Final Project

Draft for Runthrough in Class Due: Tuesday, October 10th

Revised Version Due with Portfolio: Friday, October 20th

Overview

As your final project, you will be working independently or with a partner to create one of the following:

    • an active learning lesson plan
    • an online topic module to be used for future training

Submission

You will have time (10-15 minutes) during Session 6 to present your draft to the class and ask for feedback. This is meant to help you as you finish your completed module, which you will present during Session 7. For the draft, you should include:

      • an overview/outline/mockup of module
      • a list of relevant materials (including selection of related content, where applicable)
      • a list of questions/requests for feedback from the class

The draft should be uploaded to this Google Drive folder by October 10 11 (before class).

You will also have 15 minutes during the final Session 7 to lead the class through your completed module. In preparation, keep in mind:

1. This is another chance for you to get feedback about any revisions you might make for the portfolio.

2. This is also a chance for you to gain more experience leading a group (beyond the discussions from earlier in the class). It is an opportunity for you to think about your future GEM role, particularly related to leading ALMs and prepping for individual meetings. To this end, you may want to structure your 15 minutes more as an activity or conversation and less as a report of your module. Remember that the class has already heard about progress last week (and the pitch the week before).

A final revised and polished version should be included with your portfolio materials by October 20th 27th.

Project Topics

Before our 5th session (10/4), you will have an opportunity to express your preference for final project topics.  With both the active learning lesson and the topic module, you will be able to propose a topic not already listed as an option.  However, we will want to discuss it with you before we approve other topics.

Project Pitches

Whatever type of project you are doing and whatever topic you select, you should come up with two pitches for your project that you can share with your classmates.  For the ALM, this means two different activities for the same topic.  For the topic module, this could be either two different approaches to the same topic or two different formats for delivering the same content.

You will have approximately 2 minutes to pitch one of your ideas to the class.

Your classmates will have an opportunity to vote on which pitch they think will be more effective.

Creating an Active Learning Module

We use active learning to reinforce the concepts covered in lecture.  If you are interested in creating an ALM, please review this slideshow of guidelines for what a module should accomplish and what it should include:
  * ALM Guidelines

To get a sense of what sort of planning goes into an ALM and how you should format a lesson plan, see the examples below:
  * Buzzfeed Quizzes (Conditionals, CS101)
  * Recursion with Russian Dolls (Recursion, CS201)

Creating an Online Topic Module

For this version of the final project, you will be creating an online module that can be used to teach others about one of the concepts we explored in this class.  This module can take the form of:
* an engaging video
* a slideshow with an accompanying "quiz" to encourage the retention of key points
* an interactive webpage
* some combination of the above, or something else entirely

If there is another topic you think we should have explored in this class, we are open to having you create a module for something we didn't cover.  However, we will expect you to do additional research and provide source materials if you take up a new topic.  You will also need to get your topic approved before you pitch your ideas to the class.

Please keep in mind that this is something we will be using to help train TAs and peer mentors in the future and that we will probably be sharing with other departments and institutions.  This means that your final product should be well thought out and polished. (Not just a video of you in your dorm room talking about the topic for 30 seconds.)