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Due: No later than 11:59'59" pm Friday of exam week, but very welcome with the final exam earlier in the week. Reasons/ Goals/ Objectives: 1) Demonstrate your large- and small-scale specific (=Humboldt-/sustainability-/interpreting the past- learning in our course - you can't teach it well unless you've learned it well. Grading: on-time; use of research sources (accuracy & depth); critical thinking; expository language; document formating (typography, layout, graphics); effective group participation (as follower, as expert, as leader) Length: ~1000 words of writing (OR equivalent in other medium of expression), probably in several documents, some of them created solely by one person, some of them the result of group writing. Estimated time to do assignment: 20 hours TOTAL time for a team of 4 people (approximately equal parts individual research, individual writing / "making" [graphics, PowerPoint, props for learning activities, etc.], group meetings outside classroom). In other words, this is about double what you put into each recent writing assignment. End product: A "box" or other suitable container that holds something that can contribute significantly to educating a specific audience about the general importance and some specific features of the life and work of Alexander von Humboldt. The project is not expected to be in finished form, but enough of it must be there that someone who takes over the project to develop it through its next major stage can easily understand the purpose(s) of the project and what remains to be developed. The project can be intended for direct use by learners in basic subject areas in K-12 schools, particularly those in the US and Canada named for Humboldt. It can be intended to introduce those schools' stakeholders to Humboldt and to the benefits of having learning materials based on his life and work (example: research about schools, plan for approaching stakeholders). It can be a support kit for activities and events not directly related to schools, for example an exhibitor's kit for an appearance at a themed event, for example Earth Day, Planet under Pressure, or a conference presentation. It can also be a detailed outline for a grant application to support such activities. Other ideas will be entertained, but early on a detailed case for them must be made. NOTE CAREFULLY: You are NOT producing a Major Project in its entirety (but if you do, fine!). You are producing the first major stage or version of a Major Project. Think of it as "proof of concept". The Big Picture must be there, the map that will get developers to those goals must be there, and so must enough detailed evidence, in essentially user-ready form, so that they can believe it can eventually be done and will work. Examples: 1) If your idea is a kit of month-long social sciences lesson plans to fill a school year, you do NOT have to produce all nine of those lesson plans. What you will have to produce, though, is a rationale for those lesson plans, a table of contents for them, and at least one lesson plan that gives an overview of the month and then "drills down" to a significant "chunk" of that month and produces a detailed description of what several connected hours of classroom activity will be like, and a kit of resources (for teacher and learner) that is ready to go into the classroom. 2) If your idea is an Earth Day table exposition, you'll need a "mission statement" for your presentation (what it will and will not cover); an informative (not just decorative) poster or other PR resource; at least two one-page (double-sided) handouts (one about our SINQ, one about Humboldt); two corresponding binders of information-dense material for visitors to read through at your table; a poster-panel presentation with attractive graphics (and maybe a PowerPoint equivalent); talking points for the table team; props and other "eye candy" (tchotchkes, giveaways) so that the busy event attendees will be attracted to your show. It should be possible for a team of six (or even four) people to complete this project in finished form during the next month. Points to remember: a) Projects must be Humboldt-related, but that can be "stretchy" (example: start with Humboldt, then expand to other explorers) b) Projects can be aimed at Humboldt-named schools, but can also target just about anything that is related to sustainable environmentalism, the science, the humanities, the arts, even sports: OMSI Planet under Pressure; PSU Earth Day; c) Examples of projects aimed at Humboldt-named schools: Earth Day with Alex; designing a Humboldt-related learning garden or specimen collection; planning initial contact with Humboldt-named schools; researching Humboldt-named schools; re-branding a Humboldt-named school (colors, totem animal /plant, mascot & costume, rally/same implement, cheer, events - AND showing the school's stakeholders that it's a good idea); familiarizing stakeholders with Humboldt; planning the model "Humboldt Box"; adaption of lesson plans for Humboldt-related content (organized according to subject area, or according to age level); grant research and draft proposal. d) Your part in a project does NOT have to be based on your academic subjects. You may have a serious personal interest that can help (pets, dance, sewing), or an area of "non-academic" interest, experience and talent (organizational skills). Aim to use what you already have to add strength to the project. Aim to use the project to add strength to your education and interests (=learn a new skill, explore a new subject area) e) The projects are Big IDEAS. They do NOT have to be Giant Finished Products. The Humboldt Project has been going on for more than five years, and already includes some student-begun projects that have been handed on to you. That is also true of the STEM+German Project. View your projects as undertakings that can be handed on to other teams - they don't have to be totally polished, but the next team has to have something solid to work with. f) Start RIGHT AWAY (or even sooner) to document your contribution to your group project so that it can be known (and graded) individually. The final exam will include a worksheet where you do this. g) Cute is not enough, even (especially!) if your project is aimed at younger learners. Deliver Humboldt the human being. Deliver Humboldt's work. Interpret the past. THESE ARE GROUP PROJECTS, not last-minute collections of privatey-produced individual contributions. Part of the group grade will depend on how the group enforces groupness. Everyone plans. Everyone researches and reads. Everyone writes. Everyone edits and critiques. Everyone helps with the scut work. Everyone takes on responsibilities. |