Are large-scale, multidisciplinary projects an effective way to increase student motivation?
Student Reflections
"Before (The Global Citizen Project), I thought if you lived in a poor place or if you were in poverty, I thought that was your fault, I thought it was your fault for making those choices. But after... I realized that it's not always your fault, maybe its where you were born or there was wars and you ended up in refuge camps, that's not your fault."
"(Now), whenever I eat or brush my teeth or even sleep I think about how lucky I am, and before I never really knew that poverty could be that serious. It makes me feel this feeling where I want to help but also know that no matter how much the world changes and how much human society evolves there will always be unfairness and poverty. I also admire people who have been through such tough times because most of the time they are the people with bigger hearts and who help the most and try to make a bigger difference. I think the poverty race was such a clever lesson after it I just kept thinking about how well the message was displayed it really made me think about how privilege can really affect your opportunity's and quality in life no matter how hard you work. The novel really widened my perspective of the world by explaining some other peoples way of living and before I didn't really know much about tribes in Kenya and it has been really interesting learning about them. Now I am very curious about other places in the world and how they live. Overall I definately think that I have a very different perspective to when we first started talking about poverty."
"I think I really got so much better at making my presentation have less words on screen so the audience has to listen to me and not just have to read. I think this has made it so that people will pay more attention when I speak while presenting. another thing I think I have improved greatly on is presenting better in a group. Improving on this was something that I really was not really great at before this project and I think it will really help me in the future."
"Something that stood out to me was how so many things that will happen in your life are based on things beyond your control, like who your family is, the town/city you were born in and etc. I find this because the poverty race, the game we played to determine where we started was based on pure luck. It stood out to me in the race because I ended up near the very back, and there were people who were more than 10 large steps ahead of me! I also see the same thing in Dr. Zopoula's life. the place he was born and the family he was born into were very poor, causing many of the events in his life. it has made me feel more lucky and appreciative of my awesome family and the amazing town I live in! I now truly know how lucky I really am."
"It has made me more grateful. It has made me more confident. And it has made me more brave. Also more caring. It taught me how to really work with a group. It taught me to trust in your teammates. it taught me how to use excel somewhat. It has kinda taught me how to start a business. Also it taught me to speak with more confidence. Also not to get stage fright."
"While working on this project I've learned many things, first off I have learned the amazing power of micro loans. Before I thought charity and donation was the only way to help, but micro loans are a great option, because donating is good but its not really sustainable, with micro loans people can start their own businesses and grow their own profit and keep up their income and become really successful. I also learned the importance of educating people if we educate maybe just a small community like Revelstoke just imagine how many people would be putting their money towards micro loans instead of donating. while working on this project I have also learned the importance of engaging the audience and using humour in your presentations. another important aspect I've learned about is of course how to plan a business, I have learned that there is loads of details and planning put into making a business. Thinking about it if it took a couple of weeks for us to plan a small business I can definitely see big corporations taking months if not years to come up with all of the important details to make their pitches and businesses successful. overall I think this project had very many learning opportunities."
"When we did the poverty race, at first I thought that it was kind of unfair because there's all these people in front of the line and a whole bunch behind. After the race I felt the need to help those people who are at the back of the line. I'm glad that we are raising money for poverty and helping."
"I learned about having a strong introduction and engaging the audience. I also learned how to not read off the slides. The first presentation I did was nothing compared to the global citizen project, this project is one of my best presentations ever. I learned so much, I learned how to get the audience engaged and to stick with a theme the whole time. I started off by reading off the slides, talking very quietly, facing the screen to memorizing my lines, having a good volume and facing the audience. Working on this project I learned a lot about microloans and how their an effective way to help people in poverty, and to help them start business, and to help not just their selves but their family too. I think I've also gotten better at my public speaking skills. I can be very shy sometimes speaking front of a lot of people but this presentation I felt very confident and it went very well. This is how I've grown and learned through working on this presentation."
"I learned that you are born with certain privileges and it it very hard to earn more. The poverty race was a good example of that because if you started in the back you had to work very hard but if you were in the front it was simple. Even though it is hard you can still make it like Dr. Zopoula did, he started with very few privileges and then got less but he then very slowly got more and more and now he is a very important person. I have realized that the world is very unfair and that we are very lucky to have what we do."