Assignments

Final classroom presentations – Due Wednesday 4/25

On the last day of class, each group will give a 15-20 minute presentation about their work this semester. Plan to briefly talk about your progress over time, spend a significant amount of time explaining what you did for your external presentation and how that went, show a video if you made one, and use your blog posts as your slides. Each person in the group should give part of the presentation.

Final blog post – Due Wednesday 4/25

Make a final wrap-up post for your project. Remember this is the *first* thing that people will see about your project on the homepage for the site, so be sure to choose a good Featured Image and write an Excerpt that makes all the spacing look good in your portion of the site. There was a lot of so-far-undocumented progress in the last week or two of class, so this post will probably be sort of long. In addition make sure to include links to your Thingiverse models and to wrap up your project with some conclusions.

External presentations – Due Wednesday 4/25

Each group has developed their own plan for presenting their work to the community in some way. This should be completed by the last day of class, Wednesday 4/25.

Progress before the last big post – Due Monday 4/23

Last push to finish your projects before the final week of class. Expect a big final blog post next week, so be sure to collect images, screenshots, and information as needed while you work on your project.

Progress – Due Monday 4/16

Keep going! Meet outside of class as needed to make progress before Monday’s class.

Blog update – Due Wednesday 4/11

Time for another blog post update; track your progress, include photos, links, etc, as needed to describe what you’ve been doing. If you haven’t explicitly linked out to the Thingiverse models or “Makes” that you’ve uploaded, then this post is a good place to do that. Fun Fact: If you look back over this Assignments page, you’ll see that this should be your ninth blog post.

Progress and Evaluations – Due Monday 4/9

Make progress on your project, meeting outside of class or with outside consultants as necessary. You may want to start working on your final presentations and/or the tools you need to use for those presentations. In addition, each person should fill out a Group Member Evaluation Form, to confidentially evaluate the contributions of your group members.

Blog Update – Due Monday 4/2

Please write a standard update post that documents your progress from this week. Include any progress you make between Wednesday’s class and Monday.

Progress – Due Wednesday 3/28

If you’ve got scheduling to do or outside people to consult with, you should try to have that done by Wednesday if it isn’t done already. On Wednesday we’ll try to finalize your presentation schedules.

New Blog Post – Due Monday 3/26

In this blog post, catch up on all the progress in the weeks since your last post. This should be a pretty big post, with lots to discuss after the big progress push. Be sure to look back at your previous posts so you know where to start your documentation. Include pictures, screenshots, video, whatever you need to make your documentation as descriptive as possible. Editors and writers for the group: Make sure you engage the rest of your group in this assignment, to help with the large job of catching up on so much progress at once!

Progress Push – Due Monday 3/19

Finish up your big progress push… next week we’ll refocus on assessment and documentation.

Progress – Due Wednesday 3/14

No blog post this week; just focus on making progress and being sure you can meet your timelines. 🙂

Progress – Due Monday 3/12

Do what you can before you leave for Spring Break!

Midterm Post – Due Wednesday 2/28

In this week’s progress post please include the project timeline and final presentation pitch that you worked out in your Google Doc last week. In addition, when describing your progress this week, don’t forget to say HOW you did what you did. If you used software, how did you use it? Where did you learn how? Include screenshots and pictures. Did you print something? Take pictures of it printing and of the final result.

Progress – Due Monday 2/26

Once again your assignment for the weekend is to make progress. This is a good week to push hard, since next week is the last one before spring break! I was not incredibly impressed with the amount of progress done on most of the projects last weekend; make this week one that moves you forward. Remember in particular that you’ll want to leave space for your group to iterate, make new versions, take things a step further, etc, and really push what you can accomplish with your project. 

Post and Plans – Due Wednesday 2/21

For Wednesday, please do a weekly blog post update that describes your progress from the past week. Remember to include screenshots, photos, links, videos, or whatever makes your story engaging. Your update isn’t for me, it’s for the internet! In addition, add sections to your group Google Doc for Project Timeline and for Presentation Plans, and outline your plans in those sections. Be ready to present your plans as a group with your Google Doc in Wednesday’s class.

Progress – Due Monday 2/19

For Monday please make progress on your project, and be ready to report what you did over the five days between Wedensday and Monday. I don’t expect you to do something every single day, but I would like to know that you’re using the long break between classes wisely. Be ready to report about that on Monday.

Two Blog Posts – Due Wednesday 2/14

For Wednesday you’ll write your third and fourth blog posts to the site, and update/revise your first two posts. On Wednesday I will grade each team’s set of blog posts based on their status at the time, so be sure to meet this deadline.

  • The third post should be a “Meet the Team” article, with a picture and short introduction to each of the team members, plus what roles and interests you plan to take on within the team project.
  • The fourth post should be a usual weekly update of your progress since the last post. Remember to include failures and dead ends as well as successes!
  • In addition, please make sure you’ve updated your first and second blog posts to meet the formatting, style, and content criteria we discussed in class.
  • Irritating note: Splash images are now at the tops of posts again, please adjust accordingly.

More Progress – Due Monday 2/12

Make additional progress on your project by Monday’s class, including at least one outside-of-class meeting and at least one new 3D print of some kind. Be ready to report on Monday to show off your 3D print, and to brag about what your progress since the end of Wednesday’s class.

Second Blog Post – Due Wednesday 2/7

Write a blog post describing the progress you have made since your previous post. Your post should include a Featured Image, a four-line Excerpt, various full-size photos and screenshots, and be divided into sections as appropriate. See the Formatting Requirements. Remember that blog posts are the main form of ongoing documentation in this class and will be worth at least 25% of your grade, so be sure to take the time to create quality posts. Each person in the group is expected to contribute to the blog posts over the course of the semester.

In addition, go back to your first blog post and make sure that it satisfies all formatting requirements and is at an appropriate level of quality. Does it have a Featured Image? A four-line Excerpt? Photos and/or screenshots within the post? Is it a minimum-effort paragraph or two, or have you made a significant effort to outline your project seriously, clearly, and completely? You have a chance to fix things now, as I have not graded this blog post yet.

Significant Progress – Due Monday 2/5

Make significant progress on your project by Monday’s class, including at least one outside-of-class meeting with your group and at least one consultation with an outside source. Record this progress in your Google Doc and be ready to give a status update on Monday that shows off each group members’ progress.Your verbal status report on Monday should show that your group did significant work over the five days between classes. Don’t worry about a blog post yet, you can do that next week. Good luck and do great things!

(Also please make sure your first blog post satisfies the Formatting Requirements, if you haven’t already.)

First Blog Post and Progress – Due Wednesday 1/31

Create a first blog post on the class website for your group project. This blog post should include things like the general idea of your project, why it is relevant, what other people have already done in your project area, what might be difficult, what resources you will consult, how you intend to proceed, and your ultimate goals for the project. Find a way to make it organized and engaging, with links and pictures, a Featured Image, and sections with titles. At the same time, at least one group member should work on making some progress on the project itself, perhaps by consulting resources or working on first steps that they can report on during class on Wednesday.

First Group Reports – Due Monday 1/29

In your group’s shared Google Doc, create a first draft of your project pitch. Include the same types of information as your preliminary project pitches. Here are some tips for the assignment and for working together in a shared document:

  • Work together in the document; everyone in the group should contribute.
  • Be sure to communicate with each other; use the comment or editing functionality in Google Docs as needed, text or email each other, or even meet in person if you need to.
  • Respect everyone’s ideas. Try not to erase other people’s work without permission, or at least not without making a copy or old version of the work at the bottom of the document as needed.
  • If you have conflicting ideas, include them both. Consider your work a live draft; the details can be worked out later.
  • You have five days to work on this, so make sure that your pitch document is fleshed out and has a lot of thought behind it before Monday’s class. In class you will present your pitch as a group, and go into some of the finer details beyond the initial idea.

Images and Imports in Tinkercad – Due Wednesday 1/24

Create a model in Tinkercad that remixes or incorporates either a 2D image or an imported 3D design.

Preliminary Project Pitch – Due Monday 1/22

Type a one-page project pitch for something you would be interested in pursuing in class over the course of the semester. Bullet points are good; don’t feel the need to write paragraphs or an essay. But *do* include images, links to websites, and so on, to help make your case. Things you should include:

  • Project Name
  • Brief description of 1-2 sentences
  • Goals of the project, relevance to the real world, use of 3D printing
  • Resources that you have found that would help with the project
  • Additional resources that you would need to pursue or acquire (including physical items, travel, people, or other departments on campus) if this project were to go forward

You may work on this pitch yourself or with one other classmate. If you work with another classmate then your project should be fleshed out slightly more than what is described above.

Notes from 3D visualization videos – Due Wednesday 1/15

Watch all the videos listed in the Wednesday 1/10 timeline post and take written or typed notes as described in that post. Bring your notes with you to class for points, and to give a starting point to our discussions.

Tinkercad warmup – Due Wednesday 1/15

Sign up for a free Tinkercad account and start creating things. Learn new techniques using the Lessons within Tinkercad, or find and watch some YouTube videos to learn more. Create at least 10 little things while experimenting, then choose one to work on a little bit extra with the goal of 3D printing it next week. Keep it simple; avoid designs that are fragile or have lots of overhangs.

 

// Cover image from Front2BackDev