You have worked through four strands: understanding yourself online, evaluating content, following your interests, and publishing responsibly. Today you meet the Student Project, the single Classroom-Based Assessment for this short course. It is a longer piece of work, not something finished in one class. By the end of today you will know what it is for, what good work looks like, and you will have candidate topics with one clear front-runner.

Board model (one sample topic):

Topic: Why notification settings change homework focus

• Understanding myself online: track my own lock-screen habits and when I silence alerts
• Evaluating online content: school advice pages vs influencer productivity tips; check date and evidence
• Following my interests online: short-form study-with-me clips and how they shape focus habits
• Publishing online: short explainer for first years; no classmates named

Sample scores out of 5: strand coverage 4; real interest 5. Front-runner? Yes, if the format stays realistic.

These plain markers match the Features of Quality used to judge the project; your teacher may show the school's student-friendly version beside them.

Pair talk (about 2 minutes): With a partner, rank these three draft topics from strongest to weakest for the Student Project and be ready to say why: (1) Social media (2) How group chats put friendship pressure on first years (3) A ten-minute video listing every app I use.

A good topic is relevant to your life, big enough to show learning across the strands, and small enough that you can finish it. Then work through this process on your own:

1. Pick the two strongest titles. Keep the third only as a reserve name.
2. Map Topic A in full against the four strands (copy the shape of the board model). Write one short note under each strand using the grid prompts below.
3. Score Topic A out of 5 on two questions only: Enough to show learning across the strands? Do I actually care about this enough to stay with it?
4. For Topic B: write the title, then both scores. Add full four-strand notes if you can; at least jot which strands it could cover.
5. Circle one front-runner for now. You can change later, but pick the strongest today.

Copyable grid shape (full notes required for Topic A; Topic B at least title + both scores):

• Topic title:
• Myself online: what about your own habits, rights, consent or safety could this show?
• Evaluating: what sources would you need to check, and how would you judge them?
• Interests: what media formats, influence, misinformation or manipulation questions sit inside this topic?
• Publishing: what would you make, who is it for, and what safety or crediting choices would matter?
• Score strand coverage (/5):
• Score real interest (/5):
• Front-runner? (circle one)

Mid-check freeze: After about 6 minutes, stop. Underline your most specific topic title. If it still sounds like a whole strand of the course, narrow it using the board example. Then finish Topic A and score Topic B.

Before you finish, check: Topic A fully mapped (four short strand notes + both scores), Topic B with title + both scores (full second map only if you have time or as extension), and one circled front-runner. A third topic name only if you still have time.

Turn your circled topic into a clear starting decision. Write these three things only:

• Your front-runner topic in one sentence
• Which strands it lets you show, with one piece of possible evidence for each strand you name
• The one thing you still need to find out before you can be sure this topic will work (for example: is there enough trustworthy material, can you publish without harming anyone's privacy, is the format realistic)

The Student Project is longer work that pulls the whole course together. The Features of Quality reward critical thinking, honest process and responsible choices, not just a polished final file. Your front-runner is a starting decision. Next you will turn it into a plan with milestones you can actually hit.