Surviving "Open-ended Projects" in Project-Based Learning
Tina J. Ostrander, Ruby ElKharboutly, Karen H. Jin · 2017
Supervising students in project-based courses is challenging, particularly when the projects are "open-ended," such as real-world projects or projects whose ideas are generated by the students. These projects often have undefined scope and use technologies and tools where we lack expertise. In this session, we plan to discuss the challenges faced by teachers in supervising open-ended projects in project-based learning environments. Some of the questions we address in this session: How do we support students with a project in a domain we know nothing about? How do we help students find meaningful and relevant projects with appropriate scope? How do we assist students in selecting appropriate technologies and tools? How do we guide students in planning their iterations to deliver business value and core functionality? This BoF is for instructors who teach or are interested in teaching courses with open-ended projects.