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EDUC 8843 Project Description

**Overview of Performance Improvement Intervention Project**
In this course, you will be working on a course project beginning in Module 1 and culminating in Module 6. The objective of your course project is to produce a comprehensive written proposal for a performance improvement intervention of your choice for an educational or corporate organization. You will identify a performance gap or need related to employee or organizational performance and propose a technological solution with appropriate justifications. The ultimate goal of your Performance Improvement Intervention Project is to gather and create all the components needed for developing an actual grant at a future date after this course is finished. You will submit your proposal in a suitable format for submission to your administration, manager, and/or appropriate stakeholders. Following are some possible suggestions for your project: If you are not currently employed somewhere where you have access or knowledge regarding performance issues, you must select and then visit a company or organization and perform a needs analysis. Then you may propose an intervention. Throughout the course, you will interact with your learning community while developing your project. Although each student is responsible for his or her own proposal, your learning community will provide feedback, suggestions, and support during each step of the project. This collaborative interaction is excellent preparation for your future as a leader and manager in educational technology. Following is a general overview of what will be expected in order for you to complete the course project:
 * Remodeling or facilities design project to accommodate new technologies
 * Large equipment or materials acquisition
 * Establishment of a new service or resource (electronic, interpersonal, or collaborative)
 * Development of an in-service or client program (digital)
 * Anything that will improve human performance within the organization and “fill” the performance gap through the use of technology
 * Module 1: From Chaos to Definition**
 * One member of your learning community creates a group wiki where each member can work on his or her project.
 * Create an individual page in the wiki where you will work throughout the quarter.
 * Begin your wiki by identifying the name of your organization and writing a brief description of the problem the organization identified, as well as a summary of the organization’s history and background.
 * Module 2: The Performance Gap**
 * Restate the problem identified in Module 1.
 * Based on your own analysis, determine the existing performance gap.
 * Conduct a cause analysis to discover reasons why the performance gap exists.
 * Continue to compile background information about your organization, including goals and objectives and where the organization would like to be in a reasonable period of time.
 * Module 3: HPT-Based Solutions**
 * Develop three intervention strategies for your intervention.
 * Using feedback from your learning community, decide which solution would work best for your organization.
 * Copy and paste your work from the first three modules into one document and post it to the Dropbox for Instructor evaluation and feedback.
 * Module 4: The Manager's Many Roles**
 * Write a justification for your choice of intervention strategy, including supporting information such as publications of similar or alternative solutions, research data, and interviews with key participants.
 * Describe your role as project manager in this intervention, including project management, resource management, delivery system, and information management techniques.
 * Module 5: The Manager as Change Agent**
 * Summarize financial and budget information, along with supporting documentation.
 * List and describe appropriate technical information for implementing your intervention, including any sketches, specifications, data charts and graphs, and other resources to support your proposal.
 * Develop a project assessment/evaluation plan that measures the effectiveness of your intervention, both formative and summative in nature.
 * Module 6: Applying Theory to Practice**
 * Submit your completed Performance Improvement Intervention Project, including a title page, an executive summary, a reference list, and an appendix.
 * Post your course project to your ePortfolio.

**The Organization’s History and Background, Part 1**
In your wiki, include the following (please note that you can continue to work on this over the first couple of modules, but additional information will be required for each module, building on what preceded it): 1. Name of organization 2. Summary Include a summary of the problem being experienced by this organization that you would like to address with your Performance Improvement Intervention. State the problem in general terms, as described from the organization’s point of view. 3. Background of organization Include a detailed description of the background of the organization from an historical perspective to demonstrate that you have a good understanding of the organization you will be working with. Begin collecting the following information: Be sure to review the postings of others in your learning community and provide feedback about their ideas. Think in terms of how you can help them to improve on their ideas.
 * When was the organization founded? Where is it located?
 * What is the mission or vision of the organization?
 * What are the stated goals of the organization?
 * Who is the organization’s clientele?
 * Who are the key personnel in the organization that can provide you with insights into the performance problem for which you will propose an intervention? List their names as possible interviews later in the project.
 * Does the organization have a Web site? If so, record the URL.
 * Do you have access to any public relations materials or annual reports for the organization? Where can you obtain these?