Authors
Kelly Ann Marie Carlson, Jennifer L. Day, Cara Ann Seely, Isaiah L. Cochran
Sponsor
WPI IGSD
Advisors
Stephen M. McCauley, William R. Michalson
Term
March – May 2017
Abstract
The goal of this project was to understand and communicate the impacts that Interactive Qualifying Projects have had at the Melbourne Project Center (MPC). This was accomplished through semi-structured interviews with sponsor liaisons, surveys of past, present, and incoming MPC participants, and extensive engagement with MPC Program directors. The information collected fueled content for our promotional-material based deliverables, including an MPC website and user manual, social media, videos for students and prospective sponsors, a program database, and MPC outreach material.
Executive Summary
Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) innovative undergraduate education program, The Plan, combines theoretical knowledge with practical application. The Plan consists of three mandatory projects, including the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP). The IQP creates well-rounded engineers and scientists by immersing students in a social science-based project that combines aspects of project-based learning, service learning, and study abroad
Our background research showed that study abroad programs and other high impact learning programs, such as service learning, have substantial data about their impacts on students, but lack information on the value the students bring to their host location. WPI’s most recent strategic plan, Elevate Impact, seeks to elevate the impacts that WPI has in its various constituent communities (WPI Strategic Plan: 2015-2018, 2015). This includes having an increased understanding of the impacts the Global Projects Program (GPP) has had on the communities in which students complete their off-campus projects, as well as strengthening the “global partnerships” created in these communities.
Project Goal
This project had two major goals. The first was to understand and communicate the impacts the IQPs have had on sponsors and stakeholder communities of the Melbourne, Australia Project Center (MPC) and on the WPI community. The second was to create promotional material to better communicate the value of the program to its range of stakeholders, including project sponsors, potential sponsors, students, parents, and other interested parties. To accomplish these goals, we engaged extensively with key stakeholder groups: MPC Program Directors and other WPI administrators, sponsors, and students, as seen in Figure 1.
Impacts of the MPC on Sponsors and Project Stakeholders
Between 1998 and 2016, the MPC partnered with 40 sponsoring organizations. In order to gain an understanding of the impacts of the IQPs, experiences the liaisons had with WPI, and gain suggestions for improvements, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted. In total, 27 sponsor liaisons were interviewed, representing 22 sponsoring organizations. Each interview was coded and analyzed for the level of impact on the sponsoring organization and project stakeholder groups, impact longevity or perceived longevity, overall experience with the IQP, students’ work ethic and professionalism, and suggestions for improvement of the MPC.
The interviews revealed that most projects had a high impact on the sponsors and stakeholders. Of the 24 sponsor liaisons who had completed at least one IQP with the MPC, 83.3% described the projects as highly impactful for their organization and 75.0% found the projects had high impacts on the stakeholder group. 70.8% of the projects were classified as “Long-Lasting,” and 25.0% were classified as “Medium-Lasting.” A visual overview of this can be seen in Figure 2.
Perspectives and Needs of WPI Students
To better understand the information content and communication needs of students, we distributed a survey regarding topics relevant to the GPP’s IQP process to three student groups: past (B16), current (D17), and future (accepted B17 and D18) MPC participants. The students were asked to rank which information they would find most helpful in communicating information about the MPC to future generations of participants, as seen in Figure 3. These findings helped drive the deliverables of this project that were produced for the MPC.
One interesting finding was that project reports, although their average rank was fifth (out of eight) of desired information sources, were the most discussed topic. A Fall 2016 participant explained, “I put that project descriptions didn’t help because they aren’t released until after application and acceptance. Also, some of the historical trends in types of projects seem to be shifting (mainly fire projects) this leads some people to have false expectations.”
Deliverables: New Communication Media for the MPC Stakeholder Groups
We created seven deliverables which will help strength the global partnerships between WPI, sponsors, and stakeholders of the IQPs completed in Melbourne, Australia: a database of all past MPC projects and sponsors, informational content for communicating program impacts, a project center website, a website user manual, two informational videos, and social media platforms for the project center. We also provided important program improvement feedback from sponsors and student stakeholders to the MPC and IGSD.
MPC Project and Sponsor Database
An MPC IQP database was started by the Fall 2016 Documenting the MPC Team. Our team expanded it to include sponsor contacts and notes, coded impacts of sponsor liaison interviews, and an overview of all organizations contacted for this project. By expanding the database, we were able to provide a complete history of the projects and sponsors of the MPC from 1998 to 2017.
MPC Outreach Material
A major suggestion from sponsor liaisons was to provide information about WPI and the IQP to sponsoring organizations. After discussing this finding with the MPC Program Directors, our team decided to create content for MPC outreach, which would be distributed to WPI Marketing. The content included: photos taken by a professional photographer, and testimonials from sponsor liaisons and MPC alumni. Additionally, it included vignettes and photos from noteworthy projects. The vignettes were our way of communicating how impactful, powerful, and moving the results of various IQPs have been.
Website
A user-friendly and visually pleasing project center website was created as a way to connect stakeholders with the MPC. The website was designed in WordPress, using a template created for WPI project centers. The website features information about the benefits of sponsoring an IQP and the expectations of sponsors, information for students including a list of on-site activities and a FAQ section, and information about all of the completed IQPs sorted by sponsor, year, and theme. The website can be accessed at: https://wp.wpi.edu/melbourne/
Website User Manual
To ensure the MPC Program Directors could easily edit and maintain the website, we created a Website User Manual. In the manual, we documented information on how to post a new project page, create a blogpost, edit the sidebar to include the new projects, and utilize and understand the specific features of the website.
Social Media
Additionally, we created a Facebook page and YouTube channel. The social media accounts were created for sponsors and students to see pictures, videos or student experiences, find updates about important dates, and create an online community for all MPC stakeholders. The content for the Facebook page is generated through the Blog feature on the website, and is moderated by website administrators.
Videos
Two videos were created and featured on the MPC website and social media. One was targeted towards potential sponsors and one for prospective MPC student participants. These were created by our team to portray information about WPI, the IQP, and specifically the MPC.
Student Video: https://wp.wpi.edu/melbourne/students/
Sponsor Video: https://wp.wpi.edu/melbourne/partners/
Conclusion
Through this project, we were able to perform an analysis on the value of the MPC to its core stakeholder groups: students, program administrators and sponsors and communities. We found that the work students completed has been highly impactful on sponsors and project stakeholders. Based on the feedback we gathered, we were able to provide suggestions for improvements of the MPC and the off-campus IQP program. Suggestions such as better communication between sponsors, advisors, and students during the preparatory term will be shared with the MPC directors and administration of the IGSD. By creating new media for communicating information about the MPC — including informational packets, MPC website, videos, and social media — we believe we have increased the strength of global partnership between WPI and the stakeholders of the MPC.
Final Report