Welcome to SUPAR

Sample SUPAR Project

Project-Based Learning

Our students work in a non-traditional manner to earn credit. They do not attend traditional classes or follow a bell schedule. The day looks more like a day in an office, with meetings being held when needed with advisors in each area of the curriculum. For the much of the day our students are working independently. They may attend some small workshops or seminars in order to work to master a particular area of the curriculum. Oftentimes, students will be off-site accessing resources at UWM or in the community. Students may also be out in the community observing people at work, attending public meetings or engaging in an internship or community service.

Students choose the topic of the project they work on based on their own interests and the areas of the curriculum where they need credit. First year students may participate in a few guided and group projects in order to become accustomed to the process itself.

All student work is evaluated based on specific standards of performance, called a rubric. Each rubric assigns scores (from 1-4 with 4 being the highest) to reflect the level of achievement that the student attains in relation to each learning goal for the project. The rubric will specify the amount of credit toward graduation requirements that satisfactory performance achieves.

How to Begin a Project
Blooms Taxonomy of a Project
How to Complete a Project
Project Topics
Sample Project Definitions

To Begin a Project

Select a topic: SUPAR students can find potential topics by browsing the SUPAR collectjon of projects related to community planning and design, looking through the newspaper, watching the news, or talking to people at home and in their community. If you are struck by a subject and wonder how or why something occurred, then that could be a great topic to pursue.
Discuss the topic idea with each advisor on the team. Determine which skills/competencies you will be working on and develop the rubric. Set up a schedule to meet with advisors and peers weekly during the quarter.
Set up the schedule for working on the projects. Be sure to work at least 5 hours a week on each of the main areas of the curriculum: reading, language arts, social studies, science and math.
Brainstorm a list of questions about your topic. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy (see below) as a guide so that the information you delve into will be considered higher level information.
Do the background research to answer your questions (you may add more questions as you discover new information).
Think about the various areas of the curriculum that can fit into your project. Try to include a variety of areas.
Keep in mind that you need to include primary and secondary resources in your bibliography. A project will not earn full credit if the information is all from internet sources. Also keep in mind that you will need to evaluate the validity of your sources when citing your research.

Blooms Taxonomy

We believe that it is critical for students to push their learning to higher levels. The goal is not to be able to memorize and repeat information, but rather to be able to evaluate, synthesize, and analyze information. Benjamin Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from simple recall through more abstract mental levels, such as evaluation.

Level 1: Knowledge: arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce, and state

Level 2: Understanding/Comprehension: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate

Level 3: Application: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write

Level 4: Analysis: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test

Level 5: Synthesis: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write

Level 6: Evaluation: appraise, argue, attach, assess, choose, compare, defend, estimate, judge, predict, rate, select, support, value, evaluate

Completing a Project

Be sure you have a thesis statement and a clearly worded conclusion.
Your final paper/project should include your outline, your rubric, your bibliography and the research you completed. It may also include other visuals you have created.
Meet with your team consistently to be sure that you have everything you need.
Present your research.
Write up your reflection about the project.
Turn in everything to your primary advisor (signed assessment sheets, rubrics, reflection, etc.).
Place graded work in your portfolio of completed projects.

Project topics from which students can choose:

Aging, Green homes, Transportation, American culture, Historic preservation, Urban design, Architectural styles, Housing, Urban development, Architecture, Human resources, Utopia, City block, Landscape architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, Civic pride, Learning environment, Community, Literature and design, Design history, New towns, Ecology, Population, Economy, Public participation, Employment, Recreational design, Energy, Sacred space, Environmental design, Scale, Erosion, Smart growth, Globalization, Suburbia, Government, Sustainability, Great cities, Technology

Samples of Project Definitions

CITY BLOCK
Project: Study a city block
Activities: Develop a preliminary survey, identify the properties, write a letter to the residents, and create a report of the survey.

MPS TARGETS
Art & Music: Digital photography to record all structures on the block
Health & Physical education: Walking survey of the block.
Language arts: Write a preliminary report of the structures on the block. Write a letter and record oral histories.
Social studies: Chart the history of the block on a timeline. Create bar graphs to show what land uses are in the block, the materials used in the structures, and the demographics of the residents.

ENERGY
Project: Alternative sources – wind turbines
Activities: Explore how turbines produce energy, what they cost to install and operate, legal restrictions on site selection,
public objections, and create a web site for communication.

MPS TARGETS
Heath & Physical education: Air quality, pollution control, and other health issues
Language arts: Use technology to research, write, and format a web site. Read fiction and non-fiction to develop personal view
Mathematics: Investigate linear and nonlinear equations on performance of turbines. Organize sets of data with two variables using scatterplots and linear regression models to summarize.
Science: Earth Science – fixed chemical elements that cycle. Physical Science – laws of motion, change, force, and gravity.
Social studies: Research the history of fuel consumpt ion in the US.

SUSTAINABILITY
Project: Green roof
Activities: Design, build, or promote a green roof as a science lab for the future

MPS TARGETS
Art & Music: Create a section drawing of the garden
Health & Physical education: Identify the impact on air and water quality. Analyze the implications of physical labor for construction
Language arts: Present and defend proposal. Interview Milwaukee Green team. Create a mock city hall meeting to approve zoning changes. Develop promotional material
Mathematics: Weight factors; financing, geometry of design, heat calculations and measuring
Science: Heat calculations and measuring devices. Selecting plants. Understanding of the implications of regional weather.
Social studies: Organize a community education seminar. Research precedents in other cities. Research tax credits.

AGING
Project: Post-retirement living in America
Activities: Research the current conditions of the elderly in American society by canvassing the elder community homes in the neighborhood.

MPS TARGETS
Art & Music: Age preference to music. Application of art therapy.
Foreign language: Abilities to talk to other populations.
Health & Physical education: Active in the community in post retirement phases. Physiology towards long-term health.
Language arts: Research independent living, assisted living, and memory care in current models and present results at neighborhood meetings.
Mathematics: Trends of elderly-related statistics.
Science: Climate and its relation to the elderly.
Social studies: Demographic profile of the aged in the block and compare to the city, state, and U S.

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