Course Content

If this was a course where all students in it were individuals who teach in K-12 and in the ed tech program, we would be looking for a completely different assignment. However, this class is made up of folks from K-12, business and industry, the military, those who actually work in museum/science centers, as well as masters and doctoral students from different disciplines. In order to level the playing field we need to come up with an artifact that:

1. demonstrates a holistic understanding of informal/museum learning, and
2. takes into consideration your vision of STEM as appropriate in your line of work, and
3. takes into consideration your level of expertise with media.

Project Case

You are an instructional designer who has just been hired (either as an employee or  consultant) to create an informal workspace to teach a STEM related topic or topics. Your employer MAY be a textbook company that needs to create supplementary materials for a STEM-related book. Your job is to create an instructional design document that is appropriate for an informal/experiential learning experience.

Note that an instructional design document is different than a lesson plan. We did cover these differences in EDF 6284 but I realize that some of you may not have taken that course yet. To help remind you i have posted the notes form the final projects for that course below. Click on the plus sign to reveal.

The artifact(s) you create MAY include some direct teaching but in general the learning needs to be self-directed, constructivist based. If you decide to use a textbook, you need to name it and use it as the basis for your content. It is assumed that the book already includes direct instruction and your job is to ‘flip the classroom’ where the book is used outside of class to provide detail content and background information and the learning space/digital sandbox you create is to help the student ‘lock in’ the content through interactive, contextualized activities.

You need to call upon your understanding of the ADDIE and ASSURE design principles. In case you have not taken the Instructional Design course (EDF 6284) you will need to dig in a little on your own into what the ADDIE and ASSURE models do to help you plan the experience.

Notes/Hints:

• The experience you create needs to target STEM content/context (as described in the first module)
• The project has three parts.
  1. Create a design document that outlines your thinking process and rationale behind your selection of topic(s)
  2. Using ADDIE and ASSURE models, answer the questions as noted by each letter in both acronyms (i.e, analyze your learners, design the experience, answer questions about its development, implementation, and evaluation, then with regards to ASSURE how you would go about selecting media, etc..)
  3. Create an activities outline based on your selecting the appropriate instructional delivery method, as described in that lesson module from Cycle 2.

Evaluation

All final submissions will be reviewed in the contexts derived from the answers to the questions posed in each of the learning cycles found on the Calendar page:

1. Your personal definition of the term “STEM/STEAM’
2. A definition of museum/free choice learning
3. It is based on one or two exemplar programs we reviewed this term that have been shown to be successful
4. An review of your final product in terms of the RETAIN/gamification principles
5. An assessment/evaluation plan based on sound educational theory
6. It has sustaining power based on what we currently know about the future

Grading

Overall, there are three possible grades you can receive for this project as contextualized by the evaluation criteria noted above:

“A” Project Grade (assuming all interim due dates are met)

The product/artifact includes all six parts as noted above, justifies the chosen instructional delivery methods, and follows the ASSURE and/or ADDIE format

“B” Project Grade (assuming appropriate due dates are met)

The artifacts are submitted but with one or two of the required elements missing

“C” Project Grade (assuming appropriate due date is met)

Both artifacts are submitted but with more than two required elements missing
The rationale is missing

Note that late projects automatically qualify for a “C” Project Grade
  UPLOAD THE PROJECT ARTIFACTS TO CANVAS AND UPLOAD THE PROJECT TO LIVETEXT  

The project posting/uploading and naming instructions will be posted at a later date on final assignment checklist