English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

Design Process:
Problem Identification
Conceptualization
Refinement of preliminary ideas
Design analysis
Development and implementation
Optimization
Presentation

As a technology teacher or a teacher in general it is important to have structure for students to follow in their learning process. Many times information is given to the students and they are expected to retain that information; however, without proper guidance and organization much of that information goes to waste. One way to look at structure in the classroom as a teacher is you are basically teaching students how to learn. The process I will cover for Instructions Project is the Design Process developed by Project Lead the Way (PLTW).

The design process is a structure for the students to follow when constructing products or generating ideas. The process can be as simple or advanced as you want based upon projected audience. I am qualified to write about this Topic because I am certified to teach PLTW courses up to an advanced level. I have taking PLTW courses in high school and became certified my freshman year at Purdue, when I was taught how to teach PLTW classes. The design process is a huge section on the construction side of PTLW courses.

As a teacher there is the possibility for multiple audiences. I could choose lower level students as one audience, and higher more advanced students as another. However I am going to group the students together as one audience and have peer teachers as my other audience. With students I have to instruct them on how and when to use this process and the basic principles that go with each step. Students will take longer to understand the process and require much repetition unlike my teacher audience. With my peers I will have to justify this process and give references to how this process implements a learning environment. Also I could go more in depth with each step and give my expectations of what the students should be retaining from each step.

Something I plan on doing in this project is giving an example of a students work when going through the design process. In doing this I provide graphics, matrix, and tables that show the aspects of each step. Providing explanations for each document will help both audiences in understanding the process and will be beneficial.

Evan White