Whether you are a teacher in a conventional school setting, are a parent homeschooling their own children, or are even someone who is just trying to expand their own level of knowledge and understanding on a variety of different topics, great educational projects can be very powerful.
While good teaching (and for that matter, good learning) tends to depend a lot on things like effective lesson plans, projects that involve a deep-dive into a particular subject can be especially rewarding and engaging, and are likely to not only get a more enthusiastic response from students, but to also lead to a better level of information retention over time.
So, what exactly does it take to create interesting educational projects, of the sort that are likely to be fun, engaging, and effective as a teaching approach?
Here are a number of tips and suggestions that are likely to help.
Utilise different modes of communication, including pictures, stories, factsheets and more
One of the great strengths of focused and dedicated educational projects, is that they allow for learning to be done effectively via a broad range of different modes of communication — including things like captivating pictures, memorable stories, useful easy-to-skim factsheets, infographics, and more.
If you were developing a project outline for a particular historical event or period, for example — such as the travels of Marco Polo — it would be a mistake not to take advantage of the full range of different modes of communication.
With a captivating story such as that one, you could utilise fun and even outlandish illustrations (to go with the outlandish tales of adventure), in addition to informative text blocks, fact summaries at the beginning or the end of pages or chapters, and accompanying documentaries and so on.
Children and adults alike naturally tend to become more easily and fully engrossed in a topic, when they are able to explore it through a range of different channels. Not many people are in their optimal learning environment when just reading through a dense and dry textbook.
Look for opportunities to fit in field trips and hands-on outings
Field trips and hands-on outings can have a wide range of different benefits, not least of all the fact that they often help to dramatically connect the events that are being studied to the real world, and to make them feel a lot more significant and tangible as a result.
Field trips and outings are also just fun, however, and anything that can serve to make learning more fun should certainly be given due consideration in its own right.
When it comes to particular education projects, there will also often be many great learning resources that are situated out of the house or classroom, in the world at large, and which will help to make particular bits of information stick more effectively in students’ memories.
These kinds of hands-on educational resources can include all sorts of things ranging from elaborate museums, to reenactment sites, historical buildings, live talks, art exhibitions, natural landmarks, and more.
Ultimately, one of the key reasons to value learning is because of the fact that it helps us to more deeply appreciate the world at large, and to see it in a deeper and richer light.
Field trips and outings can certainly help to have this effect, while also creating more positive emotional associations with the act of learning in and of itself.
Look for ways to add a group dynamic to the project
Educational projects can often be particularly effective when they promote effective group dynamics and collaboration.
In the context of a standard classroom environment, this kind of group dynamic is more automatically commonplace, particularly when dealing with somewhat complex projects. In a homeschooling context, though, it can take a bit more work to look for opportunities for that kind of joint and collaborative approach.
Among other things, educational projects can be a good opportunity for homeschooling parents to link up with other homeschooling families and associations nearby, to take their kids to open educational workshops, and more.
Working on a project together with others can be quite fulfilling, while also helping to make the project itself more memorable, and simultaneously developing good collaborative working skills.
Provide rewarding and motivating feedback and approval for completed projects
For children, in particular — but really for individuals of all ages to different degrees — getting approval, motivating feedback, and a sense of reward for completing a complex task, can be highly encouraging and can serve to not only build confidence but also to inculcate a love of learning.
Bigger projects, in particular, offer a perfect opportunity to go for more in-depth and substantial forms of reward and feedback, ranging from the handing out of certificates, to golden stars on a star chart, letter grades, small prizes or treats, and more.
A significant reason why many people around the world unfortunately grow up with negative associations when it comes to learning and education, is because they’ve essentially been trained to view it all as work and discipline with no payback.
But any student is likely to feel a significantly elevated sense of pride, enthusiasm, and motivation, when they notice that the hard work they’ve put into something is being rewarded.
Include films and forms of entertaining media that relate to the theme of the project
While the point has already been made about the value and importance of teaching via a range of different mediums and channels, making a particular effort to use entertaining forms of media — including things like films — can be especially beneficial.
Big educational projects should always be engaging, but risk seeming overly dry at times depending on how they are taught. Even though films and TV programs shouldn’t make up the bulk of teaching on any given subject, they can and should be used as a means of deepening the sense of interest and enthusiasm that students feel for a given topic.
A good film depiction of a historical scene, for example, can make it a lot more emotionally resonant and engaging.
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