the teacher bases our grades not on skills but on exam papers.

Skills... or knowledge?

This semester, I have two subjects with the same teacher. One is CSM113 (Web Design) and the other is CSF2A (Animation). Both subjects are actually interesting and I really really want to give my best in it. 

The thing is, the teacher bases our grades not on skills but on exam papers. We have a lot of projects and assignments which test our skills and creativity. And everyone in the class have been doing their best, or if not, they still try. 

It’s just disappointing that after your hardwork, you still get a low grade or score just because you left a minor mistake. 

I think, with these subjects, it’s not necessary to memorize the definitions of the tools in Photoshop. Someday, your boss won’t ask you to define the crop tool. You’ll have to use it properly with the basic knowledge of what it is. 

Our teacher does not base our grades according to our skills and final results of our work. Though it’s part of the grading system, exams are still on a higher percent. I don’t think that’s just right. What’re you gonna do with those definitions when you have the skills and know how to use those tools? If you’re really good at manipulating photos, repairing them, designing a webpage, I don’t think you’ll have to memorize all those things. You just need the skills and after using those tools for quite some time, you’ll basically understand how those tools work. 

These are the kind of subjects that asks you to offer just skills and creativity and if you have these, you get good grades. But because of the lame grading system of the school, we need to study, read all those handouts about how a crop tool works in Photoshop instead of just practicing making beautiful things.