"Learning by doing" takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to Project Based Learning. My experience with Project Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom has been limited. I have read a bit on the subject, but it was great to have the opportunity to see what PBL actually looks like in the classroom. Just like PBL itself, it takes a lot more than just reading about a topic to fully understand it.
Edutopia is a great website created by The George Lucas Educational Foundation that houses a wealth of resources on teaching and learning strategies that help educators create dynamic 21st century classrooms. The site provides videos, resources, ideas, exemplars, and much more at no cost for the K-12 classroom.
My education in PBL began at Newsome Park Elementary School and the article More Fun Than A Barrel of... Worms?! by Diane Curtis. Students at all grade levels were participating in PBL throughout the school. Projects ranged from learning about, and trading on the New York Stock Exchange and creating their own business, to research about a classmates disease, to becoming "Wormologists." Another great example of PBL came from students at Mountlake High School and was featured in the article Geometry Students Angle Into Architecture Through Project Learning by Sara Armstrong. With this project, students used the math they learned to design and create schools of the future for the year 2050. Yet another example of how PBL can work, with even the youngest students came from students at Rockledge Elementary School as described in the article March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration, also written by Diane Curtis. Here, students tracked the migration path of the monarch butterfly from Canada to Mexico.
While all of these projects covered a wide variety of topics over different grade levels, there were many commonalities to be found. One of the first things I noticed was that there was a flexibility in the curriculum that allowed for these projects to take place. All of the projects were infused with state standards and were cross curricular. Something else that I found exciting about the design of all of the projects was how they incorporated the use of field experts as a resource. They brought in real world experts as resources to support and evaluate the students' work. All of the projects had a variety of end products within each project and they were all cross-curricular. Every project included components from each academic discipline. It provided accessibility for all students at every entry point. Most importantly, all of the projects had students working on real-world issues and had them making connections to the greater world.
The role of the teacher and the students is very different from those in a traditional classroom. The teachers plan the components of the projects so that they are relevant to the students, but the students do the work in educating themselves. They do the work to become the experts on the topic. In the end, they present their projects to an audience as experts and are able to speak knowledgeably on their topic and field questions, as would any field expert. They take pride and ownership of what they have learned and are excited to share it. The teachers' work is mostly in the planning, the support in developing project ideas, creating valuable assessment tools, and to support students during the process. Teachers help by providing feedback and questioning to stimulate thinking in the students. At no point is the teacher teaching the students how to move through their project.
As one student from Newsome Park Elementary stated, "If you find it yourself, it stays in your brain." I think this sums up why educators promote PBL. Teachers provide a time and space for students to explore things that they are interested in learning about. Teachers and students develop their project ideas together, giving students a say in their education process and what they learn. The skills they develop and the knowledge they gain stay with them because it is something they wanted to know or needed to learn to do in order to accomplish their goal. Just as kids will figure out how to beat a video game, only to go on to master the next version, they are able to transfer the skills they learned to use in one project and apply and adapt them to other similar tasks. Project Based Learning is a way to develop critical thinking and life-long skills in students that they can own and use throughout their lives.
Resources
Armstrong, S. (2002). Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects
Curtis, D. (2001). More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?!. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms
Curtis, D. (2002). March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs
Edutopia is a great website created by The George Lucas Educational Foundation that houses a wealth of resources on teaching and learning strategies that help educators create dynamic 21st century classrooms. The site provides videos, resources, ideas, exemplars, and much more at no cost for the K-12 classroom.
My education in PBL began at Newsome Park Elementary School and the article More Fun Than A Barrel of... Worms?! by Diane Curtis. Students at all grade levels were participating in PBL throughout the school. Projects ranged from learning about, and trading on the New York Stock Exchange and creating their own business, to research about a classmates disease, to becoming "Wormologists." Another great example of PBL came from students at Mountlake High School and was featured in the article Geometry Students Angle Into Architecture Through Project Learning by Sara Armstrong. With this project, students used the math they learned to design and create schools of the future for the year 2050. Yet another example of how PBL can work, with even the youngest students came from students at Rockledge Elementary School as described in the article March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration, also written by Diane Curtis. Here, students tracked the migration path of the monarch butterfly from Canada to Mexico.
While all of these projects covered a wide variety of topics over different grade levels, there were many commonalities to be found. One of the first things I noticed was that there was a flexibility in the curriculum that allowed for these projects to take place. All of the projects were infused with state standards and were cross curricular. Something else that I found exciting about the design of all of the projects was how they incorporated the use of field experts as a resource. They brought in real world experts as resources to support and evaluate the students' work. All of the projects had a variety of end products within each project and they were all cross-curricular. Every project included components from each academic discipline. It provided accessibility for all students at every entry point. Most importantly, all of the projects had students working on real-world issues and had them making connections to the greater world.
The role of the teacher and the students is very different from those in a traditional classroom. The teachers plan the components of the projects so that they are relevant to the students, but the students do the work in educating themselves. They do the work to become the experts on the topic. In the end, they present their projects to an audience as experts and are able to speak knowledgeably on their topic and field questions, as would any field expert. They take pride and ownership of what they have learned and are excited to share it. The teachers' work is mostly in the planning, the support in developing project ideas, creating valuable assessment tools, and to support students during the process. Teachers help by providing feedback and questioning to stimulate thinking in the students. At no point is the teacher teaching the students how to move through their project.
As one student from Newsome Park Elementary stated, "If you find it yourself, it stays in your brain." I think this sums up why educators promote PBL. Teachers provide a time and space for students to explore things that they are interested in learning about. Teachers and students develop their project ideas together, giving students a say in their education process and what they learn. The skills they develop and the knowledge they gain stay with them because it is something they wanted to know or needed to learn to do in order to accomplish their goal. Just as kids will figure out how to beat a video game, only to go on to master the next version, they are able to transfer the skills they learned to use in one project and apply and adapt them to other similar tasks. Project Based Learning is a way to develop critical thinking and life-long skills in students that they can own and use throughout their lives.
Resources
Armstrong, S. (2002). Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects
Curtis, D. (2001). More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?!. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms
Curtis, D. (2002). March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs
