Project-based courses foster interdisciplinary thinking, problem-solving skills, teamwork, and communication. However, they can be tricky to design and intimidating to deliver. How can you structure a project that spans an entire semester that will keep students engaged and meet the required course outcomes? 

This three-part workshop will discuss the characteristics of good projects for students and provide simple tools to help you build a framework for your course. We will address how to pick the right project components to meet your desired outcomes, and how to scaffold these components across the semester. We will also talk about trouble-shooting, common pitfalls, and getting buy-in from students. Participants will be given the tools to design their own course and get ideas from other disciplinary approaches to project-based courses. There will also be an opportunity for one-on-one feedback. 

This workshop is for faculty who are considering or in the process of designing a project-based course, or anyone looking for inspiration and new approaches to the project-based course they already have. 

In this workshop, faculty will: 

• Identify what makes a good project and incorporate these elements into a framework for a course
• Identify assessments that relate to and enhance the overall project
• Incorporate scaffolding of assessments, peer-editing, individual and team components to the overall project
• Discuss ways to troubleshoot problems
• Create a layout for a project-based course

Facilitator: Sarah Hewitt

When: 

Part 1: Project-based learning - Building the structural foundation
             Monday Nov 22, 2021 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Part 2: Project-based learning - Framing content and assessment
             Monday Nov 29, 2021, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Part 3: Project-based learning - Troubleshooting and Getting buy-in from students
             Monday Dec 6, 2021, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Optional one-on-one: By appointment up to Dec 17