• Do I want my students to deepen their understanding of a particular concept or of the overriding theories of this course?
• What kinds of activities would help them achieve that goal?
• Is my purpose to develop students' understanding/knowledge or their skills or both?
• How can I structure the project to insure that it will call on their knowledge or skills?
• How prepared are my students?

• Am I sure all of the students enrolled in the class will be ready (course content thus far, pre-requisite courses, etc.)?
• Based on the typical draw of students for this course, what kind of "crew" will I have to work with?
• Will I have experienced students within the major?
• Will I have too many students for one group project?
• Does the project require some levels of expertise my students do not possess?
• Are my students likely to have any biases, fears, or other barriers to committing to the community partner and the population it serves?
• How can I help them overcome or at least manage those barriers?

• What does the community partner need our class to accomplish?
• What is the minimum necessary outcome? What is the ideal outcome?
• Will the community partner suffer any tangible negative consequences if the class fails to meet the minimum outcome?
• Could the project be divided between two classes? Might the project be too small for my class-can I safely commit to something bigger or more challenging?
• Will the project be a unit within the course or the focus of students' work within the course.
• Can I involve outside experts in some way to help cover the gaps?
• Do I have the expertise (in some cases credentials) to function effectively and responsibly as a "consultant" on this project to insure that the community partner is satisfied with the quality of results?

(Ripon Community Action Network, 2005)