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Okay, now multiply that single project by two. Every student does two projects of 20 hours apiece, or one mega-project (with approval) for a total of 40 hours. Now multiply by 225 students. Divide by 90 or so faculty and perform the whole thing over 10 days. That's Project Week.
We do it twice a year, at the end of each semester, in lieu of final exams. It's the difference between "Can you recite everything we told you this semester?" versus "Show us what you learned" or "where to from here?". In terms of mastery of the material, we think Project Week is a better tool than final exams.
Projects range from the physics of holography you saw on the front page to the mathematics of hyperbolic trigonometry (embodied in the scale model of the Gateway Arch shown here) to rocket science which, as it turns out, wasn't as hard as everybody makes it out to be.
One project must come from the student's academic work while the other may grow out of evening arts activities. So among the scholarly papers and science exhibits, there are plenty of art projects and performances to show off on the final day of Project Week. Would it be easier to write, proctor and grade exams? You bet. But don't hold your breath. We're not going that way. You want to fill in ovals with a #2 pencils, you have to go someplace else.
For a look at some of the readings, recitals, dance, artwork, papers and one surprise of a fashion show, have a look at the following galleries: