On 22 February, CDTL organised a seminar entitled Using Project Work to
Enhance Learning with speakers from the Architecture and Building, Engineering and Science
faculties. Following the programme, a number of participants expressed interest in
learning about project work in the humanities and social sciences. The following is a
collection of pruject work perspectives from the faculties of Art and Social Sciences,
Business Administration and Law.

Mr Parthiphan s/o Krishnan.Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Geography courses on climatology and geographical information systems (GIS) are ideal settings for projects. However, structuring projects that challenge yet stimulate students are formidable tasks in themselves. My first set of resources in designing projects for my students were handouts and booklets prepared by CDTL. Also, participating in seminars and talks about project work and other teaching issues broadened my options for designing projects.

I learnt several lessons along the way. Firstly, projects mean exactly that. While references can help by raising points of interests, the design and structure of projects are still very much hands-on. Secondly, as with other assignments, projects must have definite objectives and scopes. Boundaries, especially in terms of time and topic domains, must be set. Too often, students pursue peripheral issues that interest them. While this is laudable, they must be guided back to the project's focus. This requires regular feedback sessions. The pitfall to avoid is not letting these sessions turn into mini lectures. Thirdly, projects must stimulate the student's thinking process. One method is to deliberately keep certain issues vague. For example, in my GIS course, I ask students to perform a simple project on spatial analysis. One condition of the analysis is to locate school sites that are more than 1 km from industrial areas. Most students accepted the condition at face value. Few students queried the rationale of the condition and the precise definition of an industrial site, crucial issues in spatial analysis. Another method is to in troduce some difficulty into the project that is not evident on first inspection. In the same project, I introduced two other conditions that were mutually exclusive of one another. Most students did not notice the contradiction. A few noticed, but took the easy option of referring the problem back to me. The rare student attempted to solve the problem. Although some might consider these methods deceptive, my aim is to simulate reality, where crucial pieces of data and information are often lacking. By forcing students to cope with these problems, critical thinking is encouraged. Lastly, projects are not only for students. They are learning experiences for us as well, for students have a way of forcing us to rethink the answers.

Dr Kalyani K. Mehta · Department of Social Work & Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The professional component of the social work programme demands rigorous practical training. From the first to fourth year, projects are intertwined with teaching practical social intervention skills. Projects are also designed to further research in specialized areas.

First-year students are actively involved in two main projects: the community laboratory project and social service visits to human service agencies. In the former, groups of students are immersed in a geographical community for three days (they do go home at night). The tutor/staff member acts as a facilitator cum catalyst, enabling students to meet grassroots leaders and arranging maximum exposure to community life. Regular discussions draw out the students' reactions, assumptions as well as internal prejudices. The culmination of the community laboratory project is a creative item that each group presents to the class on the last day. The second project demands greater student initiative, resourcefulness and independence. Although staff members arrange the agency visits, students are expected to organise themselves before the visits and assign roles for themselves (e.g., coordinator, reporter, leader). This cultivates teamwork and involvement.

During the mid-year break of the second year and the following long vacation, students are given attachments or placements that commonly require research, group work and community work. Before their placement, students undergo micro skills training to prepare them for the experiential learning they will gain during their placement. Under the supervision of a field teacher and a department tutor, the student practices assessment and intervention skills while simultaneously increasing his/her self-awareness. Written reports are required at the end of each placement.

In their third and fourth years, students carry out action research projects, which may be qualitative, quantitative or a mix of both methodologies. Scientific objectivity, rigorous validity and reliability tests and mastery of instruments used are emphasized.

Human professions demand comprehensive knowledge, appropriate skills and right morals/ethics. Lectures and tutorials provide the theoretical dimension while projects and practice grill students in the practical aspects. The integration of both is the key to mature learning; it is also the area that students tend to be weak in. To strengthen students' abilities in this area and motivate them to continue the process in their careers is one of our most critical challenges.

Dr N. Sriram · Department of Social Work & Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

From 1989­90 to 1995­96, all third-year psychology undergraduates had to conduct a research project, which accounted for fifteen percent of their third-year grade. Each student was assigned a faculty member as his/her project supervisor. With over one hundred students in a typical third-year cohort, this translated into about ten students per faculty member. To conduct a piece of empirical research, students identified a broad area of interest and addressed specific issues using a variety of techniques. A list of the topics covered is available on the Internet at http://www1.swk.nus.edu.sg/1990-96.html.

It is evident that students tended to work in the supervisor's area of expertise. Some projects were based on experimental designs while others were survey based; some used university students as experimental participants while others relied on school students, disabled children and other special populations. Some students undertook research to test hypotheses derived from existing theories; others undertook simple fact-finding surveys. After completing their projects, students submitted written reports for evaluation. The quality of the reports varied considerably; a few have been published in international journals.

In the early years, each project was assessed by the student's supervisor and another staff member and it was not uncommon for disagreements to emerge. For the last three years, all projects were marked by two designated staff to ensure objectivity and consistency in the evaluation process. In 1996­97, project work was incorporated into an elective third-year research methods course spread throughout the year, with the theoretical aspects preceding, and being somewhat independent of, the project component. The elective was also made a prerequisite for the honours degree. These changes reduced the number of students doing projects by about half and enabled supervisors to spend more time with supervisees who, on average, are more capable and motivated than earlier cohorts. In 1997­98, the research methods course will be offered in both semesters to enable the project work and coursework to be completed within the same semester.

Dr Rachel Davis · Department of Business Policy, Faculty of Business Administration

I have identified four areas of learning that take place through project work. First, projects require students to develop something on their own, to express something of themselves. For many students, this is daunting, as they are overly concerned with fulfilling expectations, especially those relating to content. Students often fail to appreciate that there is no right answer, that it is the process of doing the project, conducting research, organizing material, choosing an analytical framework, etc., that defines the success of project work. Thus, it is critical that the instructor emphasize the importance of "process" as well as "content" in project work. My personal experience has been that when the process is followed, the content-based outcomes are also realized.

The degree of structure and direction provided by the instructor is an important consideration. My preference is to provide only enough structure to clearly define the project's pedagogical objectives. In the Asia-Pacific Business course, students must corporation (from a list of over 600 companies) and assess its activities in Southeast Asia and the role, if any, that the Singaporean operations play in the company's regional strategy. In choosing a company, students have to balance their interest in a particular company or product with other considerations like the availability of information and the company's popularity among fellow students. The choice is clearly a process-based component of the project and, more than any other factor, it defines the project's direction and domain, hence the instructor has to ensure that students appreciate this point. The objective is for students to develop the ability to make informed and well-thought-out decisions, a critical factor in business.

Next, projects are meant to develop conceptual and analytical skills while enhancing information gathering and library research skills. Knowing how information is organized and accessed creates confidence in students that they will be able to meet the challenges of a dynamic business environment. The ultimate pedagogical objective is to get students beyond factual information so they can develop the analytical skills to understand more fundamental phenomena.

Thirdly, projects help develop both presentation and report-based communication skills. Students need multiple opportunities during the course of their studies to develop such skills.

Finally, group projects are opportunities for learning the pros and cons of group dynamics. Students learn how to work together, deal with personal agendas within the group and negotiate outcomes for themselves and the group.

Ms Lim Lei Theng · Faculty of Law

Introduction to Dispute Resolution (IDR) is a compulsory course for all undergraduates in their second year at the Faculty of Law. The course aims to teach basic civil and criminal procedure and lawyering techniques through experiential learning.

IDR is taught in two sections, the first on criminal and the second on civil procedure. In both sections, students work in pairs as "lawyers" representing a "client", a first-year student volunteer. Confidential instructions are given to the clients to paint the scenario of a legal dispute. In the criminal case, the scenario is of a murder that has taken place. Volunteers play the parts of the accused and of a key witness to the crime. The lawyers interview the clients to gather information and construct their legal case in preparation for a mock criminal trial. In the civil case, the scenario is often of a contractual dispute. In this section of the course, student lawyers are given opportunities to represent their clients in a negotiation before the matter is brought to a mock civil trial.

The philosophy of the course is to teach procedure by contextualising it into simulated case scenarios. While learning rules of procedure, students put them into practice in the "case" they are handling. At the same time, students learn the important legal skills of interviewing their clients and preparing them for trial. Through lectures and workshops, students share their experiences and draw important lessons in communication, ethics and client relations. Advocacy skills are tested through the mock trials.

A great deal of independent learning takes place in the course. It is up to students to determine the amount of effort they put into each case. Assessment is made on the basis of the mock trials, periodic written assignments and an open book examination at the end of each semester to test the basic knowledge learnt by each individual student. The workload for the course is heavy and, in view of that, the amount of reading in the course is minimised.

The course has run for two years. While many students have complained of the workload, many have also accepted it as a valuable learning experience quite different from other legal courses.