Element J: Documentation of External Evaluation

Week 10: Documentation of External Evaluation

PLTW Element J — Documentation of External Evaluation.

Why External Evaluation Is Different from Mentor Feedback

Your mentor (Weeks 5 and 9) evaluates technical feasibility. External evaluation means putting the prototype in front of the people it’s actually built for — target users, another class, a teacher outside CSH, a relevant club or community member — and watching how they actually use it, not how you expect them to.

Run the External Evaluation

• Identify 3+ external evaluators who represent your target users or stakeholders.
• Give them the prototype (or a guided demo) with minimal hand-holding, and observe.
• Collect structured feedback: a short survey or interview covering usability, whether it solves their problem, and what confused them.

Document the Findings

• Summarize findings by theme (usability, feature gaps, trust/adoption concerns), same structure as your Element B literature review.
• Update your Multimedia Display (portfolio, demo video, or slide deck) with real evaluator quotes/data — this becomes part of your N@tM (Week 12) presentation evidence.
• File any resulting bugs or feature requests as GitHub Issues so they’re tracked, not lost in a notes doc.

Core Deliverables

• External evaluation plan (who, how many, method).
• Raw + synthesized feedback, organized by theme.
• Multimedia display updated with evaluation evidence.