Project 5: Forum Completion Report

Worth 14% of your course grade

Important Dates

  • August 11: Drafts due for peer review
  • August 12: Due date for Project 5 (no forum posts will be due that day)

The Project Assignment

You will review your work in the course and write a completion report that outlines what you have learned and done during the term. In particular, you will review your posts on the Forums and point out some of your best work. In addition to grading your report, I’ll use the information you present to help determine your participation grade for the course. In the workplace, you could think of this report as a self-evaluation for a performance review.

Details

Step 1: Review the Forum Posts & Participation Information.

This project asks you to look over the work you have done on the forums this term, provide a summary of your accomplishments, and point to some exemplary work. You will focus primarily on the work you have done in the Forums, so you should begin by reviewing the Forum Posts & Participation information that was posted last month. That page explains the expectations for the work you do in the forums, so your report will explain how you met those goals (or offer some explanation for why you didn’t).

Step 2: Gather your data.

You need to collect the data on your participation in the class, using the details on the Forum Posts & Participation page as a guide. Specifically, you need to find data such as the following:

You should gather the relevant numbers, links to example posts, and excerpts from the posts. For instance, you might demonstrate why you think a particular forum post you made is the best by linking to it, summarizing its content, and providing a quotation from it that shows its effectiveness. Alternately, you might quote another student who has commented on your post’s effectiveness.

Step 3: Set your goals for the project.
You have the opportunity to aim for the grade you want to earn in this class. The options below outline what you need to do for the grade you want to receive.

Average Work
C project: Write a report in memo format that addresses all four areas that fall under the participation portion of your grade: participation, daily work, number of posts, and quality of posts.

C- project: A C project that has a few flaws in spelling, grammar, or punctuation, OR that has problems with sentence structure, OR that seems incomplete or underdeveloped.

C+ project: A C project that shows a bit more effort by linking directly to examples of your work in the forums that demonstrate specific aspects of your work.

Above-Average Work
B project: Complete the C+ project, and use what you know about titles, headings, and document design to make your report convincing and easy to read. Your report should be complete, well-written, and include no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

B- project: A B project that has one or two of the following problems: (1) a few flaws in spelling, grammar, or punctuation, (2) problems with sentence structure, or (3) seems incomplete or underdeveloped.

B+ project: A B project that shows a bit more effort by adding a table or chart that illustrates or tracks some aspect of your participation. Be creative and imaginative. For instance, you might create a table that demonstrates your consistent participation during the term.

Excellent Work
A project: Complete the B+ project above, and add a final section that synthesizes the information and tells me what grade level you should earn for the participation portion of your course grade (the 16% of your grade you earn for participation, NOT the grade for the report you are writing). Your report should be complete, well-written, and include no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

A- project: An A project that has one of the following problems: (1) one or two errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation, or (2) problems with sentence structure. Note: Any work that is incomplete or that contains multiple errors will not earn an A or an A-.

Professionalism Reality Check
 No grade is guaranteed. Your work needs to be error-free, fully-developed, and ready to share with the intended audience. Be sure to proofread your project before you submit it.

Step 4: Create your project.
Once you have gathered all of your information, write your report. Use a friendly, inviting tone with “you attitude.” Your underlying goal is to persuade your reader (me) that you have done a good job participating in the forums.

Step 5: Complete the project reflection memo.
In addition to your report, you will write a short (usually no more than one single-spaced page) informal memo that explains the choices you made for Project 5. Among other topics, you may want to answer the following questions:

  • What grade level for the report did you aim for, and how well do you think you met the requirements?
  • What do I need to know to understand the information you have included and the details you have used?
  • If you left anything out, tell me why you made the decision you did.
  • Why is the design effective? Why are the visuals effective?

Write this memo to me, using specific details from your project to help me better understand your work. Tell me anything you want me to know about your project before I read it.

Step 6: Submit all the documents in Scholar.
When you are finished with the project, you will write your reflection memo in the Assignment tool on Scholar and give me the Google Share link to your documents. I will provide more details in the blog post for the due date (2014/08/12).

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