Along with the changing times, it is no surprise that education is also evolving. Learning is not limited to the classrooms now and teachers are not its only source. The times of reading the textbooks and solving the worksheets are gone and education has moved on to a more practical approach. The best schools in Sonepat are making academics more project-based where the students can learn in an interesting way. But written assignments have their benefits as well and a complete shift is never beneficial. And this gives rise to the debate about what is best for learning in the current times, projects or written assignments?

School projects can vary in their nature. It can either be to build a scaled-down model of some real entity or can entirely be research-based. Assignments, on the other hand, are generally a series of questions and answers or essays. Both can individually help a student to learn but it is the difference in their execution that gives one higher preference over the other.

Projects can be off-topic but assignments are generally within the curriculum

An assignment on World War II will generally be to solve the questionnaire that comes at the end of each chapter. The teacher may ask the students to refer to multiple textbooks to frame their answers. No matter what the task is, the research will generally not go out of the prescribed curriculum. A project on the same topic may be to create a report on the technologies used during those times. The motive here is to gather the information that is outside the syllabus but still a part of history. Projects can encourage research in a positive way where traditional assignments tend to lag a bit.

Projects are a group task, assignments are a solo act

The top boarding CBSE schools in Sonepat will almost always make the projects a group activity. This instills teamwork among the students that are vital even for their future careers as well. They learn to work together on a single topic, delegate responsibilities, and help each other out. Assignments, contrary to these, are meant to be individual tasks. It may not teach students to work in a group, but it helps them to be self-dependent. Completing a task on their own can develop a sense of satisfaction and confidence that can boost their academic performance. In this respect, both projects and written assignments are winners.

Evaluation through assignments are easier which projects can mask

At the end of the day, the teachers have to evaluate a student to quantify their performance. A group project cannot always bring out individual capabilities. A student may very well depend on others to complete the task and there is simply no way for the teacher to know how much work was put in by whom. This is where written assignments come in to test a student’s abilities. It can be a guideline to help that student with his/her weaknesses. Even beyond projects when other evaluations like exams come in, a student is on his/her own and he/she must learn to act alone. Assignments have the upper hand here when individual evaluation is a criterion.

Projects can be hands-on learning, written assignments follow a textbook approach

Projects can include a field trip to a science museum, watching a movie to understand its relevance, or building a model to describe a scientific phenomenon. It can be a variety of things where students can learn through experience. Instead of reading about a certain thing, a project can include dissecting the real-life entity to understand the working. Traditional written assignments are generally not this experimental but schools are improvising here as well. Reviewing a book or movie are current day assignment and mere question answers are no more the only way. Here, projects and assignments are standing together as winners.

Projects enhance demonstration capability, assignments show writing skills

Students are generally required to demonstrate their projects in front of a class. This is a vital skill going forward and written assignments cannot help build it. Presenting a report boosts communication skills and gives students confidence in public speaking. However, the ability to express oneself on paper is also necessary and this is why you cannot keep written assignments out. A majority of the communication will happen over written medium and students must be able to show their assertion while writing as well. Both projects and assignments impart their individual benefits and stand together here as well.

To conclude

There must be a perfect balance of both, something that Swarnprastha, one of the top 5 schools in Sonepat, follows. The institution has a perfect blend of both projects and written assignments included in their curriculum to give their students the best from both worlds. One cannot entirely substitute the other and there truly cannot be any comparison. Every student must be exposed to both to have the best form of learning. Both are here to stay and, of course, improvisation will continue.