A culminating activity is an event or project that aims to showcase what students have learned and if they can apply their new knowledge and/or a newly learned skill. It is a way for students to synthesize knowledge and experience gained throughout their program of study. The purpose of a culminating activity is to give students the opportunity to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge and to demonstrate that knowledge in a project.
Culminating activities can take many forms, including but not limited to:
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Research-based projects: Students develop a research project on which they are working or have previously completed for a course.
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Class books: Students create a class book based on their responses to an authors work.
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Displays: Students create a display highlighting an authors life and work.
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Oral presentations: Students present their project to a faculty panel and the presentation is interactive, in that the audience may ask questions of the student.
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Reflective essays: Students write a detailed reflective essay on their investigation into their culminating project.
A meaningful culminating project should be central to the purpose of the course or the unit and require students to think about important issues or questions. It should be multifaceted, requiring a number of skills, different learning styles, or mental intelligences, and assess more than one aspect of achievement. It should also be engaging and hold the interest of students over time.
It is important to note that culminating activities are not required by all schools, and parents and guardians would have to check with the students school official website for graduation requirements.
