First, students are often more invested in projects than regular assignments beacuse they select the topic and plot the course for developing it. By the end of the project, the student will have solid knowledge about the topic. Second, the porocess of doing the projects teaches students skills, such as researching, designing, planning, organizing, etc. Be sure to carefully plan out the projects you assign. It's important for students to come away from a project with new knowledge and practiced skills.
Ideas Keep a project journal of the group work.
If students are working on projects in a group, ask each student to record their experience working with the group, or you could also ask the group to keep one journal. For individual projects, students may benefit from keeping a journal that discuss the progress and frustrations of the project. You can read the journals periodically to see how things are coming along. Assign spokespeople and roles. For projects in groups, assign roles to each memeber of the group.