Contents Introduction main body

Conclusion
As stated previously this project was run concurrently with a live project with a group from the same subject area and parallels were drawn with the behaviour of both cohorts. Students from the live project were interviewed and asked to draw comparisons with that project and any other project that they had enjoyed doing in their time at university. Students from the active case study were asked if they thought the project had differed from the previous projects, and crucially, were these differences an enhancement to their learning experience. The students from the live project groups universally remarked that the project had taken them out of their comfort zone. A quote from one of them illustrates this point ‘we know that our lecturers have an understanding of our work and of us. When we presented to the people at AMG we had no idea of their levels of understanding, so we felt we had to explain more’. The active case study group concurred with this statement, adding that having to review the projects content, for the purposes of creating the client presentation, helped them to comprehend the task as a whole. All of the groups had felt the need to produce materials that were to be left with the clients to aid communication, See Fig 3. Another similarity that can be drawn from both groups’ responses to the interview questions was that having to go to an unknown location to present their work had focussed their attentions on how to construct a presentation and what materials they would require to articulate their ideas clearly and professionally. This contrasts with presentations that take place in the studios where there is a high level of familiarity with the surroundings.
The major conclusions that form the findings of this study are that students see lecturers as less strict and with a more detailed knowledge of their projects then strangers, and therefore though not skimping on work, they do less preparation for presentation. Resulting in their personal review of the project is less comprehensive than might otherwise be the case. The venue for the presentation is clearly important in fostering this sharpened attitude. The revelation that the active case study and the live project returned similar results would indicate that the study’s aims were a success.