I have recently been considering what makes a great science research project great. There certainly have been some common characteristics – long term involvement, metacognitively recognizing that the problem is significant to an authentic audience, working with an experienced and well-versed mentor. However, after having a talk with Ed Schmidt, science research director at Brewster High School, I realized that there is a very critical component which differentiates a good project from a great project.

A good project often will observe and analyze phenomena. However a great project offers a novel solution to a problem.

This is a very important distinction. I have had absolutely wonderful projects that have been observations of phenomenon – Igor’s mummichog study, Drew’s mummichog study, Aman & Caitlin’s ribbed mussel studies – many of the wonderful environmental projects I have done have focused on observing phenomena and reporting environmental impact. These have been very successful, however, the trick to take it to the next level is the novel solution aspect – Dayton’s coliform detector, Rebecca’s neural nets, Sara’s microwave strategy, Wesley’s fuel cell. These projects have an important distinction. Their contribution is not only reporting authentic information, but also includes a potential method or solution to evaluating or fixing the problem.
The challenge, therefore, is to get students thinking about new challenges and new solutions. Ones that are original, unique, and valuable.