Dear Professor,

Please, please, write clearer course descriptions!
    Love,
Undergraduate Students

This one goes out the the professors, a little instructional video! Enjoy.

How to Write a Course Description -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

WTF? #3 - Crazy Course Description

Real Fall 2009 Elective Course description:

300 30 Creating Outdoors Year-Round in Ann Arbor
MW 1:30-4:30pm tba
This course endeavors to engage the physical elements which typically keep creators working indoors most much of the academic year in Ann Arbor. Rain, snow, ice, fog, cold, darkness are engaged as media rather than obstacles to work around.
Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

If the objective of the A&D course guide is to throw as much ambiguously vague bullshit on paper as possible, then this description is the winner. Have fun “engaging with physical elements” like rain, snow, fog, cold and darkness while apparently not learning anything remotely useful like technical skills, practical knowledge, or anything at all. On the flipside, if you like being wet, cold and stupid, then this course is perfect for you. Good luck getting a job when you tell your future employer that you are a master of darkness and fog.
by guest writer: Randall Pink

WTF? #2 - Crazy Course Description

The following is a real excerpt from theA&D_F09_Elective_Courses.pdf :

300 27 Arts and Bodies MW 7:00-10:00pm tba
This course is offered to coincide with the 2009-2010 theme of Arts on Earth. It objective is to develop a wide range of new work across the arts that relates to the human body. Of particular interest is work that connects the arts to other disciplines at the University.
Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

This description would be helpful if you enjoy making decisions based on little to no information which may or may not end up biting you in the ass. I have a sneaking suspicion that George Bush’s cabinet had a hand in writing these course guide descriptions. I keep waiting for one of them to say there are WMDs in Iraq. I will be the first to seek the permission of the instructor and sign up for this class so that I can do…oh wait, I have no idea what this class will entail, other than in all likelihood, a mass suicide.
by guest writer: Randall Pink

WTF? #1 - Crazy Course Description

The following is a real excerpt from theA&D_F09_Elective_Courses.pdf :

300 29 Maps and Territories: Creating and Navigating
TTh 7:00
This course explores creating both maps and the real and imaginary territories represented by maps. Both physical and virtual maps are examined. A variety of mapping concepts are introduced and utilized including Global Positioning Systems (GSP).
Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

If course descriptions were cruise ship life rafts, this one would be the Titanic’s: insufficient and poorly planned at best, downright stupid at worst. Seriously, I’ve seen patterns pissed in snow more coherent than this. I can’t begin to imagine what “creating imaginary territories represented by maps” means. And what exactly are mapping concepts? Perhaps drawing…if that is even relevant for map-making anymore in the Google-maps/modern era. How about using computers and “Global Positioning Systems” to make maps? Could be, except Global Positioning Systems are actually Global Positioning Satellites, the use of which requires a person to do nothing more than look at a computer screen and manipulate a mouse. Either way, have fun picking classes based on appallingly vague descriptions and your own assumptions. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Michigan School of Art & Design course guide.
by guest writer: Randall Pink

A Well Written Course Description

I have included an example course description of mediocre caliber (but far better than any within the A&D program) in case the Art & Design Administration stumbles upon this blog so that they may realize the short comings of the current system.

MKT 300 - Marketing Management. Terms Offered: F09
Course Objectives
This course is designed to introduce students to the basic marketing concepts and functions in modern firms. As such, the course is a survey class intending to provide insights into the basic principles of marketing management, including the concepts and tools used by marketing managers and issues that they encounter. Various industries are examined in order to better understand and analyze marketing activities. In particular, the course focuses on the marketing functions and strategies which firms may undertake to meet the needs of their stakeholders.

Good! The purpose of the course happens to be a great place to start!Also mentioned are a few specifics that the course will address.
We first discuss the role of marketing and business environment in which firms face their primary challenges and opportunities. The next concentration is the strategic considerations, including segmentation, targeting, and positioning. A substantial amount of efforts are then devoted to specific marketing mix decisions to help execute a marketing strategy effectively.

How the course is intended to progress over the semester, and more specifics on what the course will concentrate on, strategic considerations, including segmentation, targeting, and positioning. This is pretty heavy stuff people...

In summary, students should expect the course to provide them with: Marketing decision-making skills, and a set of concepts and tools to use in support of their decisions.

Never has an A&D professor thought to include a SUMMARY of SKILLS they expect to teach...

Pedagogy
The course involves lectures, class discussions, case discussions and a group project. Case studies and the group project are an integrated part of the course. They offer an opportunity for the students to learn marketing decision-making skills in real business contexts and play an important role in the learning process.

The A&D vocabulary does not consist of "Pedagogy" (ped-uh-goh-jee, -goj-ee). This is basically HOW the course will be taught. Will we sit with our heads down on the desk meditating on natures precipitation, or stand out in the rain all night? Will we make maps of Ann Arbor, or shove the GPS up each others asses and let Google track us? Who knows.


Dear Administration,

I am not sure if there are any requirements given to professors (or whoever teaches classes) about writing their course descriptions, but I believe I speak from the entirety of the student body when I say that they are NOT informative enough. I propose that course descriptions include a summary of the course objective, information about course content including, the teaching methods that will be used and a summary of major assignments. You can not expect students to just feel a tingle in their big toe about a vague description, and let their soul and spirit compel them to enroll in a course that dosent even have a professor. We understand that Professors may not like to commit to teaching a course 22 or more weeks before the next semester starts, but neither do students. Remember the professors are getting paid, the students are paying.

Love,
The Entire A&D Student Body.