Purpose: This is a "capstone" task, designed to assess

• your ability to communicate a clear and compelling narrative to others about your time spent as a Macquarie student, including how you envision your professional future; and
• your capacity to creatively express your identity, values, and priorities as a citizen of the world.

Task: For this assessment, you are going to develop a clear, exciting and creative response to one of the most commonly asked questions in employment and postgraduate interviews: “So, tell me about yourself.”  In keeping with the class theme of ethics, your goal is to truthfully communicate your interests and values as student in such a way that your reader/viewer is inspired to begin thinking about you as  a future professional. The first day of class, you will be given a list of questions to address in your response. Some questions will require you to talk about ideas and arguments that have moved you in your time at Macquarie. Some questions will require you to speak about creative training and/or experience beyond the classroom. Some questions will require you to discuss individuals and organizations that inspire you, as you  create, circulate, and consume media. Still other questions will be about future aspirations, plans, and desires. 

Format: As media students, it is hoped you will take the opportunity to go beyond the standard essay format in a way that both tells and SHOWS who you are as a media creator. As long as you address the questions, you are encouraged to produce this assessment as piece of creative writing; using one of the following formats:

• creative essay format (screenplay treatment; letter; lab report, etc.) 
• graphical format (menu, architectural plan, map, weather report, etc.)
• a curated piece of social media (web site, Tumblr, Instagram feed that links photos and text in some way, etc.)
• short video (speaking to camera and/or narrating animated slides);
• as a song, a piece of sound art, podcast, or radio broadcast, etc.  

Guidelines for length:

• Creative writing submissions (600-1200 words max)
• Graphical presentations (1-3 pages max)
• Video, audio or other time-related presentations (1-3 min max)

Grading Criteria: Student Autobiography Projects will be marked on a series of criteria, including:

Comprehensiveness, clarity and cohesion: 20 points What we will look for: A project that addresses all the required elements; that doesn't stray from the brief or meander too much; that moves from section to section in a way that feels sensible to the reader/viewer --i.e. a narrative that feels like it is heading in an intentionally thought out direction.

Presentation & Contextualization of Identity & Values : 20 points What we will look for: Clear and developed discussions of ideas, materials, experiences and professionals that inspire; obvious depth of engagement that goes beyond "listing" quotes, jobs, and influences; a compelling sense of the student's ethical stakes in their life--i.e. evidence of sincere attempts by the student to communicate what matters to them n their world, and why.

Creativity : 10 points What we will look for: evidence that the student is pushing themselves to go beyond ordinary approaches to this project. Creativity might be conveyed through choice of an unconventional format; it could show up as an unexpectedly fresh reading of an argument or image; it could be the result of a narrative that takes unexpected turn; etc. 

Further guidelines, sample student work and a grading rubric will be provided the first week of class.

Task

Once this semester, you will be responsible for giving a five minute “provocation presentation” to your classmates, based on a particular week's reading. In this presentation, you will be expected to

• teach your peers ONE concept or argument of your choosing from that week's reading/lecture;  
• introduce a media-related case that illustrates  the concept or argument for your peers  
• introduce a media-related case that in some way complicates the concept or argument
• craft a question designed to provoke class conversation

Presentation Format:

• Presentations are timed, and strictly limited to 5 minutes maximum (excluding class conversation.)
• Students should include 10-15 slides in their presentations.  
• After their presentation, students are expected to use the Presentation Submission Template to submit a PDF of their slides and speaking notes (bullet points are fine) using TurnItIn  
• There will usually be 4 student presentations per day. Tutors will decide whether class conversation happens after each presentation, or after all presentations have been delivered for the day.

Grading Criteria 

You are graded in class on a scale of 40 points, as follows :

•  Depth of conceptual understanding: (10 points)  Evidenced through explanation of concept, and application of illustrative case study (  
• Depth of conceptual analysis (10 points)  Evidenced through engagement with literature, and application of concept to complicating case study   
• Presentation clarity, organization, and illustration (10 points) Evidenced through presentation of words and images on slide deck, coupled with in-class delivery of information to class  
• Presentation freshness and originality (10 points)  Evidenced through unexpected student choices made with regard to concepts or cases presented, quotes or arguments considered, supporting material shown, mode of address , or questions posed to class .

Presentation Dates & Guidelines

• Presentation dates will be assigned by your tutor and cannot be rescheduled without Special Consideration approval.  
• Although students won't be penalized for overlapping choices with regard to concepts or cases, it stands to reason that that four people handling the same material on the same day are often marked in descending order of quality. To avoid too much duplicating material, each class will receive a list of who is presenting when, and students presenting on the same day will be encouraged to touch base with one another in advance of presentation day.
• Additional  guidelines for delivering presentations and grading rubric will be given out the first week of classes.

Purpose:

This is a "capstone" task, designed to assess your ability to (1) summarize and critically reflect on in-class conversations held this semester; and (2) engage in creative acts of "intellectual generosity" toward classmates.

Task:

For this assessment, you are to write a short reflection (between 200-500 words) that engages with ONE specific student presentation you heard this semester. You can chose any presentation, but it needs to be one that moved you in some way intellectually, emotionally, and/or creatively. In class, you will be given a series of questions and a template to guide your thinking as you craft your response.

You will also be given suggestions for ways creative ways to compose it. One suggestion will be to write it as a letter to the student in question, and then discuss in your response whether or not you would ever share your letter with them, and why (or why not.) Another suggestion will be supplement your written reflection with images or sound. Submission: Reflections should be submitted in PDF format. If you are including images, these should be embedded in your document. If you are including sound, you should include a link you wish played while we read your document. 

Grading Criteria:

You will be graded on a scale of 10 for this project, as follows:

Clarity of communication (5 points)

Questions we will ask: Could someone not in our class understand the things being referenced in this document? Are we clear about what precisely moved this student, how, and why? Does the narrative in this document have an orderly flow? ​

Depth of engagement (5 points)

Questions we will ask: Does this narrative seem to reflect a sincere reflection about something that happened this semester, or does it feel like it was put together to "check off a box" on an assessment? Was there anything that impressed us in this reflection with regard to articulation of sentiment, narrative construction, format choice , illustrations, or something else?