Message from the Chair

Abstract

In graphics our goal is clear; help students learn to visualize so they can ideate with themselves, communicate graphically with others, and communicate according to industrial standards. How we reach these goals is ever changing. In my thirty-four years of teaching graphics the most significant change in the curriculum has been the introduction of 3-D modeling. It has fundamentally changed the way students learn to visualize. But even with this fundamental change my preferred method of teaching graphics has not changed. The only way to learn graphics is to draw and/or model. My teaching philosophy reflects this principle. I call it my “Sink AND Swim” principle of teaching graphics. In a graphics course students do not want to listen to you talk about drawing – they want to do it! I believe students learn and retain graphic principles best when they are allowed to struggle with a problem on their own. After giving students the minimal amount of information to get started, I like to use my three favorite words in teaching “go to work”. This gives me the opportunity to become more of a coach and help students with their struggle. When they begin to sink we can reconvene and talk through the problem a little more. Then the process repeats itself until the task is completed. Ideally I prefer to have all my lecture/lab time entirely in the lab so I can give mini lectures when they are needed.