Choosing engaging and authentic tasks/negotiating tasks with students

• It is important to provide open briefs but set clear limits to the project – available expertise, time, budget, etc. The task must allow students to be enterprising, think creatively and use their initiative but at the same time it must be specific enough to allow the teacher to plan activities and provide support.
• I had to teach my students about the design process. We used the process to plan and manage what the students did.
• We needed a long planning time. And enough lead time to allow students to properly negotiate an authentic task – something that was relevant to the real world.
• It was important that we linked the task to a need or want that was meaningful to the students. It helps when the project is related to something beyond the classroom. My students were keen to improve something for other people. Dealing with ‘real needs’ made the project authentic.
• Because the project was authentic, students had a great deal of ownership. Kids must be interested in the brief and they must have fun.