Schema Representation Guidelines

This project is intended to give you the opportunity to visually express what factors related to educational psychology are critical for success in your intended future profession.  So, what factors will make you a successful _________ (mechanical engineer, counselor, school psychologist, middle grades math teacher, etc.).  What you include in your project or what your representation looks like is largely up to you.  The goal of the project is for you to reflect on what you have learned in this class (and other similar classes) and produce a representation of an organized "mental model" of variables related to success in your future work.

The project is specifically designed to be creative, ill-defined, and personal.  It is creative in that the format and layout of the project is your decision.  No two schemas should look the same.  It is ill-defined in that I will not tell you what has to be included in your project.  That is for you to figure out.  There is not "one right answer" to this project nor is there a single "Perfect Schema Representation" that I pull out of the closet to grade you by.  It is personal in that this project should represent your schema for effective job performance.  I want this to be a project that will benefit your future because you have had to stop, reflect, evaluate, and synthesize the most important facets of this course and how they will impact your future work.

Some things to consider:

  • Imagine that you are given the following question in an interview, "How do I know that you will be a good _________ (insert job here)?"  You should be able to hand your interviewer your project and it should be apparent to them after examining it for a few minutes that you have a sophisticated and strategic plan for effective performance, particularly from the perspective of learning and motivation.
  • Include specific examples of how you would use or apply certain theories or techniques in your profession.  You can also include personal comments.
  • The hardest part of this project is getting started!  That's ok.  Representing the problem is always (or should be) the slowest step.  Think about possible analogies, pictures, or metaphors yours could include.
  • Anyone looking at your project should be able to determine your professional or specialty by your examples.  For teachers this means you can identify grade level and/or content area.
  • Your project should be completed on a standard-sized poster board.