PERSONAL PROJECT STUDENT HANDBOOK 2013-2014

Your name:______________________________

Nicholas Senn High School An International Baccalaureate World School

5900 North Glenwood Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60660 Phone: (773) 534-2365 Fax: (773) 534-2369 www.sennhs.org

PERSONAL PROJECT OVERVIEW What is the Personal Project?

A project in which YOU define a goal and work towards accomplishing that goal A project with a topic that YOU CHOOSE because it interests you An independent study so you do it on your own with the help of an adult supervisor. It is not a requirement for any one class; it is a program requirement. A project that begins during the 4th quarter of your 9th grade year and is completed during the 3rd quarter of your 10th grade year A project that concludes with a public presentation of your work
Start of 4th quarter - 9th grade End of 9th grade Start of 3rd quarter - 10th grade Start of 4th quarter - 10th grade End of 10th grade

Begin Personal Project

Work on Personal Project

Completion of Personal Project

Personal Project Presentations

What are the major parts of the Personal Project? (What do I turn in?)
There are three major components to the Personal Project: 1. The Process Journal You have to document the steps you take and your evolving thinking about the project from brainstorming a topic to reflecting on your final product. 2. The Product/Outcome This is the thing you produce in order to accomplish your project goal. Examples include: a video, an essay, a play, a fundraising campaign, a website, etc. You evaluate its success by measuring the product/outcome against specifications that you create in advance (see What are project specifications and how do I create them? on page 6 of this handbook). 3. The Report You must create a detailed report of your project including evidence that you have met the Personal Project Assessment Criteria (see How is the project graded? on page 10 of this handbook). The report must have a specific structure, but can be presented in a variety of formats.

Process Journal
Decide on a format and use it throughout the project

Product/ Outcome
Based on the goal you define

Project Report
Contains evidence that you met the assessment criteria

A place for: - Brainstorming - Planning - Recording interactions with sources (e.g. books, online sources, teachers, supervisor) - Important ideas/quotes - Reflection

Evaluated based on specifications you create

Your supervisor uses it to score your project

Can have multiple formats - your chance to be creative!

Must follow a specific structure

What steps do I have to take in order to complete the Personal Project?

*All steps are summarized below, then detailed on pp. 4-8 of this handbook.

1. Define the Goal

Begin your choice of Process Journal at the beginning of this step and use it throughout Brainstorm and identify a suitable topic Identify one Area of Interaction (AoI) on which you will focus and justify it Decide on a challenging, yet realistic goal that you can accomplish Create specifications to evaluate the product/outcome

2. Select Your Sources

Find a variety of sources (e.g., books, periodicals, websites, interviews, images, etc.) Use your Process Journal to record bibliographic information throughout this step

Make sure the sources are relevant to your goal

Evaluate the sources judge sources by considering, e.g.:

Is the author credible? Is the information current? Is the information accurate? Who is the intended audience?

3. Apply the Information you Gather

Interpret the information by considering:
Why does this information matter? How is this relevant to my stated goal?

Use the information transfer and apply it to your goal by:

Making decisions Creating solutions Developing understanding

4. Achieve your Goal

Create the product/outcome defined by your goal Evaluate the product/outcome using the specifications you created in step 1

5. Reflect on your Learning

How did completing the project extend your knowledge/ understanding of the topic? How did completing the project extend your understanding of the chosen AoI? How have you grown as a learner by completing the project?

6. Report your Project

Use your Process Journal to help you complete the report Organize the report according to the proper structure Write clearly and concisely (dont use more words than necessary)

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

Begin your choice of Process Journal with some brainstorming in order to find a topic that best suits your interests. Possible Formats for your Process Journal
A journal notebook or binder A video documenting your process A wiki/blog

Meet your supervisor to share your topic and review the meeting protocol.
*Also see My Personal Project Supervisor on page 8 of this handbook.

Communicate (email) between meetings Confirm appointments 12 days in advance Honor all meeting times - don't be late!

Agree on time & place of meetings

Following meeting protocol = higher score on Criteria A

Come to meetings prepared (bring Process Journal & thoughtful questions for your supervisor)

You will have to do some background research on your topic before you can develop a worthwhile goal. Make sure to use your process journal during your research to record any sources you encounter and decide to use. Before you define your goal, you must select an Area of Interaction focus.

How will I choose an Area of Interaction (AoI):

There are five Areas of Interaction (AoIs). Each of them is described at the end of this Personal Project Handbook (see Explaining the Areas of Interaction on page 9 of this handbook). They are: 1. Approaches to Learning (ATL) *Note* - ATL skills will be used in all Personal 2. Community & Service Projects. However, only some students may choose 3. Environment ATL as their focus; they will do a project that 4. Health & Social Education specifically addresses an aspect(s) of learning. 5. Human Ingenuity You must choose ONE of these AoIs as a context or lens through which you will explore your topic. Topics often lend themselves to one or more of the AoIs; think about which one seems to fit well with the topic you have chosen. The AoI that you choose will help you to formulate your goal!

How do I decide on a goal? Your interest

Topic of choice

Area of Interaction

YOUR GOAL

Research
Consider the following examples of Personal Projects:
Challenging (worthwhile) Raise political awareness among my peers through an information-giving campaign Design a playground for young children and produce a model HIGHLY Challenging (not advised!) Influence City Hall and get a law passed/changed in the city of Chicago Design a playground for young children, produce a model, raise finance, and arrange for the playground to be built

A B

Samples by the IBs Personal Project Guide and a student handbook from BT Washington High School in Tulsa, OK

ACTIVITY: Considering the AoIs

What might be the Area(s) of Interaction focus for each of the above sample Personal Project goals? Project A Possible AoI Focus Explanation of why the AoI fits the project goal ___________ or ___________

B
C D

___________ or ___________
___________ or ___________ ___________ or ___________

*For further explanation, see Explaining the Areas of Interaction at the end of this handbook.

What are project specifications and how do I create them?

ASK YOURSELF:

What qualities or properties should my product or outcome have in order for me to say YES! This is exactly as I planned it.

Specifications (or specs) are criteria that help us measure the success of a product/outcome. So, a product/outcome is successful if it meets the specifications.

Create a checklist of the criteria you decide to use for your project specifications. Your specifications checklist could look something like this Project Specifications for playground model

Complete

The model shows five play stations/features including at least one climbing apparatus The model shows a surrounding fence with a locking gate to protect smaller children The model shows a soft/synthetic ground surface for child safety

Complete

Complete

How do I select and evaluate my sources?

You must use a variety of resources. Be very careful to record the bibliographic information for every resource that you consult As with your classes, use MLA for referencing When your resource is a person, get the correct spelling of their full name and the record the date on which you spoke. For websites, print off one page and get the URL and date you accessed the site When evaluating your sources, consider: Possible sources include: Your supervisor Other teachers/librarian Books & periodicals Adults in the community Websites etc.

You can more easily evaluate a website by checking out the About link on the sites homepage!

Origin where did the information come from? Who is the author or interviewee? What is their background? Purpose Why did the author write it? Value Why does its origin and purpose make the source believable/trustworthy/timely Limitation - Why does its origin and purpose the source make the source NOT so believable/ trustworthy/timely
*Also see questions from Select your Sources on page 3 of this handbook.

How do I apply the information I gather from my sources?

First, you must interpret the information you gather. You should do this while you are selecting and evaluating your sources in the previous step. 1. Make sure you choose sources that are relevant to your topic. 2. You want to be able to answer the following questions when writing the Application of Information section of your Project Report: Why is this information important? How will this information help me achieve my goal? When you are able to answer the above questions, it should be easier to transfer and apply the information you gathered. In the Application of Information section of your Project Report, you should answer the following: How did I use the information I gathered to help me make decisions in moving towards my goal? How did I use the information to help me create solutions related to my goal? How did the information help me develop a greater understanding about my topic?

ACHIEVING YOUR GOAL will take some time and will involve a different process from one project to another, depending on the defined goal. Some important things to remember:

Plan out how you will create the product/solution before getting started. Leave enough time to accomplish this before the deadline. Use the specifications you created to guide your work. In the Achievement of the Goal section of your Project Report, you will evaluate your product/outcome by showing how it met or did not meet the specifications.

How do I reflect on my learning?

There are three big questions/prompts that should guide you in your reflection: 1. How did completing the project extend your knowledge/understanding of the topic? 2. How did completing the project extend your understanding of the chosen Area of Interaction? 3. How have you grown as a learner by completing the project? You should reflect on your learning throughout the entire process and record these reflections in your Process Journal You must explain your reflections in the Reflect on Learning section of your Project Report

Process Journal

Selection & Application of sources

Reflection
Creation of product/outcome Completion of Project Report

HOW DO I COMPLETE MY PROJECT REPORT?

Much of your grade on this project comes from your supervisor reviewing the report you submit. It is therefore VERY important that you follow the guidelines below for completing your Project Report! You must have a written report ready to present to your supervisor by the project due date. The written report may be on paper or in a digital format. The report must have the structure described below: Title Page Student name Title of Project Length (word count) School Name Month & Year of submission Table of Contents Section names Corresponding page numbers Body of Report (the sections) The goal Selection of sources Application of information Achieving the goal Reflection on learning Bibliography MLA Format Alphabetical order Appendices (optional) Charts Graphs Photos Drawings

The minimum length of the report is 1,500 words. The maximum length is 3,500 words (for projects in which the product/outcome is an essay to be included in the Project Report itself). The word count applies only to Body of Report; appendices, bibliography, etc. do not count.

A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE?

My Personal Project Supervisor
You will have a teacher or other faculty member from Senn or Peirce (Senns MYP Partner School) assigned to work with you as your Personal Project Supervisor. No Personal Project supervisor will be assigned to more than three students. You must give to your supervisor a reliable e-mail address that you will check regularly. Your supervisor will check in with you from time to time; but it is YOUR responsibility to arrange meetings with the supervisor and to come to those meetings prepared (see meeting protocol on page 4 of this handbook). Your supervisor must sign off that the work is your own, so be careful to cite every source and do not just copy and paste!

My Technology Teacher
Your Technology teacher, Ms. Little, along with Mr. Gregg, will provide general guidance about the project and will be available to answer questions. You will spend several periods during Technology discussing/working on the Project and checking in with Ms. Little regarding your progress.

*Aside from the occasional Technology class, you should not count on any other class time to work on your Personal Project!

9 EXPLAINING THE AREAS OF INTERACTION (AoIs)

APPROACHES TO LEARNING (ATL) - Through Approaches to Learning, we come to understand how we learn, know and communicate our understanding. Approaches to Learning help students:

Develop their organizational skills Develop a positive attitude toward work Learn how to work effectively in groups Strengthen their oral and written communication skills Become effective researches by asking good questions Learn how to evaluate their work

COMMUNITY AND SERVICE - Community and service extends beyond the classroom as we participate in a variety of service learning projects. By giving importance to the sense of community, students learn responsible citizenship and deepen their understanding of our global community.

HUMAN INGENUITY - Human Ingenuity focuses on the evolution, process and products of human creativity and their impact on life and society. We should learn to appreciate and develop in ourselves the human capacity to create, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. Through this area of interaction, students:

Become inventors, creators and developers Identify why we create or change products Predict possible future developments Celebrate human achievement Evaluate the effects of human invention on individuals, society and/or the world

ENVIRONMENTS - This area of interaction aims to develop awareness of our interdependence with the environment so that we understand and accept our responsibilities. The study of environments assists students in:

Understanding the links between economic, political and social issues, and how these affect the environment Developing positive and responsible attitudes towards their environments Gaining the skills and commitment to contribute to their environments

HEALTH AND SOCIAL EDUCATION - This area of interaction deals with key aspects of development leading to complete and healthy lives. It encompasses physical, social and emotional health and intelligence. The aim is to develop our sense of responsibility for our own well-being and for our physical and social environment. In particular, the exploration of this area allows students to discuss and reflect on the following aspects of health:

Physical Psychological Sociological Economic Legal

*The above explanation of the Areas of Interaction is adapted from the website of JEB Stuart HS in Falls Church, VA, an IB World School.

How is the project graded? (What rubric will be used?)

Criteria Points

Criterion A:
Use the Process Journal
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below

Criterion B:
Define the goal
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below

Criterion C:
Select Sources
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below The student: -selects very few relevant sources to achieve the goal -demonstrates minimal evaluation of sources

Criterion D:
Apply information
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below The student demonstrates minimal: -transfer & application of information to make decisions, create solutions & develop understandings in connection with the projects goal

Criterion E:
Achieve the goal
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below -The student evaluates the quality of the outcome/ product. -The outcome/ product is of very limited quality & meets few of the specifications

Criterion F:
Reflect on learning
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below

Criterion G:
Report the project
The student has not reached a standard described by any of the descriptors below

The student demonstrates minimal: -organizational skills through time & self-management -communication & collaboration with the supervisor -information literacy, thinking & reflection

The student: -identifies the topic of interest, a focus AoI, & a limited goal -creates minimal specifications to evaluate the projects outcome/product or none at all

The student demonstrates minimal: -reflection on how completing the project has extended his/her knowledge & understanding of the topic & the focus AoI -reflection on how s/he has developed as a learner by completing the project The student demonstrates some: -reflection on how completing the project has extended his/her knowledge & understanding of the topic & the focus AoI -reflection on how s/he has developed as a learner by completing the project The student demonstrates satisfactory: -reflection on how completing the project has extended his/her knowledge & understanding of the topic & the focus AoI -reflection on how s/he has developed as a learner by completing the project The student demonstrates well-developed: -reflection on how completing the project has extended his/her knowledge & understanding of the topic & the focus AoI -reflection on how s/he has developed as a learner by completing the project

The student demonstrates: -minimal organization of the project report according to the required structure -communication, which is rarely clear, coherent & concise & may not meet required limits -inaccurate use of MLA format* to acknowledge sources or no acknowledgement of sources The student demonstrates: -some organization of the project report according to the required structure -communication, which is sometimes clear, coherent & concise & may not meet required limits -some accurate use of MLA format* to acknowledge sources The student demonstrates: -satisfactory organization of the project report according to the required structure -communication, which is generally clear, coherent & concise & may not meet required limits -generally accurate use of MLA format* to acknowledge sources The student demonstrates: -consistent organization of the project report according to the required structure -communication, which is clear, coherent & concise & may not meet required limits -accurate use of MLA format* to acknowledge sources, possibly with minor errors

The student demonstrates some: -organizational skills through time & self-management -communication & collaboration with the supervisor -information literacy, thinking & reflection

The student: -outlines superficially the topic of interest, a focus AoI, & an achievable goal -creates specifications for evaluating the projects outcome/ product, however they lack definition

The student: -selects some relevant sources to achieve the goal -demonstrates some evaluation of sources

The student demonstrates some: -transfer & application of information to make decisions, create solutions & develop understandings in connection with the projects goal

-The student evaluates the quality of the outcome/ product. -The outcome/ product is of limited quality & meets some of the specifications

The student demonstrates satisfactory: -organizational skills through time & self-management -communication & collaboration with the supervisor -information literacy, thinking & reflection

The student: -describes clearly the topic of interest, a focus AoI, & an achievable & appropriately challenging goal -creates satisfactory specifications for evaluating the projects outcome/ product The student: -justifies effectively the topic of interest, a focus AoI, & an achievable & appropriately challenging goal -creates appropriately rigorous specifications for evaluating the projects outcome/ product

The student: -selects a satisfactory variety of relevant sources to achieve the goal -demonstrates satisfactory evaluation of sources

The student demonstrates satisfactory: -transfer & application of information to make decisions, create solutions & develop understandings in connection with the projects goal

-The student evaluates the quality of the outcome/product. -The outcome/product is of satisfactory quality & meets many of the specifications

4
Total pts.

The student demonstrates welldeveloped: -organizational skills through time & self-management -communication & collaboration with the supervisor -information literacy, thinking & reflection

The student: -selects a wide variety of relevant sources to achieve the goal -demonstrates welldeveloped evaluation of sources

The student demonstrates well-developed: -transfer & application of information to make decisions, create solutions & develop understandings in connection with the projects goal

-The student evaluates the quality of the outcome/product. -The outcome/product is of high quality & meets most or all of the specifications

28

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

4 pts. possible

*Denotes local criteria for Senn; IB accepts any recognized convention to acknowledge sources