Last fall, I taught an Honors College colloquium course. Rather than utilizing a
final exam to assess their learning, I
assigned a final project designed to serve the same purpose. As you'll understand in a bit, I did not define exactly what they were to do for the final project, at least not in terms of structure or format.
I wanted the students to be free to demonstrate their knowledge using whatever approach they chose. I also wanted then to "think outside the box." To force this a bit, I asked
the students to form small groups and create a list of all of the possible
ways they could imagine which could be used to exhibit and document
knowledge and understanding. Each group then reported back to the class,
with a member of each group writing their list on a white board. Shown in these two pictures are the 47 ideas they thought of.I was impressed (and sometimes humored and curious) by the breadth and depth of the lists the students collectively generated. After we reviewed the lists, I gave them the final project specifications, which were:
Final project
Your final project is to be a tangible artifact that records your responses to the course’s essential questions, as it relates to your chosen major(s) and/or minor(s). This will be submitted in two draft iterations, with a third final submission. A brief in-class presentation is also expected.
Our essential questions are:
- How has the widespread use of computing technology changed the way we work, play, and interact with other people? How will it continue to do so?
- What social and legal issues have arisen due to the widespread use of computing technology? What new issues are likely to arise in the future?
- How well are people able to accurately predict the future? What affects their accuracy?
Iteration 1 of your final project is intended to be a description of how you will be satisfying the final project as described above.
Iteration 2 of your final project is intended to be a substantial subset of what you expect your final submission of your project to be.
Your final submission and brief in-class presentation are intended to be your best work, and should address the final project, as described above.
Additionally, in our course management system, I provided further instructions for each submission.
Final project details
Iteration 1 of your final project is intended to be a description of how you will be satisfying the final project as previously described.
- Provide as much detail as possible.
- Explain how your choice(s) will address the requirements.
- Describe what you expect to have complete for iteration 2, and what will be added for the final submission.
- Describe what your brief in-class presentation will be.
Here is the list the class developed when I asked "How can knowledge and understanding be exhibited and documented?" You may select ideas from this list, or add your own new ideas. [I then provided the above pictures.]
Iteration 2 of your final project is intended to demonstrate that you have made significant progress towards satisfying the final project as previously described. In Iteration 1, you described what you expected to have complete for Iteration 2. Thus, I'll expect to see that which you committed to, or an explanation of why you were not able to complete it, or why you have chosen a different direction.
Your final submission is intended to be your final product, and should include anything that is feasible to capture in electronic form, including your in-class presentation materials or notes. If your project creates a physical object(s), and you have no other digital version of it, one option is to include a digital picture of the object(s). A brief in-class presentation is also expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the variety of final projects the fifteen students submitted. The submissions included the following:
- Modified version of the game of Life
- Graphical images of posters on two walls
- Modified version of the game of Monopoly
- Description of the day in the life of a pharmacist today and in 2048
- 12-sided "ball" with each panel describing something, yet connected to the next panel
- Short story
- Illustrated children's book
- Timeline of significant medical events, with current and future patient care plans
- Cartoon
- Automated forecasting model, using Excel©
- Series of blog posts
- Series of podcasts
- Extended essay
- Paper and 3D-printed dental model (jaw with teeth)
- Website
As you can see some of the students used one of the 47 ideas they generated in class, while others came up with even more ideas. I could have simply required every student to write a paper and do a presentation. By allowing each student to determine how they wanted to exhibit and document their learning, the class and I were exposed to a wonderful variety of presentations. I also believe most of the students took more ownership of their project than they likely would have of a paper. So, what did I learn from this experience? Actually, it was more of an affirmation: Give your students a choice, and they will usually pleasantly surprise you.
How would you have exhibited and documented your knowledge if you'd been assigned this final project? How creative would you have been? Leave your response in the comments below.
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