project

Project Track: Course Project Guidelines

Want to earn a grade of A+ and/or earn Honors Credit? There are two tracks in this course. Students do not need to identify which track they will pursue. If you choose to pursue the project track, you will simply submit the course project at the end of the semester. The project is a 3-5 page (double-spaced) creative project of your choice, related to or building on our course content. Those students who successfully complete an excellent project can increase their final course score up to 10 points, including the possibility of earning a score of A+, at the instructor’s discretion.

Parallel to the course progression, students are responsible for creating a project to display mastery of the content. Tell a compelling story about anything inspired by this course. The format of your project is totally up to you: research paper, news story, artistic expression, video, podcast, website, experiment, sci-fi story or alternative history, etc. You should skim through the syllabus and course texts to propose a specific format and specific research topic for approval from the instructors.

The project must meet the following requirements: ● Be based on scientific facts and research ● Explain scientific concepts in your own words—in footnotes, if you prefer ● Demonstrate that you have read the required textbook and watched our course videos ● Demonstrate additional research beyond the material provided in class ● Incorporate and build on at least 3 sources, including (at a minimum):

○ Theory and Practice of Sustainable Engineering, Brad Allenby (PDF provided on Canvas)

○ One additional book ○ One additional peer-reviewed journal article

You must cite your sources in correct APA (preferred) or IEEE style. If you choose a more creative format that does not include a written component, you must attach a written list of works cited. Do not rely on citation generators alone, as they are typically inaccurate.

I encourage you to work with teammates on this project. You are welcome to work individually or in teams of up to 4 students. Your paper should tell a compelling, interesting story in a minimum of 1200 words of your own original writing (approximately 4 pages, double-spaced), or equivalent. This word count includes all of your original writing, footnotes that are your own words, and text you paraphrase into your own words. It does not include your title page, works cited or direct quotations.

Students are advised to start early on their thinking of these projects. They are worth a large portion of your grade and will require you to flex multiple regions of your brain to do them well. Each student is responsible for their own, unique project submission. Students can complete the project individually or in teams of up to 4 students.

Tips to earn maximum credit AND enjoy the process: ● Be okay with ambiguity! Find something meaningful to share and then tell its story. ● Enjoy the process. With any designed creation, it takes time, thought, and iterations. ● Collaborate with peers. Have discussions, spark curiosities, and get inspiration from

each other. ● Ask questions early and often. This isn't something you want to procrastinate on. ● I strongly encourage you to attend office hours to discuss your project ideas!

While these milestones are optional, if you’d like to earn maximum credit, I encourage you to share these early deliverables with us for feedback early on. If you wait until the end of the semester, we may not be able to provide adequate feedback to earn maximum credit.

Topic Proposal: Begin thinking about how you will frame the paper: define your central question, think about potential sources of data/research to evaluate your question. Submit at least 2-3 sentences explaining your proposed topic in the Module 2 assignment link on Canvas. If you are working in a group, only one student should submit the topic proposal and identify all team members.

Intro Paragraph: Please begin by pasting in last module’s topic proposal, with any necessary revisions. The intro paragraph is the first opportunity for you to articulate the research topic. These few sentences will explain the topic chosen and tell about the importance and results of the research. PapersOwl.com lists some tips for the introduction paragraph:

● Be original ● State the research theme ● Explain key terms ● Find the appropriate size (short enough to be readable and gain the attention of

the reader and long enough to explain all the main features of the research). ● Refer to keywords (separate words or word combinations which define the

topic). ● Follow the rules of logic (logic links or transition between sentences/paragraphs

will make the text coherent). ● End the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement (explanation of thesis

statement below).

Thesis Statement: A thesis statement focuses your ideas into one or two sentences. It should tell the reader what the research is about and present your position in relation to the topic. This will keep the research focused.

Outline and Work Plan: Develop an outline and a work plan for your final project. Keep in mind, you have three weeks to develop your outcome so you need to choose a project that you can reasonably finish within this timeframe.

YourWork Plan should answer the following questions. If one or two questions don't apply to your project, feel free to skip them and tell us something else interesting!

● Who is doing what? (Roles, if you choose to work with a team) ● What is the statement / problem that you want to address? ● Why is it important? What is the origin of the problem? ● Who is affected or involved (3-6 key stakeholder)?

● What is the evidence or artifacts that you will present? ● From your point of view, what and how would you solve it? ● If you had unlimited power and resources, what would you do to solve it?

Rough Draft/Design/Prototype: Students will share a rough draft/design/prototype of their final project. Include a draft of your works cited in APA (preferred) or IEEE format. You must have a minimum of 3 sources, as outlined in the project requirements.

Your rough draft/design/prototype should include:

● Submit your draft where you’re at currently (should be mostly complete, if not fully complete--ready for feedback)

● As a part of your submission, please indicate any part of your project that is still in progress

● Indicate any areas of challenges you’ve seen with your project and areas you’d like specific feedback on

● If working with a team, select one student from your group to post your draft/prototype to this discussion board. Please have just one student from your group post your project.

Revised Draft/Design/Prototype: Review the feedback you have received. After having reviewed the feedback, collectively determine which feedback is best to apply to your project.

Additionally, this week we’re asking each group to define what their final proposal needs to be considered complete. As each group is working on a unique project, there is not ‘one size fits all’ determination for ‘complete’ with this project/proposal. As you determine what your final complete proposal/prototype will look like, consider important facets such as your target audience and what tools/resources you will need to bring this project to life.

Along with your received draft, be sure to think about:

● What changes you’ve made to your project based on the peer review feedback and why. ● Define what your final complete proposal will look like (How are you/your group defining

your proposal as “complete”?)

Final Project:Work to finalize your final project. Include in your submission:

● Group members ● Outcome/Project Title ● Briefly describe your project (one or two sentences will suffice) ● Upload any documents, sketches, tech details, call for artists/performers or other

materials that will help us see your project more fully.