This Module is two weeks long. There is a lot work here, so plan accordingly for the heavier than normal workload here. Some parts of this assignment, however, are due in the first week, and the remainder is due in the second week.
In this module, you will work on your ‘Synthesis’ essay, which we hope will help you bring all of your experiences throughout your master’s program together in an engaging way. For us, it’s a way to examine what you got out of your program, and it serves the purpose of a “final exam” or paper.
We also have a few other housekeeping assignments to take care of in this module. While your focus for the next two weeks should be primarily on your Synthesis essay and scheduling your end-of-semester exhibition.
WHAT TO DO
Make sure you do each of the following activities to successfully complete this module.
📜 Review prior feedback
You know what to do by now. As the course is starting to finish up, it’s good to go review and address any remaining feedback on prior assignments.
✍️ Exhibition signups - DUE MARCH 22nd
Final exhibitions happen during Module 11. Here we ask you to sign up for an exhibition slot to save a space. THIS IS DUE MARCH 22nd
- PLEASE NOTE – The Google Doc for signups will not be open until the start of the module. We will send an email when it is available.
- HOW TO SIGN UP – Once signups are open, go to this Google Doc and follow the directions and example there to sign up for your exhibition time slot.
🔍 Before you write: See examples, and learn the criteria
This week you will create your third essay that synthesizes your experience and learning across the span of your program.
Look at some example work from semesters past: Jessica Wells, Ashley Horton, and Abby Coleman.
As you look at the examples, please notice that each synthesis essay has these properties:
- Descriptive Title – Not just “Synthesis Essay”
- Synthesis – Typically in the introduction and/or the summary at the end, Does your essay discuss how the master’s program as a whole affected your thinking and practice?
- Organized – Is your essay effectively organized and in a logical order?
- Discussion of Individual Courses – Does your essay discuss in detail how three courses affected your thinking and practice?
- Program goal reflection – For MAET and MALXD students only (not MAED). Does your essay name one of your program’s goals and explain how you have met it? [MAET Goals | MALXD Goals]. NOTE: This is a new expectation and will not be reflected in the exemplars below.
- Word Length – Is your essay about 2000 words? Remember, this is both an upper and lower limit! (try to be within 10% of the goal)
- Good Document and Web Design: There are a number of design criteria that apply to every page on your website. See your feedback notebook for details.
These same above points will be used to structure the feedback you receive in your Feedback notebook.
✍️ Create (as a webpage) your Synthesis Essay
Create a webpage on your portfolio called something informative that describes your essay (don’t just title it “Synthesis Essay”). Write approximately 2000 words, and keep in mind the following:
- How has the Program Changed You? – Your essay should address your experience in this program. How did the program change the way you approach your job? How did individual classes change the way you see your responsibilities? It may be helpful to look over the work you’ve completed in previous modules of this course, since so much of it is related to your master’s experience.
- Name one of the Goals From Your Master’s Program and Explain How You Have Met It [FOR MAET and MALXD Students Only] – We encourage you to name a specific course or creation/design (assignment) to support your argument.
- If you are part of the MAET program, your program’s goals are to:
- develop a critical lens
- promote equity
- think in new ways
- become transformational leaders
- If you are part of the MALXD program, your program’s goals are for graduates to be able to:
- Create accessible and inclusive learning experiences and environments, rooted in the learning sciences, educational psychology, and theories of teaching and learning.
- Evaluate leading design principles and frameworks, modify, and apply them through a critical lens focused on equity and social justice.
- Assess learning platforms and technologies for accessibility, user experience, and social and ethical implications.
- Use rich pedagogical and research practice knowledge to generate creative designs and learning solutions.
Develop strategies to support a team’s productivity, capacity, and culture as a project manager. - Engage in a cycle of continuous improvement and project management, including researching, planning, implementing, tracking, evaluating the success of initiatives, and improving the product.
- If you are part of the MAET program, your program’s goals are to:
- Identify Three Specific Courses that Have Impacted you – In discussing how the program and courses have changed you, make sure you discuss in detail how at least three courses affected your thinking and practice.
- Make it Engaging – Don’t let the administrative aspect of this task keep you from writing a creative, thoughtful, engaging essay—one that your intended audience might find fascinating to read and to discuss with you. Consider how you might use multimedia (pictures, font colors, etc.) effectively on this page to help break up or reinforce the 2000 words you will write.
- Know the Rubric – The key points above summarize how we evaluation your work, but your Feedback Notebook has the full list of guidelines we will use. It’s a good idea to look at them as you develop your work.
💬 Give and Receive Feedback
NOTE: The direct link to the module 9 discussion in Teams is here.
There are three different ways you can give and receive feedback in this module. We will explain each in detail below.
- You can arrange your own zoom meeting with another student. You both can work out the details on how to meet online, and give each other feedback. The coffeehouse is an option for you to use.
- You can use our CAPPY Chatbot (an experimental AI bot) to get feedback. This is only an option for modules 4-7 currently, but we are looking to expand if there is positive interest from students to do so.
- You can use Teams as we did earlier in the semester
Regardless of the format you chose, please remember, that order to give good feedback to read (and use) the guidelines for feedback.
📅 Schedule your own meeting
You can meet with a classmate in the Capstone Coffeehouse. However, you schedule a meeting with someone else and figure out the meeting details together. The Sharetracker has email contact information for everyone in the course, feel free to reach out…
You can show your work via sharing your screen, or ask someone else to look on their browser if you give them a link in the chat. It can take as little as 5 minutes to get some productive feedback on your page.
💬 Using Cappy
To use Cappy, please do the following:
- Visit CAPPY, the Capstone Chatbot
- Login or Signup (it’s free)
- Replace XXX with the address of your page to be reviewed, and enter the one the following prompts depending on the module you are submitting:
- My module 4 essay : XXX”
- My module 5 resume : XXX”
- My module 6 showcase : XXX”
- My module 7 learning goals : XXX”
- Review the feedback the CAPPY is giving you, and consider making the revisions it suggests
- Feel free to ask it any followup questions or suggestions you would like, based upon what it is telling you
If you use CAPPY, please leave us some feedback letting us know how it did.
🎥 Using Teams
When posting your reflection, go to the correct teams channel:
Initial Post
- Make a post and address the prompts (“Designers – Discuss”) in the pinned post on the channel.
- Provide context – Type in your name and description of the post (e.g., Matthew Koehler’s website draft) to accompany your video.
- Provide a link – Give a link to the webpage you want others to review.
Leave feedback for two others
Then leave responses with feedback for two others in the same channel as follows:
- Prioritize providing feedback to those who do not have any feedback
- Watch their post
- View their webpage (click on the URL that should be posted with their video).
- In making your response, make sure to follow the prompts in the pinned post labeled “Reviewers – Discuss”
- Provide context – Type in your name and description of the post (e.g., Matthew Koehler’s response to Megan) to accompany your video.
📅 Reminder - Your 3rd Piece of Flair is due in Module 11
Your third piece of flair is due at the end of Module 11. You can check out the full requirements for each of our pre-approved Pieces of Flair and following the instructions.
As with your regular work, there you can give and receive feedback using one of the approved methods (your own meeting with another student, or teams). If you use Teams, use the flair #3 channel.
When you submit a piece of flair, please fill out the corresponding columns in the sharetracker which are on the far righthand side (you may have to scroll right quite a bit).
✔️ Update the ShareTracker
At the end of each module, you will update the Sharetracker to submit your work for this module, and let us know about any revisions to previous work.
OPTIONAL: DEEP DIVES AND QUESTIONS
❓ What is the bonuses and bummers policy?
When you contribute Teams feedback at the end of a module, you are usually expected to provide feedback to two of your classmates.
Our Bonuses and Bummers policy describes exceptions to this expectation as follows:
- Bonus – If you’re the first person to submit your work for an assignment on Teams, you do not have to provide any feedback to anyone.
- Bonus – If you’re the second person to submit your work for an assignment on Teams, you only have to provide feedback to one person (the person who submitted first).
- Bummer – If you’re the last person to submit your work for a task or Piece of Flair, you probably won’t receive any Teams feedback from anyone.
❓ What should I do with the feedback I receive?
Equally important as giving good feedback is learning how to receive good feedback. We have a few tips for receiving feedback:
- Take time to process the feedback. Carefully review the feedback you received and take time to go through it. We can sometimes read constructive feedback as critical feedback, but this feedback may be especially helpful to the development of your portfolio. If some of the feedback seems critical, taking time to see the value in it can be helpful.
- Think through how the feedback applies to your portfolio. While we trust that the feedback you receive will be helpful, there are always opportunities to think through how the feedback applies to your portfolio. For example, specific feedback about how to organize a specific page may not make sense given your audience and goals, but the general idea of the feedback may still let you know that you need to organize it to be easier to navigate. Other feedback may be helpful and aligned with the rubric and assignment descriptions but not line up with your good reasons for designing a page or your portfolio in a specific way. In these cases where your design may not align with feedback you receive, please feel free to reach out to the person providing it—or us—to clarify and expand on the feedback. We are always happy to help with this in any way we can.
- Make a plan for changes, but recognize that some may take longer than others. If portfolios are to be authentic and ongoing, everyone needs some flexibility in when they will introduce all of the changes that have been suggested. If you simply don’t have time to make a particular change to your portfolio (especially if the change isn’t a critical part of the assignment requirements), try to leave a record of the suggested change and go back to it later. Think of these as not as an “IOU” but as an “IOM,” meaning something “I Owe Myself.” Of course, you are also free to say, “My portfolio was actually perfect before the feedback and there was really nothing I learned from feedback that was worth treating seriously, so I’ve made no changes as a result of the experience.” We think that’s highly unlikely to happen, though.
❓ Why write a synthesis essay?
The university requires that there be a comprehensive examination—written, oral, or both—for all graduate degrees. In the past, this might have been a one-day sit down examination or a two-week take home examination. The good news is that your portfolio and the “exhibition” of your portfolio collectively meet the university requirement. We think your capstone portfolio is both meaningful and comprehensive, and we want graduates of our program to showcase their accomplishments. Administratively, the synthesis essay plays an especially important role, as it is read carefully and kept on file as evidence of your having met the comprehensive examination. So you should view this essay as presenting a comprehensive look at what you have accomplished and learned in the master’s program as well as being a part of your Web portfolio that is useful to you beyond the master’s program.
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