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End-of-term Team
Assignment
Overview
This is the end-of-term assignment for
students working on team projects for three credits.
For your end-of-term assignment your team is
asked to choose a specific design concept and fabricate/test a functional
prototype. The embodiment of your chosen design should be in the form of
detailed sketches, drawings, and a functional prototype. Your team will present
this design in class and submit a final comprehensive final project report that
encompasses your work for the entire quarter.
Contents
- Tasks
- End-of-term Team
Project Presentation
- End-of-term Team Project
Report
- End-of-term
Individual Reflection
- Grading
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Tasks
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Continue to meet as a team with course
instructor, the person who suggested the project, an individual with a
disability or senior who would benefit from the project, and course resource
people.
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Participate fully in the class including
attending lectures as required, listening actively, posing questions to the
guest speakers and the course instructor, engaging in class discussions,
verbalizing thoughts and analyses, reading and responding to emails from the
course instructor, and communicating team project progress.
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Choose a specific design concept from the
ones your team has brainstormed and evaluated.
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Fabricate a series of increasingly
functional prototypes, testing them with an individual with a disability or
senior. Iterate the fabrication / testing cycle as necessary.
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Present your team's design in class
including prototype demonstration, PowerPoint slides, and short videos as
described below.
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Submit a final comprehensive team final
project report that encompasses your team's work for the entire quarter as
described below.
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Submit an Individual Reflection as
described below.
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Team Project
Presentations
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Your team will describe your project work in
a 15-minute "podium-style" presentation using Powerpoint slides in the
classroom. Your presentation should include the following elements:
- Introduction of team members
- One sentence project
description
- Statement of problem and user population
affected
- Discussion of interviews with project
suggestors and users
- Statement of need
- Identification and limitations of existing
solutions
- Magnitude of problem addressed by this
project
- Description and analysis of all design
concepts considered
- Description of and rationale for selected
design including its key benefits, comparative advantages over existing
solutions, performance, user testing and acceptance, safety considerations,
etc
- Project visualizations: photographs,
videos, sketches, drawings, models, prototypes
- Device demonstration
- Future work and challenges for continuing
the project, including technical feasibility, engineering difficulty, and
estimated cost of a commercial product
Course staff, your classmates, and others in
attendance will judge your project on its overall design solution and your
presentation on its overall quality and the following metrics:
- Content - what was overall quality
of the information you presented?
- Clarity - did the audience
understand your presentation's content?
- Conciseness - was your presentation
short and to the point?
- Completeness - did you include all
major elements?
- Convincing - did you provide a good
reason for your decisions?
- Creativity - how inventive /
innovative was your design?
Final Project
Presentation Logistics and Suggestions
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Team Project
Report
Due Monday - March 19, 2012 at 5pm
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Your report should include all your
team's efforts for the quarter including background research, user interaction,
evolution of ideas, etc. Your team's report should be at least 10 pages in
length. (The course instructor can print your final version on a high quality
color laser printer.)
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Provide a concise and accurate overview
of preliminary design concepts (at least 3) your team considered to address the
identified problem. Describe the general design objectives, the rationale for
the design concepts selected, how these concepts address a specific project
problem, and features / potential benefits of each of the specific design
concepts. Include a description of the prototypes you fabricated, mechanical
engineering analyses, calculations, drawings, and sketches you have developed
as well as any feedback from potential users and coaches.
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Describe the project responsibilities and
how they were divided among team members.
- Suggested format for your team's Final
Project Report:
- Report cover - use the supplied
translucent report cover, do not staple pages
- Cover page - include course
name & year, project title, team name, team member's names, and team
member's photos
- Abstract - one paragraph
summary of objectives, approach taken, and results of the project
- Introduction - problem to be
addressed, problem background
- Objectives - project goals and
rationale
- Design criteria - project
background research, interviews with project suggestors and potential users,
project specifications
- Methods - what did your team do
and why - include prototyping, model building, preliminary testing,
analyses
- Results - discuss specifics of
your design solution such as features, benefits, aesthetics, cost, safety,
reliability, usability, test results, feedback from users, etc.
- Discussion - include challenges
and suggestions to further develop and refine the project
- Next steps - assuming this
project will be pursued in ME113 or as directed study, identify future
challenges and include a timetable of major tasks to produce and test a
functional prototype
- Additional - optionally address
issues relating to commercial product product including technical feasibility,
engineering difficulties, safety considerations, potential manufacturing, cost
of materials, mass production, marketing, advertising, distribution, sales,
licensing, etc
- Images - add photographs,
drawings, and sketches documenting your design process and activities
throughout the document
- References - bibliographic and
web citations
- Acknowledgements - mention
individuals and facilities who helped you
- Appendices - detailed
calculations, testing notes, relevant vendor information, etc. that are
referenced in the main body of the report
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In addition to a printed final report,
please submit an electronic copy.
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Individual
Reflection
Due Monday - March 19, 2012 at 5pm
Reflect on your class and team experiences.
Each project team member will provide a discussion (two pages minimum) of the
design process, what you learned, and what was most valuable to you
individually. Here are some items to consider and address:
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Review Learning
through Structured Reflection article
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You have spent the past quarter hearing
from different professionals and users, interviewing community members,
brainstorming with your team, doing background research, looking at prior art,
fabricating and testing a prototype device, etc. Please comment on the relative
value of the different parts of this process toward your design.
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How did the different interactions in the
class (with users, community members, speakers, professionals, etc.) contribute
to the results of your design? Was any particular interaction especially
rewarding or helpful? Why?
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If you were to go through this process
again, what would you do differently? Was there support from the teaching staff
or course content that was helpful or that you felt was missing? What advice
would you give to future students?
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Additional questions to be considered for
your reflection can be found here.
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Grading
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Mid-term Report
and Presentation
Final Report
Final
Presentation
Individual Reflection
Participation * |
30%
30%
30%
10%
10% |
- * Participation includes meeting with
instructor, actively listening, posing questions to the guest speakers and the
course instructor, engaging in class discussions, verbalizing thoughts and
analyses, and communicating project progress.
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