Assessment
One of the keys to executing this project is ongoing or formative assessment. Student success depends on close monitoring of progress from the teachers, so it helps to include this as part of the assessment plan! Rubrics are used for each major deliverable. These are distributed very early in the project so students can use them to guide their work. The first rubric the students receive is the "Architecture Design Rubric" (Appendix I.2.1). The students use this as they put their first design ideas on paper. Rubrics for Area Calculations of Lot, House, and Interior (Appendix I.2.2), Blueprint (Appendix I.2.3), and Pamphlet (Appendix I.2.4), are given as the assignment is introduced so that students can follow it as they work. Each of these rubrics is used for scoring the product when it is submitted.
In this project there are many steps to keep track of. From the beginning, a chart on the wall lists each team in the left column and each step of the project across the top. When teams finish a certain part, they stamp the chart. At any time, students can see where they are, what they need to complete next, and how their progress compares to that of other teams. At every team meeting, the first talking point is, "Is the team on target to finish on time? If not, what must be done to get back on track?"
The teacher keeps another chart tracking all project components, similar to the stamp chart described above. As teams complete components, they explain who completed each part. This chart helps track how well teams are sharing the workload and makes it easy to document imbalances in work distribution.
Team meetings or "check-ins" are held almost daily during project work. While students are working away, teams are called individually to check in with the teacher. During these meetings, all of the following should be reviewed: progress towards meeting deadlines, rough drafts of work, quality of work, meeting rubric requirements, balance of group work, communication between teammates, etc. These meetings keep everyone on track, identify problems before they become large, and uncover great examples of work that teams can learn from.
Finally, critique sessions offer an extremely helpful assessment tool to help students perform to their highest level. We use many types of critique in this project, including peer-to-peer critiques, gallery critiques, and feature critiques. For each of these, the rubrics are used as a starting point. Whatever the format, the guidelines for students are that feedback must be kind, specific, and helpful. Peer-to-peer critiques are set up so that the teams are paired, reviewing one piece of work from each other's team. During gallery critiques, each team posts a piece of the work in the room and the class spends 15-20 minutes walking around the "gallery" writing feedback on sticky-notes and posting it with the work. Students are asked to focus their feedback on various parts of the rubric. Finally, feature critiques are used to highlight one particular piece of work a team has created. The piece of work selected is never "perfect" but should serve as a good example for others to learn from.
The bottom line is that assessment is ongoing, so that when the rubrics are submitted with the final product, students are practically able to grade their own work. This summative assessment becomes merely a final piece to complete the cycle of formative assessments.