1. Boundaries Lead To Success
Improving Student-led Capstone Projects Through Creative Constraints.
Charles Pearl
Science and Technology Teacher
Overland High School

2. Thank you for taking the time to come to my session!

3. What Is Senior Project Right Now?
Students complete CTE curriculum “pathways” in areas such as engineering, computer science, and robotics. Senior Project is the capstone course where students design their own projects in their content area.

4. Personal History With the Class
I completed the Engineering pathway with Senior Project in the Cherry Creek School District. I put a lot of time and energy into my project. After I got my project approval, the curriculum was very hands-off.

5. Experience in College
EPICS 1 All teams had the same project and competed. EPICS 2 Students chose from a supplied list of projects.
Both classes had certain aspects:
Frequent presentations
Documentation
A breakdown of tasks
Research
Teams of ~5

6. Experience in College
Both classes were fairly open-ended and had mixed results based on how much energy the students put into it. We were smart and knew how to jump through the hoops.

7. Activity Part 1
Make the best paper thing you can individually using paper, tape, and pens.

8. Activity Part 1
TPS
Could you categorize the paper contraptions that people made?
What other things did you notice during the activity?

9. Experience in College
Consider what you would expect a final product to look like from college upperclassmen.

10. Experience in College

11. Teaching The Class On a regular posted schedule:
<5 minute presentations biweekly.
Documentation and 1-on-1 conversations biweekly.
Periodic deliverables:
Subsystems analysis
Various progress memos and letters
Large presentations at the end of each semester.

12. Issues Faced Some students chose projects outside of the expertise
Students said they did not have enough time to work on the project with all of the paperwork
The research black hole
Teacher energy
No easy way to enforce/grade expectations
Project funding

13. What Worked Keeping students to a definite published schedule
Having students be accountable to each other
Advising every project
Students breaking projects into sections
Students who worked outside of class time

14. Example Presentation Clip

15. Example Presentation Clip

16. Questions What is a better way to grade?
What is a more efficient way to manage that many projects?
How do I get students to work outside of class?
How do I keep students in their content specialties?

17. Industry Conversations
Weekly stand-up meetings and progress reports to managers and/or clients.
Justify your work time
Time Sheets or observation
Members of teams are doing and expanding what they are good at.
Research requires documentation implementation and/or prototyping.

18. Activity Part 2
Assemble into groups 2+ who made things similar to you. Share with your group the expectations you have about what you can do.

19. Activity Part 2
As a group, let your powers combine to make the best thing you can using paper, tape, and pens.

20. Activity Part 2
TPS
What do you notice about the quality of the group projects?
What modifications were made to the activity?
What were your expectations for your product?

21. Suggestions For Next Time
Large group projects:
Teams of 2-5
Community provided projects with real-world application
Make student requested projects the exception
Students as content experts:
They rank the projects they want to work on
Assigned based on student skill and need

22. Suggestions For Next Time
Every 2-3 weeks teams update:
Update teacher and client on progress
Generate and get teacher approval for expected work
Inform the client of the next work segment
Documentation on a Google Site

23. Suggestions For Next Time
Grades for progress and documentation:
Individual progress based on their goals
Team progress based on their goals
Peer grading
Major presentations and deliverables every quarter
Require participation at district/state events

24. Adaptations For Other Grade Levels
2-3 teacher-selected projects.
Goals and expectations outlined by teacher
Real-world and community driven
Students learn most of the content skills in class
Student project managers if taken multiple times

25. Unanswered Questions
Content pathway class sizes? Do you require an intro class first? Grading? How to enforce working outside of class time? Students whose skills do not fit the available projects?

26. Thank you for taking the time to come to my session!

27. Rubric files
Excel PDF pdf?dl=0 Word docx?dl=0