During the Service Learning Project, groups will interact with clients in real world writing environments to gain firsthand experience in professional writing. By developing a writing project with a local organization, students will learn negotiation and collaboration skills necessary to produce a final draft that is satisfying to all parties.
Project summary
For this project, groups of 2-4 members will be asked to locate a real world client and negotiate a reasonable and mutually beneficial writing project which will be completed by the end of the semester. In working with community members, students will operate in a real world writing environment that requires collaboration with their group, their organization, and their instructor to complete the project by semester's end. It is each group's responsibility to establish their own client and project, though all clients and projects are subject to instructor approval. The instructor will veto any project for an organization which has individuals from the group as members, as well as organizations which have formal marketing departments. Students are encouraged to work with non-profit organizations, student organizations, academic departments, and small businesses. Potential projects include the following:
* A brochure for an after school program
* A policy manual for Habitat for Humanity
* A press release for a charity event
* A marketing campaign for a coffeeshop live music series
* A market analysis and series of flyers for a campus club membership drive
* A promotion for an academic department guest speaker
* Internal policy documents for a departmental office
It is crucial that projects are appropriate in length and content. The project needs to take roughly six weeks to produce, so project options too small or ambitious may need some revision. It is also crucial that the project is mutually beneficial; the work needs to be of importance to the organization and educational for the students. For potential organizations, check out the United Way, the Journal and Courier List of Lafayette Organizations or the student organizations at SSINFO.
Project Goals
This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing at Purdue. The Service Learning Project emphasizes the collaborative writing process in context. It will include research specific to the organization and will require appropriate technology in producing a document designed to meet the organization's specific needs.
DELIVERABLES:
Group:
Group Deliverable 1:
Short Memo: This 100 word memo should inform the instructor of your group members, and suggest the kinds of organizations the group will contact and the kinds of projects that the group is interested in undertaking. This will be composed before meeting with potential clients, but should include a short list of organizations you are considering.
Due Date: End of class Friday March 22.
Group Deliverable 2:
Formal Proposal: In this detailed 4 page project proposal, groups will propose and plan out the scope and specifics of their project. The proposal will be graded by me, but a copy will be sent to the client as part of the negotiation process. This proposal must include the following elements:
* Name of organization.
* Contact information of the organization.
* Goals/Mission Statement of the organization.
The proposal should also address project goals and deliverables:
* The deliverables determined by group and client.
* The intended audience for the deliverables.
* The intended process to complete these goals.
* Detailed timetable for completing this process.
* The group division of labor, including tasks and rationale.
* Research completed so far towards the project.
* Research still necessary to complete the project.
* Resources needed to complete the project (technological, research, etc).
Due Date: Wednesday March 26
Group Deliverable 3:
Memorandum of Agreement: In the third step of this project, you will create a memo that you send to your client that confirms their participation and delineates the specific goals, timeline, and documents that you will create. In other words, the memo should make clear to all parties (me, the organization, and your group) the exact expected outcome of the project and when that outcome will be completed. You must deliver a copy of the memo to me before forwarding it on to your client.
Due Date: Wednesday April 2.
Group Deliverable 4:
Weekly Progress Memos: Every week, each group will send 100 word e-mails informing the instructor of their progress on the project. Memos will include tasks completed, meetings conducted with group and client (if necessary), any problems encountered, and goals for the following week. Memos should also evaluate group progress in regards to the timetable established in the proposal.
Due Date: Friday by 5 pm each week
Group Deliverable 5:
Rough Draft: Each group will meet with me individually for half an hour during the week of November 13-17. Prior to this conference, you must email me a rough draft of the project and your weekly progress memo, which will assess, in addition to the regular weekly report, your overall progress up to this point. Drafts and progress reports are due at 12 noon the day before your conference. You will be assessed as a group for the written materials and individually for your participation in the conference.
Due Date:April 7-11.
Group Deliverable 6:
Oral presentations: Each group will give a brief oral presentation to the class AND to their client, who must be present in class during the presentation, discussing the needs of the client and how you created documents to address these needs.
Due Date: April 18-23.
Group Deliverable 7:
Final deliverables: In addition to submitting to me the documents you present to the client, you need to accompany these documents with a three page report assessing and addressing the work you did for the client. The report should delineate the problem you approached, the research you completed, and the deliverables you developed. You should specifically address how the deliverables you created met the client’s needs. This report is also the appropriate place to inform me of any problems that arose in the process, whether with research or with the client. Keep in mind that this document is a formal report and evaluation of your process and overall success.
You will submit the final deliverables (project and report) to me before giving them to the client.
Due Date: Friday April 25
Individual:
Individual Deliverable 1:
Discussion Board Proposal: Each student will submit a discussion board proposal of roughly 250 words advocating for a potential project and client. Students are welcome to do research and initial contact, but should not promise anything to an organization at this phase. Students will read submitted proposals and use the Drupal forums to select and organize groups, which should be selected by classtime on Friday March 22.
Due Date: Wednesday March 20 by 5 pm.
Individual Deliverable 2:
Work Blogs: Each individual will be required to keep a weekly blog which details their contributions to the project. In the final project assessment, every group member will approve every blog. Worklogs will be updated weekly beginning the week of March 17 and will continue until the project concludes April 25. Worklogs must be updated by 5 pm on Fridays. Submissions must be at least 100 words.
Individual Deliverable 3:
Conferences: Each group will meet with the instructor for at least one half hour conference to update on the progress of the project, address any complications, and negotiate standards for grading. While this is a group deliverable, each member will be graded individually on attendance and participation.
Due Date: Week of April 7-11.
Individual Deliverable 4:
Project Assessment: An important component of your project is successful collaboration. Each member will reflect on their participation in the project and on the experience of working in a group. In 1-2 pages, reflect on the following: Your work and participation in the group, the group participation and effort (be sure to approve or contest every members' workblogs), the experience of working with a client, what you have learned from the project, and what you would change if given the chance to do it again.
Due Date: Saturday April 26.
Grading:
There will be two grades awarded for this project: a group grade and an individual grade. The group grade will receive 2/3 of the overall grade and the individual will receive 1/3. The Service Learning Project group grade breaks down as follows:
* Group Deliverable 1: 5%
* Group Deliverable 2: 20%
* Group Deliverable 3: 10%
* Group Deliverable 4: 10%
* Group Deliverable 5: Pass/Fail
* Group Deliverable 6: 15%
* Group Deliverable 7: 40%
The Service Learning Project individual grade breaks down as follows:
* Individual Deliverable 1: 25%
* Individual Deliverable 2: 45%
* Individual Deliverable 3: 10%
* Individual Deliverable 4: 20%
Grading Criteria
The final documents will be graded on how well they meet client needs and professional writing standards. Because of the unique nature of the project, groups will be graded based on a specific set of standards created for their project. These standards will vary greatly between projects, and are partly the result of negotiations between client, groups, and instructor. Projects cannot be revised after final evaluation.