Senior Project 120 Course Outline
Advisor: Mr. Derek Taggart
2014-2015
Background - What is the Senior Project?
The Senior Project is designed so that each student may research, explore, and complete an appropriate
project (substantial learning) of his or her choice. This course will allow seniors to merge their various
interests, passions, and curiosities with their academic lives at school. The project is a vehicle for
seniors to demonstrate autonomy, creativity and awareness. It is very important to note that this
course is a challenging, student-driven, teacher-guided program. It is not a bird course! If you
realize that you are in over your head, it is better to switch courses quickly because if you do not
pass you will lose two credits on your transcript. This course will differ greatly from the traditional
curriculum orientated, performance based course.
The Players: You and anyone who can help you learn more about your interest.
Where:
At school, home, and in the community.
What:
You should have a fairly defined idea of what you want to explore before the start
of the semester. This will allow the advisor to arrange some initial
contact with mentors in school and in the community. You will then write a
proposal, research, develop, and complete your Senior Project.
How:
Advisory discussions, mentors, community resources, library research,
Internet searches, etc…
Requirements: Students must have all of the following to qualify for the course: all 10 credits going
into first semester or all 15 credits going into second semester; excellent attendance; a
completed course application with the names of two teacher references; a completed
project proposal into me no later than Friday September 12th.
Course Requirements
This course will be evaluated and taught on the 4 P’s – paper(s), project, portfolio, and presentation.
Proposal Paper (10%)
The first requirement of this course will be to research and write a proposal paper. Your
course advisor will review the proposal writing process and help determine the guiding research
question(s) / project focus. This is due no later than Friday September 12th.
Portfolio / Log Binder (10%)
A collection of process pieces, articles, pictures, etc… will be collected in your course portfolio
binder. It will also include journal entries indicating the project status, problems
encountered, timelines, and a general summary of what was completed each week. Most
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (as indicated in the calendar) before leaving the
building you will be required to ‘log out’ so that I may account for your whereabouts (in case of
emergency, etc.). (Due on the last day of the course – Friday January 16th)
Midterm Presentation (30%)
A mid-semester exhibition of work to date will be presented to the advisor and peers. The
student must demonstrate that the project is taking shape, a substantial amount is completed, and
the final direction of the project is clear. Use of technology and/or visuals showing progress is
a must (think about what goes into a successful presentation). Notes of key points (an
information sheet) should be made available to viewers of the exhibition. Presentations should
be anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes in length.
**Mid–Semester Exhibitions will start October 28th and conclude October 31st.**
Final Project Presentation / Research / School Viewing and Display (50%)
The course project will be the ‘end product’ produced from the proposal / research paper.
It is expected that the product show a significant gain of knowledge in the chosen area. A final
paper and/or project will be submitted for evaluation. If you project is research based – a paper
will need to be submitted. If you project is product based – the final ‘product’ will need to be
shown with a short summary paper.
**Final presentations presenting the final product, findings, a summative paper and your
portfolio will start on January 9th and conclude on January 15th. This final presentation
will take the place of a final examination!**
A School viewing (i.e. exhibition / display) will be held during period 5 on Friday January 16th.
It is expected that each student will have a display set-up showcasing their final projects. The
use of a project display board, computers, pictures, etc. is strongly encouraged. Students,
teachers, District and Department of Education personnel, mentors and parents will be walking
about asking you questions. You will be marked on the quality of your display and on your
question responses.
Please note: Each of these areas will be greatly expanded upon in class and expectations for each
section of the project will be made clear.
Materials Needed
You will all need a separate binder which will serve as your portfolio / journal / log binder. All class
materials should be kept in this binder as well. It is highly recommended that you buy a flash drive or
USB key to transfer files that may be developed at the school for use at home and vice versa. The flash
drive will also be useful to store PowerPoint presentations, pictures, etc. for the mid-semester and final
exhibitions.
A laptop and the class Smartboard will be available for presentations. You will be responsible for all
other materials needed for your project and presentations. The school does have some resources;
please make me aware of any materials and/or machines that you need - the school may be able to
provide some of these.
**One Final Note – Please make sure you have transportation arranged for the Independent
Work days. If you are not able to leave the school on these days, you will be required to work in
my classroom during Period 5 and somewhere else in the building during Period 4. This course
requires a lot of trust between the students and the advisor – you should always be where you say
you will be. If it is discovered that you are not being accurate about your sign-out logs, you will be
removed from the course. This would result in the loss of two full credits on your transcript!**