PROJECT DESCRIPTION
INSTRUCTORS
SCHOOL SITE
LEVEL
SUBJECTS
In this project, which was collaboratively designed by both students and teachers, students learned about current trends in education and created their dream universities of the future. The products we created for this project were a website, brochure, shield and model of our university. Students used various web hosts to design their websites, the brochures were designed in Photoshop and the shields and models were created using a laser cutter.
At the start of the project, we visited several college campuses, learned about college requirements, met with and interviewed both college students and professors and learned about different schools across the U.S. Students then worked in groups of four to design their own dream university of the future. The groups determined what type of university it would be, what majors would be offered, the cost of tuition, and where it would be located. They used their knowledge of scaling and ratios to create a map of their school’s campus, wrote mission statements and design principles, and designed logos and websites. At our exhibition, we held a college fair where guests learned about each of the different schools that were created and determined which they would be most interested in applying to.
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Internet access, Laser Cutter, Wood
The whole project was completed in three months, with about an hour and a half each day dedicated to project work time.
Weeks 1 & 2 | ● Students complete College 101 Webquest
● Visit local universities and interview students and professors ● Complete 1st draft of personal statements |
Weeks 3 & 4 | ● Complete 2nd and 3rd drafts of personal statements
● Form groups and begin designing structure of schools ● Design logo for school ● Write mission statements |
Weeks 5 & 6 | ● Create campus maps that are to scale
● Begin designing website |
Weeks 7 & 8 | ● Complete website
● Begin building model of campus |
Weeks 9 & 10 | ● Design brochures
● Complete campus model |
Weeks 11 & 12 | ● Design shields
● Prepare for exhibition |
“Throughout the project I have learned many things, including how to use Weebly as an asset and learning to participate in consensus discussions. The fact that the universities of the future don’t have huge libraries filled to the brim with books, will probably have classes online, and that universities of the future will be far more diverse in student population. While preparing to go in deeper, we made our own personal statements– teaching us all about how students have to go about applying to college.” – Kyna Airriess (2014)
“I learned a lot about college campuses and how everything is placed. I also learned a lot about architecture, site plans, and blueprints. I learned more about working in a group and how to collaborate and communicate better. Working in groups also taught me how to split work more evenly among everybody. The last thing it taught me is that anybody can make their own project, they just need to be a hard worker and have a desire to learn.” – Nadia Gloag (2014)