Assignment 14: Final Presentation
PDI-5 has its own distribution website to disseminate and showcase its products. Login at
http://pdi-studio5.wp.rpi.edu/wp-admin/ using your rcsid and password. The site is at http://pdistudio5.wp.rpi.edu/.
Your final presentation will use the website you create at http://pdi-studio5.wp.rpi.edu/ to show the
class your product; provide access to the public (if that is your dissemination plan); and provide a
rich background of research, evaluation, and context. Imagine a potential employer finds this site
and is looking for a design researcher who understands not just the prototyping process but also
how to look at evaluation, user context, dissemination strategies, etc. Imagine a teacher finds
your site and wants to know how this is related to theory of multiple intelligence, scaffolding,
curricular standards. In other words, your team can present lots of information other than just the
gadget.
So how do you pick out which parts to emphasize? Every project has its own benefits and
drawbacks. Some criteria we have discussed over the semester:

Use of technology (software or hardware magic)

Use of culture (ethnic heritage, sense of local community, etc.)

Use of aesthetics (OK I didn’t say much about that but some of you have awesome skills
there)

Use of data (don’t be afraid to talk about testing a design and getting negative feedback:
all data is valuable)

Relevance to curriculum (the teachers stress this a lot, and they are important “clients”,
although the kids are too)

Social justice (how does it encourage the kids to develop a sense of civil rights, a critique
of domination by race, gender or class; a vision for an egalitarian society; an
understanding of environment in relation to wealth inequality?)

Learning efficacy (is it actually successful in teaching its content? Does it use inquiry and
discovery, kinesthetic learning, or other innovative pedagogy?)

Collaborative or participatory approach (did you help teachers and students contribute
ideas and directions?)

Dissemination (can a broader public access this? Did you devise a way to develop it as
Open Source or entrepreneurship?)
I would not try to hit on all of these -- just figure out which aspects you want to emphasize for your
particular project. For example I know some of you made an extra trip back to the school to do
some follow-up – that’s an important part of your design process. Some of you were fearless
Popperians who dared to falsify your own hypothesis – that’s something to be proud of. Figure
out where you shine, and polish those highlights.