Senior AMT Critiques and Midterms
Being a senior and working on your last year before graduating can sometimes be nerve-racking. You aim for perfection in every project you take on and that can be challenging, specially based on the structure of the class. Thankfully teachers are every step of the way with you and the way the class is designed helps shape your creative ideas in place. Critiques happen every week throughout the semester. As senior year is focused on Thesis, the class is divided into weekly citiques to reach your most productive self.Â
Every week students are expected to show updated prototypes or sketches of advancements, concepts and ideas. And as the semester progresses these critiques are often based on prompts, such as who is your audience, how is it interactive, who are you trying to reach and what is the experience etc. As an example Interactivity prototypes test what people do when engaging with your work. Experience Prototypes are a little different, in that they test how people feel when they experience your work. Students attempt to break down, instantiate and potentially affect what a person senses or experiences as a result of that activity.
These critiques happen in a variety of different ways. Some are one on one, with only student and teacher. This is more personal and targeting specific factors of the work that need to change or improve or add on. These critiques are really focused on you and your work and is where you can ask important questions on concept/ theme in a more intimate setting. The next would be class discussions and critiques where both instructor and students give feedback. Student perspective and ideas are always helpful to shed a new light on projects. And the last one would be group critiques where groups of students join together present and share their works without the pressure of an instructor, in a more casual setting these sometimes can be the most authentic and eyeopening.
Midterms for example happen in rounds of one on ones at designated times. Sometimes there are guest critiques and here is where the prototype is at its most clean and professional, with statements supporting the concepts and all major prompts answered in an organized presentation where instructors can see where you’re at and the work you have done so far. It often helps to include certain other prototypes to see how the work has escalated and evolved.
As you can see critiques are a key element that help produce an excellent work and are not always something to be nervous about, but on the contrary something to look forward to. Often you get to know classmates and instructors over the years and the environment/setting of the classroom is always helpful and supportive to improve yourself in everyway.
AMT
Joelle Rodriguez