While undertaking project method, identify the correct order of steps to be…

Concept

The project method is an experiential, learner-centred method in which learners carry a purposeful task through a fixed inquiry cycle. The cycle is ordered by dependency: what is to be studied is settled first, the way it will be studied is designed next, evidence is gathered, the gathered evidence is interpreted, and only then is the outcome judged. Each stage exists to produce the input that the following stage consumes, so the order is not a matter of preference.

Application to this item

Reading the five listed steps against that cycle:

1. Identify the topic — the purposing stage. It fixes the problem or theme of the project; until the subject is settled, no design, tool or source can be chosen.

2. Plan the study — the planning stage. With the topic fixed, the learner decides the design, the sources and tools, the timeline and the division of work.

3. Collect data — the executing stage. The plan is carried out and evidence is gathered with the instruments chosen while planning.

4. Analyze — the interpreting stage. The collected evidence is organised, classified and interpreted; there is nothing to analyse before it has been gathered.

5. Evaluate — the judging stage. The finished product and the process are judged against the purpose fixed at the start, using the conclusions the analysis produced.

Cross-check

Run the dependency chain backwards as an independent test: a judgement needs conclusions, conclusions need an analysis, an analysis needs data, data collection needs a plan, and a plan needs a topic. That backward reading reproduces the same chain, and it matches Kilpatrick’s classical four stages of the project method — purposing, planning, executing and judging — with analysis sitting inside the move from executing to judging.

Result

The correct order is: identify the topic → plan the study → collect data → analyze → evaluate, that is, the arrangement (B), (A), (D), (C), (E).