176: Introduction to Project Based Learning

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Brief History of PBL
  • Neuroscience and psychological research
    • learning is partly a social activity
    • learning involves exploring, negotiating, interpreting and creating
  • Changes to the world
    • More technology
    • Greater demand for workers with strong collaboration, critical thinking and communication skills
Defining Standards-Focused PBL
  • PBL definition: systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks.
  • Features of outstanding projects:
    • Student-driven – students at the center of learning processes
    • Central concepts and principles integrated into project design so it can serve a central, not periphery place in curriculum
    • In-depth exploration of authentic and important topics triggered by authentic questions
    • Essential tools and skills – students get many opportunities to use these for learning, self management and project management
    • Products – students create products that solve problems or explain dilemmas using information gathered through investigation, research or reasoning
    • Multiple products – create frequent opportunities for formative feedback
    • Performance-based assessments communicate high expectations and require range of skills and knowledge
    • Collaboration – opportunities for collaboration of various forms
    • Standards-based – align with national and/or state curriculum standards
The Benefits of PBL
  • PBL is good for
    • teaching higher order thinking skills
    • teaching students to “know” AND “do”
    • students learning and practicing problem solving, communication and self-management skills
    • encouraging students to develop habits of mind that are good for lifelong learning and careers
    • integrating curriculum with themes, community issues, and other subjects
    • assessing performance using criteria that are similar to work force criteria such as goal setting and accountability
    • creating positive collaborative relationships among diverse students
    • meeting needs of learners with different preferences and readiness levels
    • engaging bored or unmotivated students
    • focusing on central ideas and processes of disciplines
    • challenging and supporting students
Coverage vs. Uncoverage
  • Looking at yearlong sequences from the perspective of “uncoverage” versus coverages means deliberately choosing to do less to leave more time to go more in depth with important topics
  • Select topics that are central to the discipline and must be appreciated “at depth” for projects.
 
Are your students capable?
  • Students with more PBL knowledge and enthusiasm may be able to handle more autonomy.  Examples – may be involved in selecting project topics and in formulating project rubrics
  • Students new to PBL need scaffolding in collaboration, project management, self management and presentations
Your Style and Skills
  • Need to design tasks that enable students to co-create knowledge through inquiry, dialogue and skill building
  • Leaders facilitate problem solving in a group and help group find their own solutions; Managers control the process and look for prescribed outcomes
  • Need to know how to let students get involved in learning struggles.
  • Need to allow for variety of paces once individual and teams start to self-pace
PBL and Your School
PBL can improve school culture by 
  • Encouraging teacher collaborations
  • Motivating students to learn and achieve
  • Promoting rigor and relevance and relationships
Adjustments to large skills gaps
  • shorter projects
  • more workshops during projects
  • tie projects to few standards

 

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Project-based learning (PBL) is a mode of instruction that is a response to advances in neuroscience and psychology and to the changing increasing demands of our technology-driven modern world.   PBL helps students learn content while also learning job-related skills (collaboration, work ethic, self-management, project management, critical thinking, communication).  PBL can engage bored and unmotivated students.

 

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Preparation Steps
  • Design a project that ties to an upcoming bundle of standards
  • Compare project design to the characteristics of outstanding projects – note its strengths and gaps
  • Conduct research to enhance project’s strengths and overcome its gaps
Early Implementation Steps
  • Facilitate project
  • Use frequent formative assessments to refine project activities and to help students improve their understandings and projects
Advanced Implementation Steps
  • Facilitate student project reflections to learn more about strengths and weaknesses of project from students’ perspective.  Annotate their feedback and use it while designing future projects.
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