Week Two | 5/4–5/8
Final Project: Step #1 | Choosing a Topic
Review the idea of project-based learning through this PBL graphic:
Your goal is to check off each of the seven elements there as you work your way through the seven steps of the Final Project. Whether or not you have a topic in mind — and even if you made great strides with the Senior Talk — you should spend this week reading, thinking, and discussing what is possible.
There are many ways to find a challenging problem or question, for instance. How about the Japanese concept of ikigai?
This is another angle on the Pareto Project idea of finding your passion, but it’s bigger than that — perfect for the final months of your senior year, in fact. Ask yourself:
- What are you good at doing?
- What does the world need?
- What can you be paid for?
The third question is perhaps not as inspiring as the other two, but it’s no less essential. As for the world around us: We are weathering a generational crisis, so you are witnesses to what the world needs. You could (and perhaps should) consider making this Final Project somehow related to this moment in history.
You also have the original set of options for the Senior Talk, as outlined in that February post. Here they are again, with some edits:
Option A: Pareto Projects | One intention of your Pareto Project was to generate a topic for any sort of Final Project. This applies whether you maintained the same passion project for the entire year or rebooted it. The connection to a final project may be obvious, or it may take some divergent thinking. As always, you should ask for feedback when you need it.
Option B: Self-Prescribed Book | Your self-prescribed book project is another option for the Final Project. Could it be evolved into something more substantial? Could it be turned into a video essay or other artifact? Again, the best approach is to brainstorm in class about the connections between your book, any work you’ve done toward a book-driven project, and this Final Project.
Option C: Research-Driven Essay | The research-driven essay may also lead directly into a Final Project. The research portion can serve a kind of double duty, since two of the seven steps outlined here involve research. What else could you do to expand on your statement of purpose, if you got to that step? What could be done with the writing to turn it into something more substantial?
Option D: New Focus | If you like, of course, you can develop a new topic. You can talk with peers, talk to me, ask questions in the comment section below — whatever inspires you. Consider that ikigai concept. Revisit projects you created earlier this year, in previous years, for other classes, and so on.
Regardless of what you think you’ll do for this project, spend as much time as possible this week simply exploring. The best way to find a topic is to read, watch, and listen to as much as you can.
To help, here are some video essays chosen to help you think divergently about topics and what you do with them. Look at them for potential final products, sure, but focus also on the insight in each one.
First, a series of literature-based video essays from Storied and PBS Digital Studios. You can load the entire playlist of It’s Lit here, or sample the earliest video in the playlist:
Lindsay Ellis, one of the people featured there on PBS Digital Studios, has her own channel, and there is a playlist of 35 video essays there. The most recent video there is about Cats, and it deals intelligently with what a musical is, how an adaptation works, and why Cats was such a failure as a movie:
You might also enjoy Polygon’s Brian David Gilbert, who has a terrifically insightful series of video essays exploring video games. Each video turns its original concept into a discussion of societal, philosophical, existential topics. This video, for instance, teaches the monomyth and hero’s journey:
Every episode of Unraveled is excellent, especially if you are looking for atypical topics to pursue.
You might also want to try your hand at a video tutorial of sorts, like the WIRED series that explains concepts through five levels of complexity:
You could try to do something similar. WIRED also has an excellent process analysis of beatboxing that is posted outside of the 5 Levels playlist:
Process-analysis projects can be an excellent way to explore something you are passionate about, good at doing, and able to teach others.
Ask questions about these examples or any other aspect of this week’s work in the comments below.
