Wednesday 9 January 2008

Schedule

Team Approximate Presentation Schedule

Presentation #1- Front-end analysis and initial plans for prototype	January 30
Presentation #2 - Usability testing and high fidelity prototype	March 5
Presentation #3 - Formative evaluation and delivered product	April 2

Deliverables are due at the end of class on the day of presentations.

Criteria for Marking Deliverables

Each member of our team will turn in an organized notebook (a portfolio) of work in progress at each of the presentation milestones. We will update the portfolio at each class meeting.

Appropriateness of Products and Process (25%)

- design and production decisions and activities reflect both solid instructional strategies and responsiveness to the constraints of this project at this stage

- amount of effort indicated by the deliverables and presentation is consistent with the requirements of the project at this stage

- indicators reveal the use of effective, efficient processes for design, production, and formative evaluation

Clarity (20%)

- design and production decisions and activities are apprehendable to the observer through team documentation/presentations

- justification for design and production decisions and activities are explained thoroughly and succinctly

- usability test documents describe gathering and analysis of data adequately; findings are reported accurately

Production Value (15%)

- deliverables indicate conscious decisions regarding production value

- production value of materials matches the team's intentions for each stage of the process

Message Design and Information Design (20%)

- design decisions are consistent with the strengths and weaknesses of the medium in which the materials are being produced

- design decisions support the instructional strategies built into the product

- media elements are well integrated

- use of media is consistent with applicable principles of design; variation resulting from specific test results is adequately justified

Presentation Quality (20%)

- presentation is thorough

- presentation is understandable

- presentation indicates active participation in the project by all team members

- use of presentation techniques and materials is professional

- presentation meets time constraints

Readings Reports schedule

Reading #1	Wed, Jan 23
Reading #2	Wed, Feb 27
Reading #3	Wed, Mar 26

Individual Reports (given orally reports at team meetings)

Individual reports are due at each class meeting. Individual reports give you the chance to reflect for yourself on the project and the process in which you are participating, and gives me the chance to provide individual feedback to you when it seems appropriate.

Your reports should follow this format:

What I did--

list the activities you have taken part in to contribute to the project's progress; these do not have to activities you did alone, but you should only list the activities in which you played a contributing role -- be specific; say exactly what you did.

My assessment of the project and our process --

give your assessment of what is going well and what is not going well with your project; be realistic and thoughtful

Criteria for Individual Reports

Your individual reports must be:

- thorough,

- specific,

- thoughtful, and

- timely.

Self/peer evaluations

Self/peer evaluations three times during the semester. A team evaluation will consist of ratings from each team member for each of the others and for yourself.

AIM

We will create a product for a real client to fulfill a real need, begin and finish your project in a limited amount of time, operate under real constraints.

We will form a project team with fellow students and develop an instructional product for a client external to the class. We will complete the entire development process, from design plan through product testing. This experience will give us the opportunity to practice the following

defining and carrying out a distinct role on your project team
collaborating and negotiating with team members
working with clients to define and produce products
planning projects
creating project documents and communicating about projects
creating and integrating media elements
working within realistic constraints
conducting professional usability tests and reliability tests
planning for future maintenance of a product
maintaining professional conduct and performance

We will prepare and deliver three presentations: During these presentations we will describe our work in progress, the major design decisions...we will invite our client to attend these presentations. We will conduct a self-selected series of readings in design, report on those readings periodically, and participate in class discussions regarding the development and production of instructional products.

Project

The Saskatoon Council on Aging http://www.scoa.ca/

It has two main functions: operating a Resource Walk-in Centre to enhance the quality of life for older adults, and working with local agencies to initiate, implement, and evaluate projects useful to older adults in our community.

Connection with the Client:

To meet with our clients a minimum of two times: once to cover their expectations and to have them answer your questions about the content, and once to review our product after we have completed your usability observation. However, we have to keep our client up to date on the team's progress. We should consider inviting our client to additional meetings (to observe user tests or participate in editing a draft of materials), and make sure that our team keeps the client informed of the project's status regularly.