Define a module project

[SallyMcGrath]

What is the hypothesis?
Hypothesis is: As part of reducing the marking burden and getting more structured information about where trainees are at in their learning, progress in a module should be tracked using a module project. A description follows:

1. The project is the length of the module (usually 3 weeks).
2. The project tests the learning objectives of the module.
3. The project defines the learning objectives as testable criteria.
4. Level 1 - 3 covers W1 learning objectives
5. Level 3 - 6 covers W2
6. Level 6 -9 covers W3
7. Level 10 exceeds expectations
8. Project progress will indicate trainee progress

Why is this important?

Several reasons:

Project based work is popular with trainees and they have asked for more of it.

Marking coursework should be principally to find out what support trainees need in their learning journey so we can target our resources effectively. This could mean identifying and catching up people who are currently behind the cohort; it could also mean identifying and stretching people who are racing ahead. We need to free up as much time as possible for our Buddies to do this important educational support.

As part of the TDD adoption, a lot of marking will be automated, but this automation may obscure individual trainee progress from the Buddy, An 'at a glance' check in with defined levels can reveal this progress.

Teachers may and do change content and weekly homework radically in class, in response to their particular cohort of trainees and volunteers. We can support this flexibility by clearly outlining the learning objectives and evaluating them in a single project, so other coursework can be set or adapted in direct response to the cohort's needs and skills.

Supporting Resources

Some modules already have projects, and these should probably form the base template.

@ChrisOwen101

[40thieves]

Perhaps a good test case for the definition is the "main" React coursework: https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/cyf-hotel-react? I think it does match your description. However I would say that the step-by-step instructions are too detailed for me to consider it a "project".

[SallyMcGrath]

That's a good note - we need to think some more about the tension between testable criteria and giving room for exploration

[ChrisOwen101]

Existing examples of this:
https://syllabus.codeyourfuture.io/js-core-3/tv-show-dom-project/readme
https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/Full-Stack-Project-Assessment