Personal Project: A: Planning

Criterion A: Planning

Maximum: 8
In the personal project, students should be able to:

i. State a learning goal for the project and explain how a personal interest led to that goal.
ii. State an intended product and develop appropriate success criteria for the product.
iii. Present a clear, detailed plan for achieving the product and its associated success criteria.

Image source: https://eusmartcomposer.eu/s-m-a-r-t/

Planning can also be done in the form of a calendar, whether it is physical (printed calendar pages, a printed planner or daytimer) or digitial (Google Calendar, Notion, or any other platform that works for you).

The success criteria, developed by the student, measure the degree of excellence to which the product aspires or the terms under which the product can be judged to have been successful.

❖ The success criteria must be testable, measurable and observable.

❖ The success criteria must evaluate the product.

❖ The success criteria must evaluate the impact on the student or the community.

(Handbook for students and supervisors p. 14)

You can use ACCESS FM to help you develop your success criteria.

You can view examples of using the acronym, ACCESS FM, at the website of Lenny Dutton, "The Excited Educator." Dutton demonstrates how her students use ACCESS FM for "analysing existing products, (and also for creating their design specifications and evaluating their product)."

You do not have to have success criteria for each of these elements. You might decide that only 5 or 6 of them are relevant to your project. That's okay. This is simply a tool to get you thinking about the various elements of your product you need to consider and possibly research in order to understand what success will look like.

Image source: http://gcseproductdesign.weebly.com/product-analysis.html#

Early in the Personal Project process, you are required to submit an annotated bibliography summarizing and evaluating at least five (5) sources (2 for your learning goal, 2 for your product goal, and at least 1). For each source, you need to provide full bibliographic information (a compete MLA citation), and write a detailed annotation (paragraph) demonstrating your understanding of the source and its relevance to your goal. To structure your annotations, choose one of the following models:

From NoodleTools:

A bibliography that contains a summary and/or assessment of each source is generically called an annotated bibliography. Annotations can range from a short phrase or sentence description to a paragraph which analyzes and critically compares it it to other sources in the list.  

A descriptive annotation summarizes the content (e.g., the main idea, content, and plot) and explains its value to your research. When relevant to your research, concisely include the following information:

What is the scope of this source? Is it an overview, a manual, a critical analysis of one point of view, an in-depth explanation of a phenomenon?

• How is the time and place of this publication relevant? Is it a primary source (e.g., written by an observer of events, a report of the author’s original research)?
• Why are the author's credentials or expertise related to my research topic? What is the author’s reputation among other experts?
• What is the purpose of this source? Is the author's intention to persuade, to inform, to analyze, to inform, or to argue for a point-of-view?
• What is the writing genre and format? Is it an essay, a Web page, a peer-reviewed journal article, a reference work, a blog entry, a video clip? Are there distinctive design features that enhance the communication?
• What knowledge level is expected of the reader? Has it been written for a general reader, a scientist, a high school student, an instructor? Is the writing style and information appropriate to that audience?
• How did it help you understand your topic? How did you use it? Did its bibliography lead you to new sources?

A critical annotation includes a description (see above), then evaluates the quality of your source related to others and the value of its information to your research.

• What is missing or questionable?

• Is there evidence of bias or distortion?

• Are there errors or weaknesses?

• How does this source fit with or compare to other sources used?

​OPCVL:

• The origin* of the source. (Who wrote it? Who published it? When? Where?)
• The purpose of the source, particularly relevant for primary sources. (Who is the intended audience of the source? What are they meant to get from it)
• A short summary of the content of the source
• The value of the source for your project (How does this source help you to explore your research question? How will it help you to connect to your global context, create your final project and/or achieve your goal?)
• The limitations of the source. (What questions does this source raise? What perspective does the source take? Does the information contrast with other sources? Does it present a balanced view? What does it make you think about the next steps for your research?) 

*Be thoughtful when you discuss the origin of a source. Do not simply repeat the name of the author. In fact, do not repeat any details that already appear in the MLA9 citation. Instead, show that you know something about the author's or publisher's authority or expertise. Demonstrate critical thinking skills--do not simply state the obvious.