Learner Reviews & Feedback for Photography Capstone Project by Michigan State University

This course has been great and I have learnt a lot, especially in the earlier 4 courses leading up to the capstone project. BUT considering that I was paying to access this course and then had to pay AGAIN before submitting my final project, I would expect to get feedback from the lecturers running the course. I completed this 3 months ago and the only feedback I've had on my final project has been the peer review from people assumably at the same level that I am at. One of the things I was looking forwards to with completion was getting some feedback from professionals on my photography. This hasn't happened yet. If I was on campus completing a degree this would be unacceptable. I understand that the lecturers would be busy, but if they are too busy to provide feedback perhaps less people should be able to enroll. Or it should be clear in the course description that the final grade and feedback is from your peers. In this case, we shouldn't have to pay for our final project to be submitted.

After the great instruction and learning from courses 1 - 4, course 5 is a great disappointment. There is not enough content to fill 8 weeks. Maybe it was because everyone was home-bound due to the virus, but it was just too easy to get through the instruction and assignment and be ready for the next week. There must have been something wrong with the program, since every time I was ready to rate the peer assignment, I got a message that there were no assignments available. However, going out on the forum, lots of students were begging for feedback. What's with that? Also, too often I would try and respond to someone on the forum by rating their assignment, but I couldn't find their photos. This was extremely frustrating. I got to the point where I totally forgot about the course for days on end. This is something that never happened in courses 1 - 4. Several times the peer feedback just consisted of a word or a few letters, like OK. This was not helpful at all. (To be fair, I also got some great feedback.) Was wondering what the role of the mentors is supposed to be. Would have been nice to get feedback from them since the instructors are non-participants in the course. Overall, I wish I hadn't taken the Capstone. It was a big let down after the first four courses.

It was a really great course, specially the exchange among colleagues with the peer review system. It is amazing how much hit chances the way you think photography. It also may ruin the way you see some of your photos from before, since you get much more of a critic eye.

If I can make a suggestion, I just believe since it is a very fast pace course, suddenly 10 pictures, it is too much. I could see it was too much form most of my colleagues, since you could notice amazing pictures and some not so great, which is what you have to do in such a short notice. It would be good to know we will be posting 10 pictures in advance, so we can prepare for it since the beginning. Or... maybe give a few more days on the tasks with 10 pictures to post.

The reason it is not a five star course is because our two professors never get to comment our work. I can understand it is too many students and a lot of courses happening at the same time, but at least at the Capstone Project we should get a review from the opinion of the two professionals we have been learning from.

I learned a lot about how to use my camera from the lectures. The only downside was the feedback which was very limited from other students. The only feedback from the instructors was at the end of the 5 course series and even it was limited.

This course has been extremely challenging in more ways than one. Even though the actual photos were the focal point, but all the other elements were very thought provoking. Sometimes I reflected that taking the actual photos and post adjustments were the easy part. It has been a privilege to review some of my fellow photographers and see so many more photos of other photographers during the course. The diversity of subjects and techniques have shown me that anything is possible and that we are limited only by our imagination. I like to thank Prof. Glendinning and Prof. Sullivan for such a great and entertaining and thought provoking course. I like to thank my fellow students who have been with me on this nearly 6 month journey for your kind and helpful comments and I hope that some of my comments have been helpful to you as well and any comments I have made, I made with great consideration and respect.

Wishing all my fellow Spartans every success and lets hope we will meet again on some other great photography course put on by Michigan State University

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Great course structure. Great Professors and Mentors. This course has really help me grow a lot as a photographer. I'm so thankful to Coursera & MSU for putting such a great course for learners.

Photography Capstone Project course is a great opportunity to master your photography skills by active participation. It also helps you understand about photo critique which is very helpful in evaluating your own work. I find it very useful when my fellow course learners were giving me feedback on my creations as well as photographers statement. By doing this course i have learned framework of delivering a one theme photography collection.

Whenever I want to have photo, I remember the words taught by the tutor of this course that "Photographers don't take photos, they make photos". This course changed a lot my eye-conic vision of photography. Thank you Coursera & Michigan State University for this course.

This is a great way to focus on photography skills you want to take to the next level. Fellow classmates are from all over the world and exhibit wonderful art. You will learn from each other and really get to know each other's projects. I was sad when it was over.

It's hard to believe how far I've come as a photographer in such a short time. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to DSLR photography! Thanks for an incredible educational opportunity.

This specialization was one of the most amazing experiences. I found out a new passion and had wonderful teachers who guide me from knowing nothing to shoot in manual! Thank you Professors!!!

Perfect capstone for a great specialization! Depending on your project and how seriously you are taking it prepare yourself for a ton of work... but it's totally worth it! :)

This is a great course, it teaches the fundamentals and all the little nuances which allow students to understand Photography. Now it is the time to execute and expand one

Awesome course/specialization. The outstanding content and extreme helpful and constructive critics/reviews help to become a better photographer and broaden your horizon.

The course content was excellent. The instructors were also excellent. They are clearly highly professional and they promoted sharing and fairness and the highest ethical behaviour by and for all. It was truly an honour to be instructed by them. I know that Michigan State University also promotes the highest ethical standards.

However, that was not what actually happened.The course was based on the concept of peer review intended for students to share ideas, openly critique each others work and thereby learn from each other. This apparently was necessary because the on-line format encourages thousands of students to enrol to generate income for the University and Coursera. Therefore, it becomes impossible for the university to evaluate the progress of their students and it is left to students to review their peers.

The peer review process does not work however when students do not share the ethical behaviour of their instructors or the educational institutions that employ them. In my case, peer reviews consisted of singular grunts (good, nice, has, cesxa, etc.) even on my final Capstone project. When I had opportunity to review 9 students, every one of their assignments were the same, word for word. None of them submitted photographs which were required and therefore I lost the opportunity to review their work.

I hope MSU and Coursera find a way to correct this type of behaviour in the future, but if not, I would recommend serious students to seek their educations elsewhere and leave this course to the lazy, unethical peers that I experienced consistently throughout this specialization.

The Capstone Project is a good way to put everything together that you learned in the previous courses of the photography specialization, but I got very little feedback. The requirement to put together a photographer's statement and plan a full project was a good challenge. It made me think and plan. I also learned from looking at the projects others submitted.

That said, I would have learned much more with more feedback. Very often the peer-review feedback I received was a single character or a single word. Not terribly helpful. I also often did not receive as many responses as I should have - based on how many I was required to submit.

The biggest disappointment was no feedback from the professors. The course says they look at all of the final submission and provide feedback. It would have been helpful to receive it, but I did not hear from either of them.

The Capstone Project was an amazing journey for me, it was fantastic to be a part of a worldwide community that love Photography as much as I do.

The course design is great, really pushed us to practice all that we learn in the previous courses.

Peter and Mark are great teachers and mentors were guardian angels all the step of the way. I cannot be more satisfied with the course.

The help of all peers and Photography friends in our Facebook group. I coudn't do without them.

In the doing of my project I make the firm decision to keep going with my studies of Photography, to keep my passion alive. I am going to study in the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney.

I will keep my eyes open for any other coursera photography course in the future. Would be so nice to see Peter and Mark again :) Thank you all for such a wonderful opportunity! I cannot recommend this course more. It is Fantastic!

Both the theory and the exercises proved to be valuable, and I have been able to get a much better control of my camera, using it under many circumstances I had previously no control of. I loved the charisma of both professors, and how they encouraged students to learn on their own, practice and share photos online. The secret group also gives students a chance to share and explore with other peers, and learn from them too. thank you for this amazing opportunity. Not only did I learn about photography, but it also gave me a chance to walk, explore and know my city in a much better way.

I learned so much from the professors and the peers in this class. This was the final class in a five class non-credit certification. I highly recommend the five class sequence. The professors are wonderful; the skills taught really helped me. Not only were their lectures informative, they provided other resources to explore. What was the best about the class was the interaction with peers in the class. They were conscientious about providing helpful and encouraging feedback. They were talented photographers, and I learned so much from them. Highly recommended!

It has been a highly satisfying course. The five course series has helped me to graduate beyond casual photography. I would like to specially thank Professors Peter Glendinning and Mark Valentine Sullivan for their well thought out course structure and lectures. Their guidance has truly been inspirational and helped me horn my skills. The entire experience of interacting with course-mates has been exceptional and something that I shall cherish.

First of all I'm thanks to UNHCR ,that give me this chance to be the student of Michigan State University online courses. And I was very like to be the field of photography. I learn many things through this course. And thanks alot to MR Peter and mark,

I really improved my skill day by day. Thanks to viewers in this Coursera online courses that supports each others until end of the final capstone project. Wish you all the best. Good luck.

It is excellent course to apply the knowledge from previous four courses and finally put together series of photographs united by theme. It is giant community of learners from all over the world, some are with good skills, while others complete beginners. Everyone of them worked hard towards the accomplishment of a project. I am glad I had this experience. I would highly recommend this course to all the talented people of this world.

Beyond my expectations! Extraordinary instructors with great knowledge and guidance throughout the specialization. Loved entire processes and recommend it to anyone wanting to bring their photography skills to next level. Great use of peer review process. Very happy I took this course and hope these instructors to more courses on Coursera.

The entire specialization was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about photography, and about project planning. The course also helped me to build confidence and not get so hung up on trying to be perfect right from the gate. Nice people taking photography from all over the world and fun, too. Thank you.

I'd give this course even more stars if I could. Creating your own project seemed a daunting task, but it was an incredible experience. I learnt so much. The support from the lecturers and mentors is the best I've come across, and the camaraderie of fellow learners in this course has made it really special.