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Blog Post #9

What Can Teachers and Students Teach Us About Project Based Learning? 

In the article Seven Essesntials for Project Based Learning, Larmer and Mergendoller list seven priorities that go along with PBL. All of these can teach us about PBL.

1. A Need to Know: This can be called an "entry event" which will make the student think and ask questions about the given subject.

2. A Driving Question: The driving question will be the main basis behind the whole project. It should be open-ended and require the students to work to find the answer.

3. Student Voice and Choice: This is important because it will keep the students interested in what they are doing. They should be able to have their own say in decision making during the project as long as it corresponds to the teacher's requirements.

4. 21st Century Skills: This project is important because it teaches the kids to use skills like communication and technology, which is important in this day and time.

5. Inquiry and Innovation: This allows students to generate their own questions, find their own answers, and draw their own conclusion. Because they looked for the information themselves, they are more likely to retain the knowledge.

6. Feedback and Revision: It is important to give feedback and revision to let students know how well they did. Trial and error is very important to remember in this part of PBL.

7. Publicly Presented Project: Finally, this is where the students will share what they have learned with others.

Project Based Learning for Teachers
This video teaches students and teachers things about PBL such as:
Having a driving question
Creating a rubric
Always having a purpose
Focusing on the project
Meeting deadlines
Refining the end product
Students take charge of their own learning

High School Teachers Meet the Challenges of PBL Implementation
In this video, teachers are in the midst of re-writing some courses to incorporate project based learning. They themselves are having to learn what it is and how to implement it in their subjects. Math and English are two difficult subjects to incorporate PBL. In math, the teachers allow students to create math games in order to help them with the problems. In English, the students were allowed to become an author themselves instead of just doing the standard essay that follows a reading.

PBL: What Motivates Students Today
This video asks students what motivates them in school. One student in particular said that it motivates him when the teacher acknowledges his good grades. This is very important in PBL to give feedback and let the student know they are doing. This video also show other ways students are motivated and other classroom methods teachers use, such as the money jar.

Two Boys and Their Project for Project Based Learning
This video shows two high school boys solving their watery ketchup problem. They worked together to solve the issue just by using PBL. They inquired many designs and questions about the project then set off to make their project come to life.
thedesigninspiration.com

Comments

  1. Hi Kristina!
    Great post! (and I love the picture!)

    I agree with the student's statement in the PBL video. I am currently doing tutoring and my student has told me the exact same thing. Whether we as teachers realize it, or not, students feed off of our attitude. If we have a bad attitude about something, or do not provide feedback, the students will react accordingly. It is always important for us to provide not only feedback, but consistent, positive feedback.

    Overall, great post!

    ReplyDelete

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