Lab 13: Final Group Project Meeting

Why are we here?

Today will be a structured group meeting with the goal of laying out a plan for completing the final project. This meeting is intended to take about an hour. The last 15 minutes of class will be for Q&A about the final project.

Lab Goals

The purpose of this lab is to provide time for your group to make a plan for completing the final phase of the project, and to provide guidance for making important decisions about your group’s final report.

After completing this lab, your group will have selected the data set you will report on in the final phase of the project, written a document explaining the rationale for your decision, and have written a plan for how to complete your final project.

You will know that you are done when you have:

  • Selected one data set that your group will report on
  • Submitted a plan to Moodle with your group’s selection paragraph and a list of assigned roles/tasks.

Lab instructions

To begin, each group member should take turns providing a quick re-cap of their data set, and sharing the recommendation they wrote for their data at the end of Phase 5. Once each group member has done so, discuss and answer the questions below:

Question

Now that you have each reviewed the recommendations, discuss the following questions as a group:

  • What similarities did you notice among the data, and the recommendations?
  • What differences did you notice, and the recommendations?
  • What ideas did you find the most compelling? What metrics are you using to determine which is the most “compelling”?
  • Do you agree about the place in the SDS 100 curriculum that you see these data sets fitting?
Question

As a group, choose one of the data sets to report on in your final project, and write a paragraph about why your group selected this data set. This could include drawing comparisons between the data you chose, and the data you didn’t choose.

Question

Now that your group has selected the one data set that you will use for the final project, it is time to craft a plan for how to finish the project.

Here are a series of recommendations (but not requirements) that you might consider while detailing a plan to complete the final project:

  • Identify roles for completing the project. Ones you might consider are: revising, restructuring, editing, formatting checks, grammar checks, consultation with Jacobson Center, final submitter
  • Identify a timeline and expectations. Be explicit! Who is doing what and by when?
  • Identify norms for the final work. Be explicit! Will you work like a relay (individually, but passing the document) or collectively (all meeting a few times together) or something else? How will you communicate with each other: phones, slack, texting, WeChat, etc?

Use the list above to create a plan for submitting your final project.

Question

Throughout this lab, you and your group have worked to build a plan for completing your final project. Before you leave for today, what questions would you like answered in order to feel that you can be successful with this project?

Next Steps

For this lab submission, you will be selecting your final project data set and making a plan for how to complete your project.

Step 1: Submit the group completion plan

Open the “Final project completion plan” assignment on Moodle and paste your paragraph explaining why your group selected the data set and a list of the roles and timeline for completing the project. This is a group submission, meaning that one person will submit for the whole group.

Important

Submit your group’s completion plan before you leave!

Step 2: Final Project Phase 6

During this week, your groups will collaboratively complete the final phase of the project, Phase 6! See the project page for details about what is expected during this phase of the project.

Step 3: Complete the Peer and Self Reflection

Once your group has turned in their final submission, each member should individually complete the Reflection assignment under Lab 13 on Moodle.