It seems that term projects, team based, are becoming more and more popular as assessment tools. We think that they are great. But, we also think that many instructors do not think too much about what a term project means. Especially one that involves designing or significant problem problem solving and independent thought. It is very easy, so easy, to craft a project and just say 'do it' and then mark the final submission. Or, have one or two simple interim deliverables. Designing a good project is not easy. It has to address the learning outcomes for all students on a team, and the how should be considered as important as the final what.
Term long projects, team or individual, will benefit from several design/progress reviews. The projects are often worth 25% or more in a term and represent a significant effort on the student's part. A rough guide for a project would be 2 hours of expected effort per mark, similar to what is probably put into a normal assessment, studying etc. It is unreasonable and unfair to expect/demand more!
If you want some fishbone fun and practice, do a cause and effect diagram/analysis for what creates an effective and efficient project in your course, aligned with the course learning outcomes. What is the criteria or mechanisms you will put in place to monitor and understand the causes and effects as they roll out during the term? This process will provide you insights into the types of decisions you will have to make. For example, how much freedom do you give the students on each aspect, why? Each of your decisions should be tied to learning outcomes, priorities, and what the students really need to do. 'It is a good topic!' Why? 'This is what I want the students to do!' Why? 'This is the feedback I will give!' Why? 'This is what the students can decide for themselves!' Why? If it is not on the critical path, aligned/attached to a cause and effect, why do it? It just creates noise and additional load/effort/stress. Designing a project and how the students will be guided implicitly or explicitly requires conscious thought and is itself a design task, a project. It should not be taken lightly. In our own experience, it can take many days and many weeks to design a term project and think it through. Never has it been minutes or hours. Term projects also benefit from the buddy system and review. Your buddy can challenge each and every decision being made about the project, what should be in it, assumptions about what students can and will do, what risk management is required, and so on.
You should also do a fishbone exercise on what you think an effective and efficient design review is. Just saying. This is one example of what it means to be a professional and to have a professional attitude to the task. Professionals should do due diligence and do things with intent and justification. If you are not thinking it through, how are you any better than the average person on the street at a task. Eh? And just because you did projects as a student or marked them as a TA does not mean that you know how to design one. It is also wise to be cautious when just using a packaged case or project from another source, you should analyse it and think about it; is it a good project/case for your class? What criteria are you using? How much do you really understand about the case/project and what the students have to do? If you are using a third party project or case, it is even more important for you to have gone through the project/case yourself, being a student.
Getting back to reviews. If possible, the instructor and TAs should participate in the design reviews. It is a good way for both to know who is doing what, when, and how well. This intel about the project is probably a decent proxie for other things as well.
For term projects, we strongly recommend that the instructor or a TA has actually done the project in advance, has some appreciation for the decisions to be made, possible choices. This will work for certain types of projects where many of the requirements are provided. If the students have a lot of decision making (not recommended in first year btw), as in a senior year course, this is not doable. In this case, the individuals doing the design reviews should have extensive design experience in the general domain space so that they understand the subtle issues and decisions being made (and know what decisions could have been made). If you have not designed x or something in the same scope/area as x, how can you review it? If you cannot provide sound, expert advice, why did you let the students do it? If you assign it, you better be able to review the how and the what to the level required by the learning objectives.
The learning outcomes for the project should be VERY clear; what do you want the students to really learn and demonstrate via the project. This is mandatory if you want to provide an effective and efficient design review.
For some design projects, the goal is the design process, learning how to design. In other projects, it is to apply course concepts, assuming that the students know how to design and do a project. In yet other cases, it can be combo.
You should not assume that students know how to design and know how to approach a project. Someone along the way needs to teach them this stuff and others need to reinforce the learning through deliberate practice, feedback, and reflection. You should not assume that the students will know how to prepare for a status update, design review, or how to respond to feedback.