Project based learning is a non-traditional way of
teaching content in meaningful, creative, and global-connecting way. With technology being the forefront of our
student’s interest, project based learning allows students to solve problems, develop
solutions, and analyze the future in ways that are very different from the
traditional classroom. Generally when
students drive their own learning their attention is increased. While viewing three different videos on www.edutopia.com
based on project based learning for different student ages, subjects, and areas
a few common threads emerged. First, for
any age, it is important that students work in groups and actively engage with
their peers. The groups had to study,
design, and execute a common problem. They
also had to determine how to settle differences within their group. Many times the topics that the projects were
based around were not select by the teacher, but were driven by student
discussions. The second common thread of
project based learning at any grade or subject was the ability of teachers to
deliver content from many different subjects with one project. Who doesn’t like to complete more with less?
Enabling teachers and students to cover multiple subjects is an empowerment to
the public education system, and develops life-long learners. And lastly, I noticed that while viewing all
the videos, not one student had a textbook out or were writing notes. All students were actively engage,
passionate, and opinionated.
The student and teachers roles in project based
learning differ greatly from the traditional classroom; however, there are
still core educational laws and practices that remain effective. I discovered that the teacher still played
the main initial role of planning, rubrics, assignments, and timeline of these
projects, and had to correlate the projects to state standards. But, in one case, Geometry Students Angle In Architecture Through Project Learning,
the teacher was not the assessor of mastery of a standard, experts in the field
were those who assessed and assigned a grade based on students’ culminating presentations
(Armstrong, 2002). Teachers seemed to be more of a coach during
the process too rather than the lead.
Students were really in the driver’s seat with the projects. Many times curiosity and discussions drove
initial ideas and development of the projects.
It seemed as if students set their own goals in the project by
questioning the world around them. This also
allows the content to be taught in a manner that is relative and interesting
for the student. Students also seemed to
play a more reflective role at the end by either responding to prompts or
writing a journal entry about the success and difficulties of working in a
group. One item that really caught my
interest was the use of volunteers as mentors, coaches, and experts during the
project. These volunteers were able to
donate their time in ways they probably never thought their careers would
generate. Also, the fact that they work
in the field every day allows them to excite students in to career choices that
may have not been discovered.
This non-traditional style of learning is effective
in increasing student engagement, knowledge acquisition, and transfer in ways that
the best traditional lesson cannot compete with. In project based learning student engagement is
at an all-time high due to the fact that the topics and goals are student derived. This places more of an emphasis and pride on
the importance of meeting the deadlines for the project. Students also find themselves engaged the
majority of the time because they are discussing the future. In the video, From Worms to Wall Street,
elementary students were discussing the causes and possible cures of Cystic Fibrosis
(Curtis, 2001). They also wanted to determine a different
future for one of their classmates. In
another video, based on a high school geometry class, high school student
developed plans for a school in the year 2050 (Armstrong, 2002).
These projects based were on the discussion and prediction of the future
created an excitement in students that lacks in a traditional classroom.
In project based
learning, the educational environment tends to be rich and diverse. Students are able to acquire knowledge in a
different way and apply the objectives in a lesson to real-world settings. Teachers are able to make curriculum viable
by placing an emphasis on the challenge aspect of the presentations in, Applying Math Skills to Real-World Problems. In this same article, the real-world was
really tapped into when students had to think of ways to develop an
energy-efficient building. The exemplar
that really hit on the idea of gaining knowledge from a source that is not your
teacher or textbook was the Journey North: Children Practice Real Science byMonitoring Monarchs reference. Not
only did students create traditional pen pals with students in Mexico, but they
tracked and plotted the migration of the butterflies using the internet and
observing the phenomenon outside of their classroom. They were also able to generate a connection
that these natural happenings were studied by other students in far countries. The internet gave these students the ability
to extend their learning by creating global contact and communication. Project based learning tends to trick
students into taking responsibility of their own learning by making subjects
highly applicable and the best lessons utilized technology to gain information,
process, and produce relative materials at the end. A teacher is also quoted as saying, “Using
technology to represent learning has increased the quality of their work (Curtis,
2001)“. Technology empowers students to
be life-long learners. It is our
responsibility to teach them tools of developing a creative and intriguing mind
and not just the state set standards.
Reference List:
Armstrong, S.
(2002, February 11). Geometry students angle in
architecture through project learning. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects
Boss, S., &
Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing
project based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects in the digital
age. Washington, D.C.: International Society for Technology in Education.
Curtis, D. (2002,
June 6). March of the
monarchs: Students follow the butterflies' migration. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs
Curtis, D. (2001,
October 01). More fun than a
barrel of.. worms?!. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms
