An Introduction to Project Work

Find a topic which interests you. Brainstorm ideas with partners, class and teacher.

Choose a broad topic to begin with, e.g. The British Empire.

Narrow it down, but not too narrow e.g. The Legacy of the British Empire.

Decide on your approach to the topic and make a question/statement (thesis statement in the US) to show exactly what you will be investigating in your project, e.g. The legacy of the British Empire is both a gift and a burden for Englsih-speaking countries.

Which competence aims are you going to include or which aims have been set for the project?

For example in the suggested topic above, some of the competence aims from the curriculum for Social Studies English could be:

• tolke minst ett større skjønnlitterært verk og en film og et utvalg av annen engelskspråklig litteratur fra 1900-tallet og fram til i dag
• drøfte spørsmål knyttet til sosiale og økonomiske forhold i noen engelskspråklige land
• analysere en regional eller internasjonal konflikt der minst ett engelskspråklig land er involvert
• presentere et større fordypningsarbeid med emne fra samfunnsfaglig engelsk og vurdere prosessen

Research your topic thoroughly using different reliable sources of information, e.g.:

• course material
• the Internet
• encyclopedia
• books, magazines, journals, newspapers
• films, documentaries
• interviews

Evaluate and cite your sources correctly: How to Use, Evaluate and Cite Sources of Information

Your teacher will give you guidelines for your project and the assessment criteria, e.g.

• type of presentation (written, oral, oral + written, multimedia, group, individual, etc.)
• length of presentation
• additional hand-ins (e.g. project log)
• assessment criteria

Follow the guidelines carefully.

Below, you will find tips for working with different types of presentations:

Oral Presentation

Oral Presentation

How to Make a Visual Presentation

Written Project Paper

How to Write a Project Paper

You may be required to hand in a log of your work on the project as part of the assessment:

and perhaps make a final self-evaluation:

Working with Projects - Self Evaluation

The following indicate what the teacher may look for when assessing a presentation:

Evaluation Criteria for Project Paper

Assessment Form for Oral Presentations

Assessment Form for Written Task