The senior projects are a very different experience and have a completely different impetus than the 8th grade projects.  Whereas the 8th grade project is focused on learning a particular skill (hands on work) the senior project is focused on doing college level research and drawing conclusions (academic discovery).  The majority of time is spent writing a research paper.  Students use current, peer reviewed, empirical articles and compose a literature review to integrate into their work. They explore different methods of research such as observations, writing open-ended questionnaires, conducting interviews and coding responses. Ultimately they summarize their findings and draw conclusions of their own.