Lesson 4.3–Teacher Notes
Project 4.3.1 – Virtual Design Challenge
The virtual design challenge is designed to help students learn what it takes to become productive members of a team whose boundaries lie beyond the immediate walls of the classroom. The goal of the experience is to have students learn that teams must develop formal working relationships before a design process can be used effectively to tackle a design challenge.
The virtual aspect of the challenge may be approached in several ways. One method involves pairing students from different IED classes within the same school. Both students may have the same teacher, or each student may have a different IED teacher. Another option is to have two IED teachers from different schoolswork together to pair students between their classes. Whatever the situation, the teams will use the internet to communicate, share ideas, make decisions, and develop design solutionsusing various techniques, such as web cams, email, file transfer protocol (FTP) site, instant messenger, or blogs.
Students should be given the opportunity to communicate through email with their teammates. This may require planning ahead and collaborating with the Information Technology (IT) department (or whatever entity is responsible for giving students internet access rights within the school district) to assign administrative privilegesthat may not be available to all students.
Students are instructed to identify two of the design briefs included in this Project that they would feel comfortable pursuing as a final design challenge. The teacher(s) should pair the students into teams according to their interests. The teacher may choose to narrow the number of design briefs, or create design briefs that are tailored to his or her classroom resources and add them to the list as alternative choices.
The role of the teacher in this endeavor is communications coordinator, trouble-shooter, counselor, and assessment administrator. Constant communication with the cooperating IED teacher will need to be maintained. Problems with computer files and undeliverable emails are sure to surface, and it will be up to the teacher to help the students trouble-shoot these issues. The storming phase of team development will occur, and the teacher will have to serve as a counselor through these tumultuous times. The number of evaluationsand grades associated with this project can be overwhelming. It is important that the teacher stay on top of whatever assessment methods he or she chooses to adopt. It is suggested that the teacher keep file folders on each student (including the virtual teammates) to act as a repository for evaluations.
Lesson 4.3 Design Project Tally Sheet
Assessing the work of a design team and its individual members can be cumbersome, and great effort must be made to ensure that the process is consistent, fair, and helpful. All of the assessment documents provided in this lesson represent suggested methods that have been used successfully for such activities.
The Lesson 4.3 - Design Project Tally Sheet summarizes the grade weight of all the various activities associated with Project 4.3.1 – Virtual Design Challenge. This document represents one method of evaluating a student’s design effort, and may be modified by the teacher according to his/her professional judgment, experience, and circumstances.
The teacher is also encouraged to empower the class to determine the criteria for their own tally sheet. This can be done by guiding the students through the development of a similar document. Through a class team meeting, the students can discuss and identify the various gradableitems associated with the problem-solving process (i.e., CAD drawings, engineer’s notebook, summary PowerPoint presentation, self- and teammate-assessments, quality of the design solution, etc.). Once all the possible items have been identified, the class must come to consensus on the items listed. A blind vote is one method that could be used. Once consensus is achieved, the final list must be reviewed and approved by the teacher. The teacher then guides the team through a discussion to identify the grade weight that each item will carry (i.e., 10% from teammate-assessments, 40% from CAD drawings, etc.). Once the class has assigned values to each item and reached an agreement through consensus, the teacher will again review and approve the results. This process ensures that the students know exactly what they are responsible for from the beginning. More importantly, it gives the students an active role in their own grading process, and results in fewer conflicts. It should be noted that this process can take several class periods to work through, and the teacher may wish to follow the given tally sheet the first time through Project 4.3.1 – Virtual Design Challenge.
5% from the class’s average assessment of the design’s visual, structural, and functional characteristicsTotal / 302/360 / = 4/5
The above example from the Design Project Tally Sheet shows the quality of ateam’s design is the product of the evaluations of all IED students in both classes. It is recommended that the students use a three-point evaluation scale to assess the visual, structural, and functional qualities of each design. Each student can record his or her evaluation on a piece of paper, and submit his or her vote to the respective teacher.
Compared to the other designs, / Quality Pointsthe visual appeal of this design scores a… / 3 / 2 / 1
the structural characteristics of this design scores a… / 3 / 2 / 1
the functional aspects of this design scores a… / 3 / 2 / 1
Once all of the students’ evaluations have been collected and totaled, the score is recorded as a ratio of earned points to total possible points. This ratio will then be converted to a value out of five points, because this part of the project grade has a maximum value of five percentage points.
Lesson 4.3 - Periodic 10-Point Evaluationand Lesson 4.3 - Periodic Self-Evaluation
Starting on the first day that the students serve as teammates, students are expected to begin their first teammate- and self-evaluation cycle. Each cycle lasts three class days. At the beginning of class on the next cycle, the students will submit their Lesson 4.3 - Periodic Teammate 10-Point Evaluation and Lesson 4.3 -Periodic Self-Evaluation sheets to their instructor.
A teacher’s evaluation worth up to three points appears at the bottom of both evaluation sheets. The teacher will use this to judge the quality of how well the student filled out and supported his/herevaluations of himself/herself and his/her teammate. This is also used to help ensure that the evaluation forms are turned in on schedule. The teacher will assign quality points for each evaluation, and mark them in the appropriate locations on the Design Project Tally Sheet.
10% from the average of your teammate’s assessment of your work contribution (worth ten points each) submitted in intervals of every three class days, and the average quality of the same assessments (worth three points each) that you submit for your teammateEvaluation Period / Grade from Teammate / Quality Points / Evaluation Period / Grade from Teammate / Quality Points
5/10 to 5/12 / 8/10 / 3/3 / ____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3
____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3
____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3
____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/10 / _____/3
Total / _____/_____ / = _____/10
In the above example from the Design Project Tally Sheet, the Periodic 10-Point Evaluation period is identified as lasting from May 10th to May 12th. The virtual teammate assigned the student a value of eight points out of a possible ten points for the work that he or she contributed over the three day cycle. The teacher, having read his or her student’s evaluation of the virtual teammate, assigned three points out of a possible three points for the level of quality associated with that student’s assessment justification. When the project is finished, all of the points from the virtual teammate’s evaluations and the teacher assigned quality points will be totaled, and expressed as a ratio of earned points to total possible points. This ratio will then be converted to a value out of ten points, because this part of the project grade has a maximum value of ten percentage points.
5% from the completion of self-evaluations in intervals of every three class daysEvaluation Period / Quality Points / Evaluation Period / Quality Points
5/10 to5/12 / 2/3 / ____to____ / _____/3
____to____ / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/3
____to____ / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/3
____to____ / _____/3 / ____to____ / _____/3
Total / _____/_____ / = _____/5
In the above example from the Design Project Tally Sheet, the Periodic Self-Evaluation period is identified as lasting from May 10th to May 12th. The teacher, having read his/her student’s self-evaluation assigned two points out of a possible three points for the level of quality associated with that student’s assessment. When the project is finished, all of the quality points will be totaled, and expressed as a ratio of earned points to total possible points. This ratio will then be converted to a value out of five points, because this part of the project grade has a maximum value of five percentage points.
Collaboration with the cooperating teacher is critical in this process, because another student will be assigning a value for your students’ work every three class periods. This information needs to be communicated by both cooperating teachers, and recorded in the proper location of the Design Project Tally Sheet for each student.
Both of these evaluation forms should be kept confidential, and stored in the teachers’ records until the end of the project. At the end of the project, the cooperating teachers should mail the Periodic 10-Point Evaluation forms to each other, and distribute these documents to their students.
Lesson 4.3 - Engineer’s Notebook Evaluation
It is expected that the students will make entries in their engineer’s notebooks from the first day of Lesson 4.3 – Design Teams. Students should make at least one entry per class day until the time of their summary presentations, at which point the notebookswill be collected for their final review. The teacher is encouraged to collect the students’ notebooks throughout the design challenge and provide feedback as to the quality of the entries, rather than treating the notebook grade as a summative event. A handout, called Lesson 1.1 –SampleEngineer’s Notebook Entries, was provided to the students in Lesson 1.1 – Introduction to a Design Process. This document shows examples of both good and bad notebook entries, and students should be encouraged to review it.
Lesson 4.3 Summary Presentation Evaluation
It is suggested that each student fill out a Lesson 4.3 Summary Presentation Evaluation form during each student presentation. Taking the average of the students’ evaluations and averaging that value with the instructor’s evaluation gives the students control of 50% of final summary presentation grade, which is worth 15% of the overall project grade. More importantly, this practice makes the students pay closer attention to the details of each presentation, which will affect the way that they create and deliver their own presentations.
15% from the final summary PowerPoint presentationTotal / 30/39 / = 12/15
In the above example from the Design Project Tally Sheet, the average between the students’ and teacher’s evaluation is expressed as a ratio of earned points to total possible points. This ratio will then be converted to a value out of 15 points, because this part of the project grade has a maximum value of 15 percentage points.
Lesson 4.3 Teammate Performance Summary
At the conclusion of the project, each student will fill out and submit a Lesson 4.3 Teammate Performance Summary assessment form. There are no gradesassociated with this assessment. These documents will need to be faxed or mailed to the cooperating teacher so that he or she can distribute these documents to his or her students.
Teamwork
This presentation is designed to introduce students to the basicsof team development. This includes identifying the team’s mission, establishing group norms, formulating a project timeline, identifying each team member’s strengths and weaknesses, anticipating personal differences and problems, and identifying methods of resolving conflicts within teams.This presentation serves as an introduction to Activity 4.3.2 – Team Norms.
Activity 4.3.2 – Team Norms
In this activity, students establish their first communication with their teammates. The activity begins with students sending their portfolio cover page to their virtual teammate as a formal introduction. This was developed as part of Activity 1.5.3 – Design Project Portfolio. Students may need to update their portfolio cover sheets to reflect their new skills and interests that they have developed since their cover pages were first created. This information will be used as the introduction of each team’s summary presentation at the conclusion of the design project. The teammates then brainstorm ideas through the internet to develop a list of possible team norms to serve as guidelines, protocols, or rules of behavioral conduct. Consequences for not following these norms will also be identified.
It is recommended that a fax machine be used to send the students’ Team Norms documents back-and-forth between schools if the virtual teams extend beyond the boundaries of one school. If the teacher does not have the ability to use a fax machine within his or her classroom, then it is recommended that the school’s main office be used to send and receive faxes.
Open-Ended Design Problem and Lesson 4.3 - Counselor Conference Design Brief
The presentation, Open-Ended Design Problem, has been included as an example design project summary presentation. The design brief that was associated with the project, Lesson 4.3 - Counselor Conference Design Brief,has also been included in the Instructional Resources of the lesson. These examples are meant for the teacher, and have not been included in the Day-by-Day Plans of Lesson 4.3 – Design Teams.
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Copyright 2007
IED – Teacher Guidelines – Support Materials –Unit 4 – Lesson 4.3 – Teacher Notes– Page 1