Final Project: The Big Interview

[WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4]

The Final Project requires you to integrate the work you undertook throughout the course into a video presentation. Using any video presentation tool (e.g.,

Screencast-O-Matic (Links to an external site.)

, or

VoiceThread (Links to an external site.)

), you will capture your voice and a slide presentation on video.

Be sure to submit your Final Project by Day 7 of this week as that is the last day of this course.

Prepare 

From the three scenarios listed below, choose the one that most interests you:

• Corporate Trainer: No Excuses University is looking for someone to handle the day-to-day human resources training and onboarding training requirements for its Dallas office. They need someone with a background in education and master’s degree in education. Along with foundational knowledge of education, they are seeking competence and confidence in front of the camera to support virtual and face-to-face corporate training. You have been asked to submit the initial introduction of your skills and abilities through a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person.
• Military Training Officer: The military training command is expanding and adding a new training billet to the European Sector, based in Kaiserslautern, Germany. This new training officer position will instruct troops from all five branches as they arrive in the country. The Atlantic area commander has heard you are completing a master’s degree in education and has asked that you apply. Your application will be presented to admirals and generals from each branch. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing multiple times in person. This position comes with a field promotion to the next grade/level and is a highly-coveted position for a career military officer.
• K-12 Teacher: A school has been taken over by the state for poor performance. Based on the topics covered and the assignments you completed in this course, the new principal has asked you to interview for the lead teacher position. This position would make you a part of the leadership team representing your grade level and give you greater ability to enact significant changes across the school. You are one of only 20 candidates asked to apply for this prestigious position. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person.

Reflect

Consider how you will land the job by reflecting on your strengths and the reasons why you would be a good candidate for the scenario you chose. Reflect on the topics you have covered during this course and how you can weave these important concepts, strategies, and ideas into the interview:

• Culture of universal achievement
• 21st-century teaching skills
• Instructional management planning
• Collaboration
• Standards alignment
• Multiple intelligences
• Lesson planning
• Assessment for learning
• Data management

Content Instructions: Slide Presentation

With a total of 12 slides, create a slide presentation that you will present in an 8- to 10-minute video interview to your potential employer. In your video slide presentation,

• Introduce yourself and the position for which you are applying.
• Describe culture of universal achievement and why it is important (from Week 1). Make reference to your readings. 
• Describe the 21st-century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity) you possess and how you will use them (from Week 1). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Share your example of an instructional management plan (from Week 2). Consider sharing your rules and expectations. 
• Explain the value of collaboration and how you use it with peers (from Week 2). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Explain standards alignment regarding instructional planning (from Week 3). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Summarize multiple intelligence and why is it important to understand (from Week 3). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Discuss your approach to instructional planning as it relates to backwards design or traditional model (from Week 4). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Discuss your approach to assessment for learning and how you assess learners (from Week 4). Discuss both formative and summative assessments. Make reference to the course readings. 
• Explain the value of data and data management (from Week 5). Make reference to the course readings. 
• Conclude with a wrap up of your interview and an explanation for why you are the best candidate for the position.

Each of the above topics must be represented by one slide in your slide presentation. Your slides should only include the key words that you will elaborate on within your video presentation.  Additionally, include a slide that lists the references, in APA style, used in your presentation. Be sure that those sources are cited within your presentation slides. Consider using the references from the previous weeks’ assignments. You must use as least three scholarly sources.

• For help with formatting citations in APA Style, review the Ashford University Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) 
• For help with formatting reference entries in APA Style, see the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford University Writing Center.

Your slide presentation must be at least 12 slides (including the references slide) highlighting the main points of the above topics that you will speak to in more detail in the video interview.

In the notes section of the slide, written out in a Word document or a piece of paper, include a script of what you will be saying in the interview. Use this script as you record your slides to make your presentation as seamless as possible.  This will help to ensure you stay within the 8-10 minutes. 

Content Instructions: Video Interview

After you have created your slide presentation, record your video interview of you presenting your slides using a multimedia tool of your choice: Screencast-O-Matic (Links to an external site.), or VoiceThread (Links to an external site.). 

You will submit the recorded video interview to your instructor for grading, not the slide presentation.

Please follow the submission instructions below to submit your video interview:

• Add your Final Project to Portfolium: One of the first things you will want to add to your Portfolium is your Final Project (i.e., video interview) from this class. What a wonderful media tool for potential employers to get to know you. 

  Archive your link to your video in your e-portfolio by uploading to your Portfolium account. 

  Select “Add new project” and follow the step-by-step instructions.

  Once uploaded, add a title (EDU650: Final Project: The Big Interview) and a one- to two-sentence description.
  Please note: Once assignments are uploaded to your e-portfolio, they are considered artifacts and will be referenced as such.

• Submit your assignment to Waypoint in the classroom: Submit a Word document to include these two links: 

  A link to your video artifact in Portfolium.
  A direct link to the video that you made in Screencast-O-Matic, (Links to an external site.) or VoiceThread (Links to an external site.).
  The Word document must be formatted according to APA guidelines with a title page. 

  Since the references page is part of the slide presentation in your video interview, you do not need to include a references page in this deliverable document.

Carefully review the

Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)

for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Presentation and Formatting Expectations

• The slide presentation must be 12 slides in length (not including title slide) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford University Writing Center’s How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Links to an external site.) 
• The slide presentation must include a separate title slide with the following: 

  Title of presentation
  Student’s name
  Course name and number
  Instructor’s name
  Date submitted

• Must use at least three scholarly and/or credible sources (Links to an external site.) in addition to the Teaching and Learning (Newman, 2019) and No Excuses University (Lopez, 2012) textbooks (for a total of at least five cited references). You will use scholarly sources to support your view, your position. Doing this assists in supporting your point of view.
• The video interview must be 8 to 10 minutes in length.

Thank you, and congratulations as you wrap up your first graduate course here in the College of Education!