The fun side of project work

Working on projects can open other avenues for youngsters

Homework can be a burden, especially if it entails repetitive writing or rote learning. But it doesn’t have to be.

Students feel that the projects which are the most fun are the ones which teach them the most. Metrolife speaks to a few to find out how.

There is definitely an appeal in travelling to a location outside of school for a project.

Gaana Srinivas, a student of Mount Carmel College, did a project with a radio station and says, “I enjoyed everything about it — building contacts, interacting with RJs, learning about the technology they use, and how the whole place functions.”

Memorable projects seem to have encouraged students to see things in new ways.

Maria Sadashiv, also a student of Mount Carmel, really loved doing a study on a director for a credit course on film appreciation.

She chose Christopher Nolan and did an in-depth study on three of his films,
including ‘The Dark Knight’.

She says, “It opened a whole new world to me. I found out about the intricacies that go into film-making — everything from characterising to costumes to lighting and photography.”

Even if the project is outside the regular curriculum, it can help students in
deciding their future.

Shravan Rao, a student, says, “Building an all-terrain vehicle as part of the science and technology fest in school gave me a very unique exposure at a young age to robotics. It really kindled an interest in the field.”

He was inspired to specialise in electronics and communication because of this.

Salonie Rego, a student, had to collect different kinds of leaves for a biology project in her 6th standard and analyse them.

She says, “The fun part was arranging the leaves in patterns. I drew a girl’s face using curry leaves as eyes!”

Having a humanist emphasis allows students to relate to the project.

Maitreyi Ananth, who studied at Centre for Learning, did a human rights-based project three years ago.

She says the students read all the rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and then spoke to different people to see if their rights were being met.

She says, “We meet people like our house-help on a daily basis, but fail to recognise or think of them beyond our homes. We’re not aware of the difficulties they’re going through. Visiting the slums as part of the project was also an eye-opener.”