Organization: The key to a strong project?

No matter how one goes about it, organization is critical when researching

This past week in the Age of Exploration class, we began a new project, in which the entire class will work together to create a documentary on a part of the American Revolutionary war.  Perhaps the most complicated part of this project will not be creating the documentary itself, but organizing and utilizing the skills of each and every member of the class.  I am lucky to be working on this project with a group of students who are hardworking and who I have tremendous confidence in, but what is the best way to go about organizing this project?

After meeting with an extremely helpful film producer and creator, our class’ plan to break  the class up into pods and groups was cemented.  Before the meeting we had already divided the class into five different units, the directors, researchers, making of video creators, editors, and filmers.  Although each member of the class was put into a specific group, we made it clear that these groups were flexible, and anybody could go to any group with an idea if they felt it could potentially benefit the project as a whole.  If each group accomplishes their task with efficiency and hard work, I have no doubt in my mind that our final product will be successful, because I believe everybody in our class has a vision of what our production will look like.

“Successful organizing is based on the recognition that people get organized because they, too, have a vision.”
-Paul Wellstone

In every research-based project I have done, especially those I have done in Age of Exploration, organization has played a crucial role.  Whether creating a presentation for my classmates, or writing an in-depth research narrative, organizing all of my information and creative ideas into a successful product can be extremely challenging.  Before enrolling in Age of Ex, I was a poor organizer, and my work could suffer because of that.  But diving into countless resources and withdrawing extensive knowledge from that research can become impossible if one does not organize their time, thoughts, information, and ideas.  I believe that developing strong organizational skills is another fantastic benefit to research-based learning, because it is yet another ability that will not only assists us as scholars, but also as human beings.

Tagged: organization, project, project management, project-based learning

Posted in: Projects