Overview
The IDS Senior Seminar Action Project is an opportunity for Interdisciplinary Studies majors to think about the work they have previously done for their major and build on that work with a project that demonstrates their skills, knowledge, and experience. The project must be public in some way so that it contributes back to the knowledge commons and/or to a community that will benefit from it.
Interdisciplinarity is a means of solving problems and answering questions that cannot be satisfactorily addressed using single methods or approaches.
Requirements
The action project should:
- relate to your major and draw from the expertise you have developed in your major
- be something you find interesting and engaging
- demonstrate your skills, knowledge, and expertise
- need significant hours for the work. Since this is our major activity for the term, you should plan to work at least 5-7 hours a week putting it together.
- be recorded, documented, or otherwise represented so that it can be shared in some form via your ePort
- be able to be assessed (meaning, you can think of ways to evaluate whether or not you did a good job on the project)
- have a worthwhile impact on the world in some way, big or small, beyond yourself
The action project should not:
- be something you’re already getting course credit for in this form
- be something you’re getting paid for
As long as you are meeting the criteria above, you can design this however you wish.
The action project may:
- be a traditional paper
- not be a traditional paper
- build off of work you have done for another class.
- be collaborative
Process
Proposal and Timeline Guidelines
Proposal
Your proposal needs to cover the following topics/questions:
- Project Description
- What do you plan to do?
- Who is your audience? How will this project be useful to someone other than yourself?
- What question or need drives your project? How will your project address this?
- Background
- Why do you want to do this project?
- What academic work has prepared you for this project?
- How does this project represent your interdisciplinary learning?
- Delivering & Assessing
- What format will your project take?
- What will you use in your ePort as evidence for or artifacts of your project?
- How will you know if your project is successful? How can it be assessed?
- Planning: Resources & Needs
- What resources/skills do you have for this project?
- What resources/skills will you need for this project? How will you get/develop them?
- Whom do you need to contact and/or work with for this project?
- Planning: Risks & Challenges
- What are the risks and challenges of this project?
- If you don’t succeed with your main goal, how might you adapt/adjust your project?
- Planning: Timeline
What are the major steps of your project (be specific and granular!!) and when you do you plan to complete each?
Your proposal is a document that will communicate to our class and to any readers of your ePort what you’re planning to do. It should be clear and comprehensive. If you like you may use this Word document as a template for creating your proposal.
You will also post your proposal to your ePort. Please do NOT just share a PDF/Word document. I would like you to present your proposal on your ePort as a web page.
A Word about Your Timeline
Your timeline is where you can set deadlines to hold yourself accountable for completing your project. It can be a list of dates/deadlines, a chart, a calendar, etc.
While your timeline should be a separate section of your proposal, you can refer to it in your proposal.
The biggest pitfall when creating a project timeline is either setting goals and deadlines that are too broad and spaced out or creating so many goals and deadlines you feel like you’re always falling behind. Think about the important milestones of your project, how you will know when you have hit them, and how long you anticipate them taking.
How long should the proposal be? As long as it needs to be to convince us that your project is thoughtful, practical, and exciting. Take your time with it. Develop your ideas. Ask “How?” and “Why?” for every sentence you write. Do that, and the length will take care of itself.
Deadlines
- September 18th: Turn in your Proposal (posting it to your ePort and submitting on Canvas)
- September 18th-November 20th: Work on your project, post status updates to your ePort or meet with Martha for a check-in every other week. (These updates and check-ins are in Canvas for you to keep track of!)
- November 20th: Complete the work of your project. Come to class prepared to share.
- December 9th: Have your project posted to your ePort and present during the End of Semester Celebration.
Final Advice
- Start early. Things will probably take longer than you expect.
- Show off. Think of this project as an opportunity to show off what you can do. Be ambitious. Ultimately, this project ought to be the jewel in your portfolio.
- Remember your audience. Aim this project at them.
- Focus your project. You have a big chunk of the semester to work on it, but that’s not actually a lot of time. Make sure your project can be completed in the time we have.
- Have fun! Work hard, definitely, but if there isn’t a component of fun in this project, you’re doing it wrong.