Faculty Perspective

Fred: Students go through a lot of preparation. They bring everything to bear to start solving the problem they'll be working on. They take a prep course and complete a pre-qualifying project (PQP) during the term prior to traveling to the site. The ID2050 course focuses on some of the techniques of doing research, how to write the paper, and how to think more globally and long term about the project. During the PQP preparation, the students better understand what their role is going to be and they work specifically with their team on their project in an effort to hit the ground running when they arrive.

Fred: Prior to coming to Bar Harbor or any project center, WPI does a lot in terms of prepping the students relative to safety, how to maneuver through a culture, and what to do in case there's an emergency. During the term before traveling to the project center, the students are introduced to the culture of Bar Harbor—in particular, the history of Acadia National Park. There are lots of things we try to get across to the students because it's going to help them understand their project better and give them some more insight into what's going on in the park. One of the biggest transformations I observe is once a student is in Bar Harbor, the environment comes into play. Prior to being here, it's just a project. But as soon as they climb to a summit, get on a boat, go to a lake, become lost on a hike, they start to realize there's a lot to learn about the environment. This is when the project really starts to take shape.

Fred:If projects begin to deviate from the original concept, it's almost always a good sign because it shows some type of growth. A key reason is the dynamics created from the students' working with the park staff, many of whom have 40+ years of park experience and are extremely dedicated to the work they do. Students are often struck by their sponsor’s commitment—and that changes the project. Sometimes a ranger will say something and a light bulb goes off in a student's thoughts and then there's a new idea and the ranger agrees with that idea and all of a sudden the project starts to evolve. That kind of flexibility is one of the primary characteristics of working in a group on a project in Acadia National Park.

Fred: One of the biggest challenges relates to working in a team. Our culture teaches us that we are very individualistic, but when you work as a team, somebody else may have a different vision of the world. Others may have a different sensibility aesthetically—something about art—or somebody may know a little more about technology. The students who are really successful in this environment must have some humility as to how much they know so they can grow that knowledge.

Fred: In most cases, they spend a lot of time working on their projects. That can be evaluated—that can be quantified as there's a metric we look at. The thing that we can't quantify is the experience they're having off campus. Sometimes, that manifests itself easily, but oftentimes it doesn't; a deeper transformation goes on. That's what inspires students over the long run. That's what sticks with them. A few years down the road, many forget exactly what their project was, but they don't forget what changed them during that time. It's hard to put a number on that; it's hard to put a metric on that—but it definitely is there.

Fred: One of the biggest impacts on students when they come to Bar Harbor, or to any project center, is the level of achievement they experience. That translates to a level of confidence. It happens from working in a group. This is the essence of the whole WPI experience—students working in interdisciplinary teams. If team members include biology, electrical engineering, and music majors, the potential for growing and experiencing things beyond each individual person's experience is very high. The whole interaction within the interdisciplinary group moves students forward in terms of their confidence. I've heard so many students reflect on the experience by saying, "I accomplished things that I didn't think I could do."

Fred: It's defined in many different ways. Certainly there's a way to quantify what the student have done while off campus—how they've interacted as a group, the many benchmarks they've had to achieve, etc. But there's a component that's more difficult to value—how much a student has grown personally. A lot of academic programs shy away from that kind of evaluation but that's the kind I look for because I see it as being equally as important to the project experience itself. It's about where they've started and where they end. That's the growth I like to see.

Fred: The project experience manifests itself in many different ways with students. In particular, it's the first time in their academic experience that they're working exclusively on a project in a group atmosphere over an extended period of time. That has a transforming effect on students. When you put two people together, three people together, four people together, you have a much larger domain and experience to draw upon. When that happens, a certain chemistry begins with the students and that transformation is what effects students the most. They go on in their careers and in their lives and they use that information, they use that experience, and occasionally they reflect to where it all began and how important it was.

Fred: Students contact me frequently—that's the great part about my role as a project advisor. Some students who were at Bar Harbor six years ago will reach out to let me know what they are doing now and express that they often think back on their experience in Bar Harbor and the skills they gained there.