It is common knowledge in Nigeria as a nation that every individual seeking a first degree (undergraduates) at the end (last year) of their stay at the tertiary institution of learning, must, in fact, undergo one of the duties “dreaded part ” and strenuous of education (some students hire a writer to carry out their research(es) for them, popularly known among the educational population as a project or End of Year Project).
Many things come together to form the criteria for distinguishing who was successful in staying in school and otherwise. Continuous assessment, quiz, group work(s) and sometimes personal research and then, the mother of all, exams. All of these are, more or less, the criteria for weighing “bright” students from “dull.”
Where do final year projects come into the picture and why? We’ll take a closer look at it below.
Tertiary institutions are structured to be the ultimate point of training for professionals (graduates) who will duly fill in the gaps, if any, and make up the workforce industry. No one can be a lawyer, doctor, sociologist, engineer, architect without proper training at the University.
With that said, let’s take a quick look at one of the most vital and important parts of this aforementioned formation.
SUBJECTS OF THE END OF COURSE PROJECT.
What does a final degree or research project imply?
The definition of the word project provided by the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary will not serve our purpose in this article.
The end of degree project is the culmination of the degree: it gives students the opportunity to demonstrate everything they have learned. The project module is very different from other modules. The project tests students’ ability to: design, design and evaluate quality systems, research their chosen subject area.
This final year research project works, just like any other part of schooling has instead some difficulties associated with it.
One of which is the nature of the topics of the final year project.
The difficulties associated with this are not unreasonable, as although each topic of the project is important, we cannot deny the fact that there are some very difficult phenomena that will serve as the basis of the investigation.
For example, if the subject of the end-of-year project has a lot to do with the threats of cults and their effects on the student population of Nigerian tertiary institutions, we cannot discuss the obvious fact that it is a very important topic, but the process and the investigation might be a herculean one. How to approach this issue may not be the problem, but getting first hand information will be a serious problem.
Another difficulty students face is accessibility to important (undergraduate) research materials. It is a bitter truth to say that some tertiary institutions in Nigeria have poor libraries and old books. When students cannot access up-to-date books, by extension they will find it difficult to obtain adequate information vital for the completion of their final project.
Another difficulty students face is the nature of some of their project supervisors.
Supervisors are meant to supervise, support, advise, and assist students in the course of their research, but some of these supervisors only frustrate students’ work. Some students fervently pray to escape particular professors like supervisors when they finally reach the promised land.
The strict nature of a teacher coupled with his great taste for critical nature can scare students in the course of their project. I have seen situations where proctors cancel the first submissions made by their students for very trivial reasons that could easily be corrected.
Another difficulty that students face is the approval of the topics of the final project.
Normally this should go into effect as soon as possible so students can have enough time to research, conduct interviews and take quizzes so they can catch the worm early, but sometimes, for no concrete reason, approval is delayed too long and when finally is approved, students may not have enough time to execute the projects judicially.
Another difficulty faced by students to be honest is procrastination on the part of students.
Time management is one of the most imperative factors for students to duly consider in school, but some of the students procrastinate and when it is almost time for presentations, they rush, rush and rush their work. No, it won’t work well that way. it will not
In a situation where the final year project requires oral communication, dealing with people who may not be educated or literate per say, can be a bit of a problem. I know a lady whose senior research project was going to be carried out in a remote village and was going to conduct an interview with a faction of the villagers. Communicating with women was a serious problem for her.
Just like any other phenomenon in life in general, difficulties will surely come our way. Even roses have thorns.
It’s just a matter of hard work and dedication that can ease the stress that comes with projects. Being aware of the challenges and the very importance of projects to mold students and prepare them for what awaits them in the rest of the world and to be specific to their field of professionalism, tertiary institutions may want to come back to the table. of drawing and conjuring up ways to relieve the stress that students face during projects and also find ways to bring out the best in students over the course of this important exercise.
No one likes low grades, and the heavy credit load that comes with a senior project scares students into doing just about everything in their power to make sure they pass and do very well.
Nigerian students are hardly tarnished by difficult situations, they always find a way to make things happen.
Hard times don’t last but people do, and this in no way justifies carelessness on the part of students and teachers in this situation.
When we all do what we have to do, then we can make what we have always dreamed of come true.