| Web projects help liberate students from the shackles of ingrained habits. When students have been trained to reproduce a certain ‘form’, ‘structure’ and ‘style’ in their work, the apparent formlessness of the Web may come as a shock to them. They panic and resent these projects. This is always the case, no matter how detailed the brief, or how much support is offered by way of comment and consultation time, scrutinising and commenting on project outlines and drafts. I have found that assurance works best—students need to know that if they put in the effort, the walk on the wild side will still yield them their desired results.
The greatest challenge, however, is that students have to work in groups to complete a reasonably good Web project. The lack of coordination shows up in a way that is more difficult to detect in written reports. Students discover for themselves the possibilities of group synergies and dynamics as well as the power of true brainstorming. When the project is successful, it inspires students to believe that they have more to contribute to the group.
When it fails, students are disappointed and may even feel that the teacher has jeopardised their futures. In these instances, I stand firm and point them to the best examples of group work that demonstrate how the whole is more than the sum of its parts. I remind them that they have been warned about the snares of group dynamics and how they must confront these problems as they arise, or suffer the consequences in their final grade. I then suggest that perhaps there was something he or she could have done differently and commiserate.
Group chemistry is elusive and it is unfair that a part of students’ grades should be based on something outside their control. But this is what life is. Team work assumes that the individual is not the only unit of assessment and grading must not only reflect that but it must also take into account the vagaries of group chemistry.
Most of my students will not become philosophers but they will have to come to terms with team work, throw themselves into group processes and communicate their vision in various media (e.g. conversation, writing and multimedia presentations). Web projects offer students a gentle introduction to the rough and tumble of working life and a chance to bid farewell to the boundaries of their childhood.
Because of their nature, Web projects are also equalisers because academic disciplines are founded on linear thinking and students whose intellectual personalities are non-linear often cannot exhibit their best qualities in the conventional modes of assessment. The most powerful, if daunting and controversial, argument for introducing Web projects is that they call for non-linear thinking. I believe that much of day-to-day life has to be lived in non-linear fashion and that rigour comes only after the raw and messy business of making connections creatively.
Sadly, I am rethinking the wisdom of Web projects today. When I first started introducing them, group projects were a novelty—students had just that little bit more time to explore. Today, the average Arts student takes five modules per semester and is often too stretched for time. Most have difficulty keeping up with readings and are dissuaded from enrolling for the module because they dread group projects.
The piecemeal solution is to tailor the evaluation process to reflect these contingencies of the academic culture. But the real question is whether the curriculum leaves room for creative thinking. Maybe creativity can be nurtured with a dose of unstructured time.
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