Final Project

Solutions Project Revised

Based on a class consensus the decision was made to collaborate as a single group and revise the original Solutions Project (see below) to focus on water purification in Africa.

Students have divided into teams to support this project and undertaken a remarkable variety of projects from development of a website, to designing and printing fliers, creating tee shirts, sponsoring bake sales, a concert and an open mike event, speaking on television, and many others, see Western 4 Water project.

The revised final project:

1. Carry out all plans for fund raising activities to support the purchase and delivery of water purification systems. (All class members participate.)

2. Develop the website Western4Water to include not only upcoming events, but also information, narrative and images from our class project, pictures, video, creating a public record / archive of what this class has accomplished. (Though coordinated by the website group this will require support of all class members, writing short sections and comments, taking pictures, developing I-movie, etc.)

3. Each class member writes a two-page summary analysis of their individual work, what they learned, and proposes a final grade for the project (subject to professor approval).

4. Each student develops a short (5-minute) Prezi, Glogster, or Powerpoint presentation to be made at the time of our final exam that addresses the question: What next? Students can choose one of the following types of presentations:

A realistic plan to visit or work in Africa.
A set of ideas and plan to teach African literature in a secondary school.
Solid information about a non-governmental organization doing good work in Africa that we should all know about.
An intriguing report on a book of African literature, or about Africa, that you have read, started reading, or want to read, and why it might interest other class members.
Propose a topic or issue of your choosing related to Africa about which you would like to learn more, and steps and ideas you could take to do so.

Solutions Project Original

The Solutions Project can be undertaken in groups of three to six students. Students will select their own project related to a topic addressed in course reading. Projects will be developed / reported / published on via a public wiki, created at Wikispaces.

At the time of the meeting for the final exam for this course students will present their project to the rest of the class. The written part of the project should be at minimum the rough equivalent of ten pages per participant. Your wiki should be richly informative, deeply connected to relevant resources, demonstrate collaboration and meaningful action.

The solutions projects should have the following features:

Research that richly and carefully analyzes the problem addressed. (20 pts)
Collaboration with organizations, experts, and Africans. (30 pts)
Plan or program of action for your participation in a "solution." (10 pts)
Report on steps undertaken. This report can take many forms including journals, observations, documents, photos, film, interviews, etc. (40 pts)

All students are expected to demonstrate the finest skills of collaboration and team work. Each student will submit a two-page analysis of their work and propose a final grade for the project, subject to professor modification.