What the Heck is Project Based Learning?
Over the course of the year, I have gained a better understanding of Project Based Learning. Much of this learning has come from a professional development trip to High Tech High in San Diego, CA and mentorship from some PBL champions in my area. From this career changing experience I have 5 Major Take Aways to consider when planning for a PBL classroom.
5. Collaboration:
Collaboration is a broad category that involves working together with a variety of different parties that play a role in making PBL successful. First, student collaboration on projects, no matter how big or small, is vital. A student's peers can provide feedback and constructive criticisms to them that can be equally or more beneficial than any feedback from a teacher or learning facilitator. This student-student collaboration also brings out more ideas ("two heads are better than one"). From what I have seen with project based learning, this collaboration also can balance out some perspectives that are idealists or big dreamers with the realists to create a well thought out end product. Team-based learning environments also provide students with social interactions and working productively with other people, which is a reality that they will eventually have to face.
Second, there should be collaboration among teachers and students. I think that this one is pretty explanatory. Not only does this lend itself to project based learning, but it also helps to build and maintain student rapport.
Thirdly, it is beneficial to have collaboration among teachers. This provides positive modelling to students to demonstrate expectations. This also facilitates cross-curricular projects. Collaboration of this kind also enables students to use a variety of different outlets to express their learning, making it more authentic. Collaboration of teachers can also extend beyond the walls of your building.
(See this article on dropping subjects in Finland: School's in Finland will no longer teach by subject)
Lastly, it is vital that there is collaboration with the school (students and teachers) with the community. This again provides an opportunity to make learning more authentic and immerses the students and their projects in the community.
4. Authentic Learning:
What is "authentic learning"? Essentially, it is real-life learning. (http://authenticlearning.weebly.com/)
We can provide students with this authentic learning by giving students a purposeful project that has meaning to the student. This will generally mean that we have to provide some student choice when designing a project. Authentic learning gives great purpose to the project while also encouraging student accountability. At High Tech High this accountability and authentic learning is enforced through "Exhibition Nights". This gives students a reason to produce high quality work. Another way to make learning authentic, is to have cause behind the project. This can raise awareness around a global or social issue while also giving motivation and incentive to produce quality work. To make a project authentic we can ask the question "Where will this live?"
3. Revision Revision Revision:
This part of the PBL framework is tied to collaborative work as well. By having multiple drafts of a project with clear feedback at each step can lead to more meaningful learning. This revision and feedback provides opportunities for formative assessment as well as reflective assessment (assessment as learning). Although this may take some time to give quality feedback to students, it makes learning more meaningful and rewarding.
2. Student Voice and Choice:
By incorporating students in the planning process, it gives student ownership over the project. Again this ties into collaborative learning and authentic learning as well. This piece of project based learning encourages engagement in the project by students. They can tie in their passions into the project to make it authentic for them. Student's also potentially have ideas that are unique to those that a teacher or teachers could produce. One of the most interesting conversations that we observed at High Tech High was among a group of students and a few teacher advisors. The conversation was centred around their projects (both past and current) and if the students were enjoying their projects or if they would have revised them in some way. Many of the projects discussed were cross curricular and some students, very maturely, noted that they wished that the project involved more learning of essential concepts rather than a focus on the product. They took accountability over their education, which was refreshing to see. The students then discussed ways that they could approach their teacher to make revisions to the project that would make it more authentic and engaging for them. I thought that this was a very unique process and it really demonstrated the collaborative nature of education and learning.
1. Project Based LEARNING not Project Based ASSESSMENT:
Last, but not least, there should be a focus on the learning throughout the project rather than the final product. The final product, in essence, should be a culmination of all learning throughout the project. We shouldn't focus on the final product as the assessment. This is similar to the saying: "It isn't the destination, it's the journey along the way."
As a new teacher I am eager to try PBL in my learning environment to make learning more meaningful for students!