Module 4 Checkpoint Instructions

This module checkpoint requires you to share your final project with others so that you can
collect valuable feedback that will inform the completion your final project.

Step 1: Community Space

Share the artifacts you constructed in the first two Checkpoint assignments on the
Advancement Courses Community Space. Before sharing these artifacts, you should make
revisions according to the facilitator feedback you have already received. In addition, consider
presenting your artifacts with the information below so that the community space members can
understand the professional setting and target audience your project is intended for. By
providing a complete picture of the environmental setting of your project, the community
facilitators and your peers can provide meaningful and effective feedback on your project:

• A summary of the artifacts you are presenting and the environmental setting. Include the
following:
o The target audience to whom you will present your final project (e.g., students,
parents, colleagues, administrators).
▪ What do audience members know about this topic? Do they have a
special need for the information your topic presents?
o Identify the resources you will use to implement these artifacts. Consider
location, time, technology, materials, and so on.
o The goal of your artifact(s) when implemented in a professional setting (e.g.,
intended audience will share this information with others, modify their behavior,
or result in broader changes to curriculum development, school policy).
• A brief rationale (300 to 500 words) that explains the content and sequence of the
artifact(s).
o Explain why the type of activity or resource you created is appropriate for the
target audience (e.g., bell-ringer activity, video, pamphlet).
o Explain how these artifacts will help you meet your goals for effecting change in
your professional environment.

Finally, demonstrate professional collaboration by commenting on at least two of your peers’

final projects. In Module 5, you will be asked to summarize the feedback you received in the
community space and reflect on the changes you will make (or already made) to your final
project. This reflection is a lengthier submission because you will also share your trial run
experience in the discussion forum also (see below for details).

Step 2: Conduct a Trial Run

In addition to sharing your work on the community space, you will conduct a trial run of your final
project to observe the factors that support your project and those that you will modify before
actual implementation of the artifact in your professional setting.

• Audience:

Page 1 of 2
 The audience for the trial run is for you to select. However, you are strongly encouraged
to conduct a trial run with an audience that is similar to the persons you will present your
final project to in your professional setting. For example, if you plan to carry out your final
project in the classroom in the upcoming semester, use a different set of students who
are similar to those you routinely work with. This could mean working with students
attending summer school, volunteering at a community center that offers educational
programs, or school-aged students in your personal life (e.g., kids, neighbors). It is
preferable that you conduct the trial run with a “live” audience; however, if this option is
not available to you, you should imagine a past group of learners and how the
presentation of this artifact could be implemented. For instance, how do you think these
learners would react to your artifacts? What obstacles or challenges can you predict may
arise? What facets of the artifact do you believe your audience would respond positively
to?

• Implementation:

Administer the artifacts that you have built for course checkpoints and any other relevant
materials that you created toward the final project or may have created prior to
enrollment in this course with your mock audience. The implementation stage of this
checkpoint will vary for each learner depending on the type of artifact he or she has
created. Thus, it may require one lengthy meeting with your mock audience to
implement your artifacts, or it may entail several short meetings or class periods.

• Analysis:

Compose a one- to two-page analysis of the artifact implementation (to submit in Module
5 reflection discussion forum). Consider the following items in your analysis:

o Summary of the feedback you received in the community space and a reflection
on the changes you will make (or already made) to your artifact(s)
o The specific challenges that arose (or you anticipate will arise) when you
implemented your artifact
o The strategies that you will use to overcome any anticipated or genuine
challenges to ensure adequate implementation of your artifact
o The facets of your artifact which were positively received in the trial run. Is there
a specific element(s) that engaged learners most?
o The collected data and what it reveals about learners’ understanding of the
course topic and the effectiveness of your artifact
o Any additional lessons learned from the trial run

Page 2 of 2