Interesting...
Piece of advice, shape tween sucks. It looks really strange so if you want a quality "transform sequence" you'll have to do it your self. You definately know what you're doing(you're taking a class after all). Hope to see more from you.
I have suggestions for you
I thought it was relatively nice looking, probably perfect for what you were assigned and you probably got a good grade on it. But one big suggestion is when you use shape tweens, you can make them look seemless using anchor points or "shape hints." I guess I'll walk you through it here.
First, make your shape tween. If it looks all wierd and distorted like you flash does here, click the first keyframe of the tween. Create a shape hint by pressing ctrl-shift-h. Pull the shape hint to a corner of the object and then make another one. Keep pulling all of the shape hints you make to different corners. Then click on the last keyframe of your shape tween. Move all the hints of the same letters toward similar points as the corners of the first keyframe's object. Then see if it looks good. If it still looks crappy, mess around with the placement of the points until you get it right. Well if you need any help just IM me or e-mail me, both are in my profile.
Nice 1st attempt
For a 1st timer, this is pretty good. You do need a purpose, however (even the completely random flash animation on NG has some type of purpose)...just work a little on the weapon effects and you'll be doing much better.
Looks nice ... but
It was a nice looking animation, the only problem is it had no perpose. Apart from that it was good... I think.