Classroom: Projects

Guidelines

Form small groups and brainstorm on possible ideas for a project on SARS.

Look through this website and try to come up with questions on what you want to find out. You can also project work to prove your points of view or ideas in Think (Discussions). From there, try to think of basic platforms to start your project. You can consider doing a survey, conduct research or interviews to explore more on the subject of SARS.

Select a mentor to guide you throughout the project. After that, you may even consider designing a webpage or a PowerPoint presentation to present your information to the class or the world.

Possible ideas: Surveys

Conduct a survey (quantitative analysis) among your classmates, friends and family members to find out what your countrymen feel about SARS.

Things that you should take note when doing a survey:

• The sample size should be at least 30.
• You should have at least 5 questions in the survey.
• The font size in the survey form should be big enough.
• Remember to explain to the person why you are doing this survey.
• Remember to thank the person who helped you complete the survey.

Next, tabulate your results in a table or a graph. Present this information to your class in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.

Try to come up with suggestions to explain the results you have. E.g. What can be the possible reasons people are / (are not) afraid of SARS?

Sample Survey Form

We, (Names), are doing a survey to find out the general trend on people's perspective about SARS.

We would be glad if you can complete this survey. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Name: _______________________

Thank you for taking your time to complete this survey.

Possible ideas: Interviews

Come up with relevant questions on SARS, and find a person who is an expert on that particular topic to give his/her views.

• Contact the person before hand to make sure that he/she agrees to conduct an interview. Make an appointment. Inform the person what your objectives are.
• Borrow a video camera to take records of the interview. A cassette recorder can be used in place of the video camera. Remember to inform the interviewee that you will be keeping records. The interviewee has his/her own privacy rights.
• At least 2 persons should be conducting the interview. One will ask the questions, while the other will do the recording / videoing / note taking.
• Finally, thank the person for his/her time.

Upload the interview to the web, or share it with the class.

Possible ideas: Research

Using powerful search engines like Google or Yahoo!, search the net for information relating to your topic of interest. Research in depth to look for information. Besides the utilizing the web, you can also use books, conduct interviews to enhance your learning.

After that, make a webpage to compile your reports. You can also present your findings in the form of a report in Microsoft Word document format to the class.

Whatever the outcome, view your learning positively.

Sample Report Form

• Introduction
  Brief but detailed background.
  
  
• Objectives
  Includes target audience.
  
  
• Presentation of data
  Organized and effective layout.
  Make sure information can be well-understood.
  
  
• Evaluation
  Evaluate the difficulties the group faced in doing the project.
  Discuss the limitations of the project.
  
  
• Citation
  Bibliography (the APA style format is strongly recommended (see http://www.apastyle.org/elecsource.html)
  Acknowledgements (mentors, friends, etc)