Avoid this
- Choosing a topic that is too broad
- Using jargon without explaining it
- Oversimplifying important details
High school project idea · Media & Communication
Make Complex Make Sense
Turn a confusing topic into a clear explainer people can actually understand.
Clear communication helps people make sense of a complicated world.
Original Compass project by Davisville LabsReviewed August 2026Goal real work, evidence, and reflectionEditorial standards →
Why this project matters
Learn by doing something real.
The world is full of important topics that feel too confusing, technical, or overwhelming for most people to understand. Strong communicators can take complexity and make it clear without dumbing it down. This project helps students practice research, explanation, audience awareness, structure, and media production by turning a difficult topic into something useful and understandable.
What you will create
Your project plan
Use these deliverables as milestones for Make Complex Make Sense. Adapt the details to your interests, available time, and real-world opportunities.
- 01
Confusing Topic Brief
Choose one complex topic and explain why people find it confusing, important, or easy to misunderstand.
- 02
Audience & Clarity Map
Define who the explainer is for, what they already know, what they misunderstand, and what they should understand by the end.
- 03
Research & Source Notes
Gather credible sources, key facts, definitions, examples, and context needed to explain the topic accurately.
- 04
Final Explainer
Create a polished article, video, podcast, infographic, slideshow, or visual guide that makes the topic clear and memorable.
- 05
Explainer Case Study
Publish a portfolio-ready case study explaining the topic, audience, research, format choice, feedback, revisions, and lessons learned.
Make the work stronger
What separates a finished project from a meaningful one?
For Make Complex Make Sense, use these checkpoints to protect the quality of the work without turning the project into a performance for admissions.
Evidence that it is working
- A complex topic was selected
- A target audience was defined
- Credible research was gathered
If you want to go further
- Test the explainer with five people
- Create the same explainer in two different formats
Skills you can build
Capabilities that travel beyond this project.
Clear CommunicationResearch SynthesisEditingTeaching Through MediaCritical Thinking
College application value
Use the project as evidence, not decoration.
Demonstrates intellectual curiosity, communication, research ability, creativity, teaching skill, critical thinking, and the ability to make complex ideas accessible to others.
Intellectual CuriosityCommunicationResearch AbilityCreativityCritical Thinking
The goal of Make Complex Make Sense is not to manufacture an impressive activity. Do real work, keep evidence of the process, and reflect honestly on what changed.
Related college majors
Which fields connect to this work?
Use Make Complex Make Sense as a clue, then open a related major guide to compare coursework, career directions, reality checks, and other ways to test the field.
Major guide
International Business
Understand how organizations operate across markets, cultures, and borders.
Major guide
Communication
Study how people create meaning, influence one another, and communicate across relationships, organizations, media, and culture.
Major guide
Linguistics
Study the patterns, structures, meanings, and social life of language.
How this guide was made
Read editorial standards →Make Complex Make Sense is an original Compass educational starting point designed around real work, visible evidence, feedback, and reflection. It is not an admissions guarantee.
Ready to build it?
Try this project in Compass