05-682 METALS Project 2
48 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Metals Project 2 is the second part of the METALS Project course, which is a 26-week long capstone project for the Master in Educational Technology and Learning Science (METALS) program. The course integrates everything students have learned in their coursework into one "end-to-end" experience. Students work in interdisciplinary teams with an industry client to produce a working prototype that serves as a proof of concept for a valuable new or enhanced EdTech-based service, product or system. The students come from a variety of backgrounds including computer science, psychology, education, design, business, and related programs. The industrial client defines the project area and guides its direction. Students create a plan, conduct user research, and brainstorm designs or product ideas. The plan defines the iterative design process to take place in the summer and will usually include contextual inquiry, background research, and/or other investigations to understand the nature and needs of the customer/user and tasks relevant to their problem. Based on that understanding, students go through an innovation phase producing product ideas situated to meet the identified needs. Students should plan to produce a number of Minimal Viable Products (MVPs) to get meaningful feedback from users in a timely fashion. With strong client input, students narrow down their ideas and select one or more to pursue further. Then, in the summer months, students iterate in a prototyping, analysis, and user-testing phase where they continue refining MVPs with increasing fidelity and user tests to improve the design. The final product is a high-fidelity working prototype that clients can use that provides enough detail for the client to implement their own system.
Prerequisites: 05-681 (min B)
Offered: Summer 2026
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