon) and are given feedback, direct from their instructor, about what they need to work on and what type of course they should take next to help themselves improve.
We don’t have “grades” in the traditional sense. We have categories of passing, but it is only to denote, in an “easy to process way” for our teachers, who is coming out of a class as superior or conditional in that class. It is specific to the concepts of the class the person was just in, and not them as a total improviser. The vast majority of people are just plain old pass. It is a work in progress, so that is why it is not public. We are still working out the kinks and finding the way to make this system effective and realistic.
Why Implement This System?
Our school has grown immensely in recent years. We have more students than ever before and more teachers than ever before. We wanted to find a way to maintain a high quality of instruction in spite of this size.
The comment system was created as an effective way for our teachers to communicate about individual students. Speaking as an instructor right now, I’m sure it has improved the experiences of my students immensely. Instead of spending two weeks (or a quarter of the course) getting to know a student in 301, I can hear what their last two teachers found. It enables me to give individualized feedback almost as soon as I know names.
Sometimes I will disagree with old comments. Sometimes I will see things the former teachers didn’t. In higher levels, we are able to see what issues are really holding back our students and can address them directly. As an educator, this is extremely exciting.
The comments are a great way of ensuring that students are learning the same thing in our courses. They are tied to the curricula. It is the only way we can reasonably say “This person has completed the program at UCB” and know what that means when they may have taken Gavin, Curtis, Shannon and Anthony.
To reiterate: This was a very difficult system to design and create and it was all for you, sweet improv students. It is a system that was inspired by and formulated with one objective in mind: Providing a clear, discernable pedagogy for improvisation.
As an educator AND an improviser, it makes me psyched about my job.
So why is it not public?
I am waist deep in the process of “how” with this. In fact, I’d be working on that right now if I didn’t have to explain my JOB on a MESSAGE BOARD.
Our teachers are forthcoming with these comments. You find out why, specifically, if you have failed a course. This is the best we can do…for now.
Yellowmagee, we are not an accredited institution. We are working on doing things that they do, but it is very hard since there aren’t accredited institutions like ours in existence.
One example: We will soon be offering our students a syllabus at the start of every course so they know specifically what they will be learning in a course.
I know. Very exciting.
Will we eventually be able to offer students feedback in some way to let them know what skills they excel in and what things they may need work on at the end of the class? I hope so. I’m working on it.
As an educator, I am very bothered by the term of “judging.” We don’t judge people. We educate them, based on our very clearly defined and refined curricula, and through the communication of our very dedicated and qualified staff.
600 Courses
Teachers of 600-level courses are essentially casting a show. They look at comments for students who are ready for a advanced performance course and seem like they would be a good fit for what they have planned for their 600 course. That’s it!
Harold Teams
This system has NOTHING to do with Harold Teams. We consult the comments to put names to faces, make sure that people are qualified to audition, and to see the amount of work people have put in before auditioning.
Otherwise, they have NOTHING to do with Harold Teams.
Harold Teams perform at the UCB Theatre.
The performers on Harold Night have been trained by the UCB Training Center, but they are cast and selected by the UCB Theatre.
You take courses and receive comments as a part of our system at the UCB Training Center to get better as an improviser. You do not (or shouldn’t) take courses to get on a Harold Team. You should be studying with us if you want to get better as an improviser.
Finally
This program will continue to evolve. We are a young school. If we had to offer specific feedback on every student, we’d have to hire extra people. Then we would have to raise the cost of our courses, which would go against our mission to offer excellent instruction to a wide variety of people.
I’m working on this stuff but it’s easier demanded, than done.
But Seriously
If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to call me. 212.366.9176 ext 7012.
We’re working on it, guys. I’m working on it. Cut me a break.
If any of you have seen me lately, I look terrible.
SHIT-STORM!
Joe Wengert
Academic Supervisor
UCB Training Center
I’m sorry that I didn’t get to this sooner. (I actually do get in fairly early, but I was teaching an improv class this morning.)
So…it is really all there in the Course Catalog.
It is not really a traditional grading system. It’s been my job to think about this since July and it wouldn’t really make sense to use traditional means of grading and evaluation for what we teach here.
As of now, the system is more of a way for teachers to communicate about their students for the benefit of their education. This communication comes in the form of comments. The point is to let the next teacher know what the student: a) excels in and b) needs work on. We encourage every teacher to write a comment or two that fits in each category based on the objectives laid out in the curriculum for the given course.
The core of our Improv Program is 101-401. These courses are what make up our core program. The comments relate to the curricula. For our advanced courses, they take the same form, but the objectives are those that have been laid out by the instructor, as our instructors develop the curriculum for their individual course.
The Comment System
It is not a secret. I tell students as early as 201 that it exists.
The comments are written in a professional manner. Comments are only written about the student’s performance with key course concepts. In my role as the Academic Supervisor, I suggest to our teacher that they write the comments as they would if they were sending them to the student to read.
Again, the comments are not a secret because they are what you should have heard (if you’ve been listening) in class. They are strengths and weaknesses that have already been pointed out to you. If your teacher isn’t doing this, you mention it on your course evaluation form or in an e-mail and I straighten it out.
They are only about course objectives and things that could effect the student’s education (EX: “This person was 10 minutes late every class. Be on him/her about that.”)
They are essentially pass/fail. In recent months, we have tried to be more selective about who passes 401. This is the end of our program, and we only want people who are ready for advanced work to be in our advanced classes. If a student fails 401, they are notified by the Training Center Manager (Shannon) and are given feedback, direct from their instructor, about what they need to work on and what type of course they should take next to help themselves improve.
We don’t have “grades” in the traditional sense. We have categories of passing, but it is only to denote, in an “easy to process way” for our teachers, who is coming out of a class as superior or conditional in that class. It is specific to the concepts of the class the person was just in, and not them as a total improviser. The vast majority of people are just plain old pass. It is a work in progress, so that is why it is not public. We are still working out the kinks and finding the way to make this system effective and realistic.
Why Implement This System?
Our school has grown immensely in recent years. We have more students than ever before and more teachers than ever before. We wanted to find a way to maintain a high quality of instruction in spite of this size.
The comment system was created as an effective way for our teachers to communicate about individual students. Speaking as an instructor right now, I’m sure it has improved the experiences of my students immensely. Instead of spending two weeks (or a quarter of the course) getting to know a student in 301, I can hear what their last two teachers found. It enables me to give individualized feedback almost as soon as I know names.
Sometimes I will disagree with old comments. Sometimes I will see things the former teachers didn’t. In higher levels, we are able to see what issues are really holding back our students and can address them directly. As an educator, this is extremely exciting.
The comments are a great way of ensuring that students are learning the same thing in our courses. They are tied to the curricula. It is the only way we can reasonably say “This person has completed the program at UCB” and know what that means when they may have taken Gavin, Curtis, Shannon and Anthony.
To reiterate: This was a very difficult system to design and create and it was all for you, sweet improv students. It is a system that was inspired by and formulated with one objective in mind: Providing a clear, discernable pedagogy for improvisation.
As an educator AND an improviser, it makes me psyched about my job.
So why is it not public?
I am waist deep in the process of “how” with this. In fact, I’d be working on that right now if I didn’t have to explain my JOB on a MESSAGE BOARD.
Our teachers are forthcoming with these comments. You find out why, specifically, if you have failed a course. This is the best we can do…for now.
Yellowmagee, we are not an accredited institution. We are working on doing things that they do, but it is very hard since there aren’t accredited institutions like ours in existence.
One example: We will soon be offering our students a syllabus at the start of every course so they know specifically what they will be learning in a course.
I know. Very exciting.
Will we eventually be able to offer students feedback in some way to let them know what skills they excel in and what things they may need work on at the end of the class? I hope so. I’m working on it.
As an educator, I am very bothered by the term of “judging.” We don’t judge people. We educate them, based on our very clearly defined and refined curricula, and through the communication of our very dedicated and qualified staff.
600 Courses
Teachers of 600-level courses are essentially casting a show. They look at comments for students who are ready for a advanced performance course and seem like they would be a good fit for what they have planned for their 600 course. That’s it!
Harold Teams
This system has NOTHING to do with Harold Teams. We consult the comments to put names to faces, make sure that people are qualified to audition, and to see the amount of work people have put in before auditioning.
Otherwise, they have NOTHING to do with Harold Teams.
Harold Teams perform at the UCB Theatre.
The performers on Harold Night have been trained by the UCB Training Center, but they are cast and selected by the UCB Theatre.
You take courses and receive comments as a part of our system at the UCB Training Center to get better as an improviser. You do not (or shouldn’t) take courses to get on a Harold Team. You should be studying with us if you want to get better as an improviser.
Finally
This program will continue to evolve. We are a young school. If we had to offer specific feedback on every student, we’d have to hire extra people. Then we would have to raise the cost of our courses, which would go against our mission to offer excellent instruction to a wide variety of people.
I’m working on this stuff but it’s easier demanded, than done.
But Seriously
If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to call me. 212.366.9176 ext 7012.
We’re working on it, guys. I’m working on it. Cut me a break.
If any of you have seen me lately, I look terrible.
SHIT-STORM!
Joe Wengert
Academic Supervisor
UCB Training Center
honestly, i can't believe anyone who watched auditions this weekend is even awake right now. so i can only believe that those all those responses were from bots created by the ucb datamonster. it's ALIIIIIVE! it's SENTIENT!
AND CAN ONLY READ HUGE FONTS!
i give this post an A because i have an inflated sense of my own talent.
AND CAN ONLY READ HUGE FONTS!
i give this post an A because i have an inflated sense of my own talent.
Joe,
One of my nine jillion jobs is as an "idea man" for companies/institutions, so here's a suggestion (coming from an obese, middle-aged man who sticks his nutsack in a stapler for a living):
Just as courses that focus more heavily on "game of the scene" are helpful for certain students before going from their Level 2 into Level 3, had you considered (in lieu of a pass/fail system for people coming out of Level 4) adding other courses that certain students would be required to take before they can graduate from their Level 4 into "advanced Harold" work? I'm sure that most "areas of improvement" would fall into one of only half a dozen distinct categories:
402: Openings
403: Group Games
404: Heightening
405: Scene Initiations
406: Third Beat Connections
407: Running Down The Harold
Maybe, you could even combine any two categories, like this:
402: Openings/Scene Initiations
403: Group Games/Heightening
404: Third Beat Connections/Running Down The Harold
Then, upon successful completion of the specific area that the instructor deemed necessary, the student could advance to Level 5.
(Obviously, if the student showed an utter lack of proficiency in ALL of these categories, he'd simply be asked to re-take the entire Level 4 rather than all of the ones with an individual focus.)
Just an idea.
Keep up the great Academic Supervising!
The Ross Man
One of my nine jillion jobs is as an "idea man" for companies/institutions, so here's a suggestion (coming from an obese, middle-aged man who sticks his nutsack in a stapler for a living):
Just as courses that focus more heavily on "game of the scene" are helpful for certain students before going from their Level 2 into Level 3, had you considered (in lieu of a pass/fail system for people coming out of Level 4) adding other courses that certain students would be required to take before they can graduate from their Level 4 into "advanced Harold" work? I'm sure that most "areas of improvement" would fall into one of only half a dozen distinct categories:
402: Openings
403: Group Games
404: Heightening
405: Scene Initiations
406: Third Beat Connections
407: Running Down The Harold
Maybe, you could even combine any two categories, like this:
402: Openings/Scene Initiations
403: Group Games/Heightening
404: Third Beat Connections/Running Down The Harold
Then, upon successful completion of the specific area that the instructor deemed necessary, the student could advance to Level 5.
(Obviously, if the student showed an utter lack of proficiency in ALL of these categories, he'd simply be asked to re-take the entire Level 4 rather than all of the ones with an individual focus.)
Just an idea.
Keep up the great Academic Supervising!
The Ross Man
