This resource is for the 2018-24 specification. Please visit the 2025 section of the website for up-to-date materials.
One of the criticisms I levelled against the CAIE Team Project exemplar on underreported conflict was that the outcome seemed to be a video without much sign of planning to put it to use or to collect feedback on its effectiveness. What could we do about that? Here is a conversation which I imagine a teacher having with these talented students, guiding them towards a more satisfying fulfilment of their project aim. I have had versions of this conversation with many IGCSE GP students towards the end of their Team Projects. Could you apply the teacher’s questions to your own context?
| Teacher | So, it’s a week to the deadline. How is your team project going? |
| Student 1 | We’re pretty much finished. We edited the video to make it clear how the perspectives are cultural, like you suggested last time. |
| Teacher | Good job! Your issue is the low priority given to news of some armed conflicts, such as DR Congo, isn’t it. Remind me – what’s the aim of your project? |
| Student 2 | “To suggest and identify the ways we could bring more awareness to current conflicts.” |
| Teacher | Didn’t we talk about making that more achievement-oriented? |
| Student 1 | Yes, we changed it… um… it’s “To increase the attention people pay to underreported conflicts.” |
| Teacher | I like that better. Identifying and suggesting are steps along the way, but actually increasing that attention is the real change we want to see in the world. Does your video have a call to action? |
| Student 2 | Yes, it asks the viewer to visit three websites that provide under-represented news. |
| Teacher | Great. And how effective is your video? |
| Student 3 | Er… well, it represents the issue, cultural perspectives on it, and offers some solutions – so I guess it’s quite effective? |
| Teacher | [pause] Remind me again – what’s the aim of your project? |
| Student 3 | To increase the attention people pay to underreported conflicts. |
| Teacher | So now that you’ve made your video, are people paying more attention to underreported conflicts? |
| Student 3 | Er, well I guess not many people have seen our video yet. |
| Teacher | Well, your deadline is only a week from now, so you’d better get started putting your video to use. Who needs to see your video? |
| Student 4 | Er… everybody? |
| Teacher | Everybody in the world? |
| Student 1 | But we’re only students… |
| Teacher | Did you know, a primary school student got ten million hits and raised £130,000 with her blog about school meals? |
| Student 2 | Haha… that’s impressive, but I don’t think we’re ready to go viral. Our video isn’t good enough for the public to watch. The video production isn’t that good, and our level of analysis is… well, we aren’t experts. |
| Teacher | Here and now, with all this research you’ve done, comparatively speaking, you are the experts on this topic. So who needs to see your video and would find the standard acceptable? |
| Student 3 | Our friends? Family? |
| Student 1 | …classmates? |
| Teacher | How can you reach this audience? You’ve only got a week left. |
| Student 2 | I could ask our Head of Year if we could present it to in assembly next Tuesday. |
| Teacher | I like the sound of that. But I’m not going to organise it for you – you’ll have to go and ask her yourselves. And ask nicely – just because you’ve left it to the last minute doesn’t mean it’s her emergency, okay? |
| Student 3 | What if we can’t do it in assembly? Could we present it in a GP lesson? |
| Teacher | Not enough time. If you wanted to do that you needed to to plan it and let me know earlier. |
| Student 4 | I think we could do it in form time. |
| Teacher | Great. Now, supposing you show it to your form group, how will you know whether your video had any impact on them? |
| Student 1 | I guess we could give them a survey? |
| Teacher | Sure – a survey or interviews (or both). You need to plan ways to get feedback on how effective your video has been. Remind me one more time – what is your project aim? |
| All the students together | To increase the attention people pay to underreported conflicts! |
| Teacher | So what needs to go on your post-viewing questionnaire? |
| Student 4 | Questions to find out if they are paying more attention to underreported conflicts? — But they won’t have time to do anything about it if they take the survey just after the video. |
| Student 3 | Maybe we could show the video on Monday and then do the survey later in the week. We can compare the results to the class survey we already did. |
| Teacher | That could provide good material for your Reflective Paper, where you’ll have to evaluate your outcome in relation to your project aim. You also mentioned posting it for your friends and family on social media – a nice thing about doing that is it counts the number of views. But when you post it don’t miss the chance to ask for comments – then you’ll have richer feedback to use in your evaluation. |
| Student 1 | Wow, there’s a lot to do before we’re finished! I wish we’d noticed this sooner. |
| Teacher | I did tell you this before, but maybe it only makes sense to you now that you’ve reached this stage of the project. Better get busy! Remember to write up all these plans and actions in your notes document… |
Image by Yogesh Rahamatkar on Unsplash