Choosing an appropriate Project Title

What makes a successful PQ Title?

When you are choosing the title for your PQ, bear in mind the following points:

1. A good title is clear and specific. You need to have a sharp focus for your project.

The title can take different forms, depending on which unit you are entering for:

• For a dissertation, you should have a specific research question.

• For a performance, you need to have a commission from a client. (The client could be real or imaginary).

• For an artefact, you should have a design brief; again, this will involve establishing a purpose for the artefact which relates to the needs of a client (either a real or a hypothetical client).

2. A good title will lead you into research.

All forms of Project involve significant research. If you have chosen a good title, it will be fairly obvious where you need to begin researching. On the other hand, if your title does not lend itself to research, this may well indicate that it isn’t really suitable. If you are struggling to find any research sources, then this may be an indication that your title isn’t suitable.

3. A good title will lead into a process of development work.

Your project should last for around 60 hours. If you pick a question which you can answer in a much shorter space of time, or if you pick a brief which can easily be met without much work, then you have probably not picked a suitable title. For written projects, there should be substantial development of argument. You should pick an open question: one that can be answered in different ways. Don’t pick a closed question which can be answered just by finding out the right pieces of information. There needs to be something to argue about.

In your project, you will be researching different answers, analyzing them, and arguing about which answer you think is best. This will mean looking at arguments and counter-arguments.

For performance or artefact projects, make sure that there are alternative possible developmental routes.

If you have chosen a suitable title, there should be different ways of designing or creating your project outcome. Then in your project, you will be able to explore these alternatives and evaluate them critically.

4. A good project title will lead to a set of objectives which can be evaluated.

Once you have decided on a potential title, think about the specific objectives for your project. The objectives are the tasks you need to complete in order to answer your question, test your hypothesis, or fulfil the commission or brief for your work. Normally there will be a few objectives. Think of them as the stages on the journey to the completion of your project. Bear in mind that one of the final stages in your project is the review stage. This is where you evaluate the extent to which you have achieved your objectives. It is important, then, that you have clearly defined objectives – otherwise it will be difficult to evaluate the extent to which your project has succeeded.

5. A good project title is at the right level

Remember that the Project Qualification is a Level 1 / 2 Qualification. This means that the level of work should be comparable to the work done for a GCSE level. It is worth bearing this in mind when choosing the initial question, brief, commission or hypothesis. If the level of material and ideas, you are working with is lower than GCSE standard, it will be difficult to access the full range of available marks.

6. A good project title will involve extending yourself beyond your other areas of study.

The project you produce should not be the same as one that could be submitted for a

different qualification. You need to show that you have done something different. This can happen in a number of ways:

• You can teach yourself a new skill.

• If you are doing a practical project, you may want to learn a new technique, work with new materials or work in a new medium.

• You can explore a topic from a number of different points of view. The

Project Qualification provides a great opportunity for cross-curricular study.

Keep a specific question in mind but explore it using ideas and methods drawn from different subjects.

• You could, for example, explore the ethics and science associated with the topic of human cloning, or animal welfare issues.

• You could look at the history, economics and politics of the European Union.

• You could look at the philosophy and psychology of mental illness, and so on.

• You could explore a topic which does fit within a single subject of study but analyse it in much greater depth.

Key to success is the choice of the Project title / design brief or commission. The best intended project can fail if the choice of topic is too wide.