One of the two major projects is the web design project. Students form groups and choose a topic of interest. I divided the students up based on different areas of expertise. I decided to assign groups, rather than let students self-select, because of my diverse student population. There were a range of majors and levels of experience with various technologies. In another situation, I may have allowed students to organize through areas of common interest. Either method will work for this assignment.
Because this was my first time teaching these projects, I was concerned with time management and to ensure that students had enough time to complete the assignments, I decided to have them select a website topic that they would then develop into their documentary film. My original plan was to have students locate a client for the web design project, design the site, and then form a new group to create their documentary film. My concern for time led me to alter that plan and given the success of the projects, I will be using the altered assignment plan in future courses. I have included both approaches in the assignment page that follows.
