Personal Thoughts about the Project

My thoughts, as an educator, about Paper Chase 2006, are that this has been a meaningful learning experience for both the students and myself. It is important for students and teachers to do coursework as collaborative groups because we all must work with groups of people both on the job and in our regular daily lives. Paper Chase offered this practical group working experience. The project idea was simple -- "don't waste paper," but the execution of the campaign was complex and took a lot of hard work and planning. It was important to me that the project concept remain positive, while at the same time the project was allowed to raise questions. My role as the instructor was to help the process along, directing the tasks and setting goals and deadlines for the students. The students' job was to execute our plans.



One limit affecting this type of group project is the time needed to implement the ideas. With only a few weeks to work during a ten week quarter, a project such as this must be realistic and feasible or it will fall apart or never be completed during the class schedule. Completion is important to student success and confidence building.

A second constraint for this type of project is that student participation can be inconsistent, and unreliable at times. A project like this relies on each member doing their part to help the whole. This can be overwhelming for some students, but a great experience in the end. This is why keeping the plans and goals realistic helps with the success of the group as a whole, even when some members don't contribute the same amount of effort, or perform no work. Students who worked hard were able to shine, and because the entire class worked together on one project, we bonded as a unified team.

Although we were all exhausted after the project concluded, the degree of pride and success we all felt was confirmation that the hard work was totally worthwhile.




As an artist, I was able to see ways that perhaps the subject of office paper waste can be a viable subject for continued research and exploration. This problem of waste is not only a symptom evident in learning institutions but it goes on throughout offices all through the Chicago loop and beyond. I hope to revisit these concerns in new work and future projects.