Structuring Formative Feedback in an Online Graphics Design Course in BME

With a motivation to immerse students in engineering design, graphics communication, and computer aided design (CAD) skills early-on in the biomedical engineering curriculum, we launched a new 2-unit laboratory course on “Graphics Design in BME” in the Spring 2020 quarter for UC Davis sophomores. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course met with the significant challenge of conversion to an online mode of teaching, instead of planned face-to-face instruction. Providing formative feedback was thought to be an important step to help students succeed in their final CAD project of the course. In the process of designing feedback, we found that the concept of feedback is still fragile in an online learning environment because online learning settings provide distinct pedagogical demands as compared to face-to-face settings. The situation is especially delicate in the context of contemporary higher education imparting engineering skills, where students attend large classes, with diminished opportunities to interact with the teaching staff. The challenge we faced was to provide meaningful dialogic feedback in an online environment, especially while teaching engineering graphics design to a large class. Here we addressed this challenge by focusing on the process of structuring meaningful feedback. We designed a project assignment to be submitted as multiple deliverables to be submitted in two-stages. Then, we characterized its feedback with multiple notions, such as dialogic iterative cycles, personalized, goal-directed, immediate, in written format, and having a peer assessment component. The process of providing formative feedback online through the structure mentioned in this paper resulted in students’ improved scores on the final project elements. It also helped us identify the common issues students are faltering in a graphics design class, and provide customized guidance, ideal examples of expected work, and more resources to motivate each student group to achieve mastery of course content.

Application Value of Dynamic Graphic in Protection of Social Folklore Tradition-Taking Buyi Wedding Series Dynamic Graphics Design as an Example

With the development of network technology and the change of people’s life style, many social folklore traditions in China are gradually forgotten by people. For this reason, protection of social folklore tradition has received much attention in recent years. Based on the analysis of the cultural origin and characteristics of social folklore tradition, this paper proposes to apply the design and expression methods of dynamic graphic to the protection and dissemination of social folklore tradition in order to show them in a more interesting way. Additionally, taking Buyi wedding series dynamic graphic design as an example aims to better explicate the whole design process. This research is conducive to the establishment of social folklore tradition and new media connection, and close to its integration into people's modern life. It can be predicted that the new media based on network technology will become one of the important and efficient means to protect the social folklore tradition.

The importance of outdoor lessons for students

In the article, we consider the problems of teaching painting to students of art specialties in plein air practice. Based on a historical study of the stages of development and formation of landscape as an independent genre in the fine arts, the specifics, and features of teaching the art of painting in the open air are determined. The definition of the concept “Motif in the fine arts” is being clarified. The dependence of the format of practical tasks and stages of work on a pictorial etude on the goals and objectives of teaching painting in the plein air is established. Research methods: analysis of literature on the research problem (art history, theory, and methods of teaching fine arts, etc.); student work performed in plein air practice; works of famous artists; survey of students and teachers. The results of the research can be used in the process of teaching painting to bachelors, masters, and specialists in the field of painting, graphics, design, architecture.

The design of useful graphics in Bertin’s thought. A case study from the Urban Atlas of Jeddah

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The Semiology of Graphics of French cartographer J. Bertin is not only a seminal work on maps design, it contains also very useful sets of rules and insights that apply to graphics (BERTIN, 1970, 1973, 1987, 2005; DHIEB, 2018). Even though the visual variables are considered by cartographers as one of the most principal discoveries of the book (DE GOLBERY et al., (1996; PALSKY, 2017;), Bertin stated very useful techniques, innovations, artefacts and examples that apply specifically to the design of maps and graphics.</p><p>One of the most important issues that were not discussed considering the visual variables and the overall design addresses the design of graphics and the use of visual variables. When handling statistical data to design graphics, these latter should not be built randomly; their design should obey strict rules and contain necessary components with regards to the data handled. May we talk about a kind of guideline to help users to choose the most efficient type of graphic depending on the data characteristics the design context, and the message to convey?</p><p>Yet the specialized software dedicated to graphics design such as Excel do not answer this question and do not help sufficiently the map users to make the best choice and when a choice is made, a useful explanation is not furnished to justify this choice by common users or by cartographers. Our hypothesis is that the design of graphics and the choice of appropriate visual variables according to their properties is worth it: it may greatly influence their attractivity and increase their readability and memorization.</p><p>This issue was encountered by authors when designing the Urban Atlas of Jeddah (UAJ). Besides detailed maps that portray the spatial distribution and analysis of various data on Jeddah and its districts, the UAJ needed that some of these data to be converted into graphics when the focus is on attribute characteristics rather than on spatial distribution. When inserted in one Atlas, the choice of one given type of graphics does not depends only on scientific criteria but also on design considerations (choice of appropriate visual variables, consistency, homogeneity, and relevance…). For instance, we should not put in one single atlas only one type of graphics, nor the same looks in terms of retained visual variables.</p><p>Yet, the recent Arabic translation of the Semiology of Graphics (DHIEB, 2018) gave them very useful guidelines in designing Atlas graphics. The goal of this paper is first to put altogether Bertin’s principles and insights that should apply to the design of graphics; second to implement such guidelines in the UAJ project; and third to evaluate such uses stated 50 years ago by Bertin and other graphicians (BERTIN, 1970, 1973, 1987, 2005; BONIN, 1983; BONIN S. and BONIN M., 1989; GIMENO, 1980; BORD, 2000) with regards to the scientific and technical evolution of graphics design. Full automation of graphical design (GRONOFF, J.-D., 1983; MULLER, J.C., 1984) should be inspired by Bertin’s statements on the use of visual variables and the multiple rules that should be extracted from the Graphics Design Guideline (GDG) developed by the authors. Examples of simple graphics or of graphics processing (AMADO, 1994) from the UAJ are furnished according to the sets of prototypes of graphics realized.</p>