Project Parameters

As I explained in my post about project-based learning, it's vital to keep the end in view for a project, especially the "end" in terms of the project's goals. And even though I stressed the need for flexibility and students taking initiative, I also know my students will thrive most on a project if it is not open-ended, if it has clear parameters. This document is to serve that purpose.

General Parameters for Success

• Our ebook is published on LeanPub.com that meets editorial quality standards (see parameters for writing, below) and in enough time before the semester's end to accommodate marketing and distribution 
• The ebook reaches stakeholder audiences (it is targeted/marketed to authentic audiences whom it could benefit)
• Students can articulate the benefit of the project in terms of its ideas, prospective influence, and significance as a process in building their knowledge and their skill set.

Parameters for Writing

Content:

• students accurately represent Renaissance themes by drawing upon appropriate primary and secondary texts
• students make viable, engaging claims and arguments about contemporary digital topics by applying Renaissance literature
• as a group, students represent and bring to bear the six course themes upon a viable set of important digital-age issues (creating a coherent overall book)
• the students use a rhetorical approach appropriate to the format and audience(s)

Format:

• the students follow the ebook's editorial and design style, including required elements in each chapter, as outlined previously 
• each chapter is copyedited for surface errors, source documentation, and appropriate acknowledgment of images used