Final Project

Students will work individually or in teams of two to identify an extension of one of the mini-projects that provides an innovative solution to a student-identified problem of practice in education. Students may also identify a project of their own choosing, in consultation with the instructor(s). To inform the final project, students will conduct stakeholder/empathy interviews and will be expected to integrate stakeholder input into their final projects.

Project prototype and slide deck should be linked in the design journal. The final written product should be uploaded to the course website.

Final project deliverables include:

  1. the project prototype
  2. a presentation
  3. written product

Written Products

Students may choose from one of the written products listed below and examples will be provided in class. Think carefully about the your audience in your tone, format, structure, and the amount of "jargon" you use in your writing. All written products should address elements 1–7 from your final presentation slide template. You are strongly encouraged to incorporate visuals into all written products.

  1. Stakeholder/funder pitch: Write a 3-page pitch to a funder or stakeholder (e.g. a school district or major professional development provider) convincing them to fund or use the next version of the product/tool you have developed.
  2. Conference proposal: Write a 3-page report suitable for submission to an academic conference summarizing the initial results from field testing your prototype and the next steps for research and development.
  3. Policy brief: Write a 3-page policy brief that describes your product/tool and its potential applications in the world.
  4. EdTech news article: Write an edtech news article (600–1000 words) that reports initial findings from your field/playtests and discusses the potential impact of your product/tool in the world.
  5. Infographic: Create a 1–2 page visual depiction of your product/tool for a non-technical audience which provides an overview of the problem your product/tool addresses, initial findings related to its testing, challenges for taking this product/tool to scale, and future directions.

Example Projects:

Troll: A Game-Based Program for Enhanced Computer Troubleshooting in the Classroom Policy Brief (PDF)

Collaborative Textbook Policy Brief (PDF)

Practice Space Prepares Teachers for Hands-On Physics