Questions for Students to Scope Project

This bank of questions is divided into categories to help students scope their projects. You can pick from each category based on your needs. 

Questions to help students identify issues they care about:

• What is a critical Big Issue that speaks to you, and makes you want to do something? Think about issues affecting society that you care about/would like to see addressed.  (For example, an issue related to public health, discrimination, safety, sustainability, basic human needs, equity, etc.)

• How does that issue play out in our local community? At the BSU campus?  

• What does community mean to you, and what communities do you currently belong to? Think about where you spend your time and with whom, what you value, and what you enjoy. Communities can be local (e.g. BSU, Boise), regional, national, or global. 

• Does this issue impact one of the communities you care about?

• What are current community resources and assets that could be drawn from to address this issue? 

• Who is already working on this critical issue? At BSU or in our local community? (What organizations?)

• What strengths and talents could you bring to these organizations through community engagement and civic action? Think about your past, present, and future interests, limitations, and skills/knowledge.

Questions to narrow audience:

• Why did you choose the topic that you did? What made you interested in it?

• How does this topic effect you?

• Who is affected by your topic? Who is this topic relevant to? Who should know about this topic?

• Why is it important for people to know about this topic?

• Who is your target audience for this project (who will you try to reach)?

• What do you know about this target audience (knowledge, background, preferences, beliefs, etc.)?

• What would have happened if no one spoke out or took action? OR What will happen if no one speaks out or takes action?

Questions to narrow purpose of final product:

• What is the purpose of your final product? Is it to inform, educate, persuade, inspire?

• How do you want your project to influence the audience? After sharing your project, what do you want people to do?

• What skills and knowledge can you bring to this project? 

• What specific slice are you able to tackle in one semester?