Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and
skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an

authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
A project is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria. First, students must perceive the work as
personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a
meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose. Well-designed and well-implemented
project-based learning is meaningful in both ways.
Reference:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/Seven_E
ssentials_for_Project-Based_Learning.aspx
1. A Need to Know
Teachers can powerfully activate students' need to know content by launching a project
with an "entry event" that engages interest and initiates questioning. An entry event can
be almost anything: a video, a lively discussion, a guest speaker, a field trip, or a piece
of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario. In contrast, announcing a project by
distributing a packet of papers is likely to turn students off; it looks like a prelude to
busywork.
Many students find schoolwork meaningless because they don't perceive a need to
know what they're being taught. They are unmotivated by a teacher's suggestion that
they should learn something because they'll need it later in life, for the next course, or
simply because "it's going to be on the test." With a compelling student project, the
reason for learning relevant material becomes clear: I need to know this to meet the
challenge I've accepted.
2. A Driving Question
A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language,
which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be
provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to
learn. It could be abstract (When is war justified?); concrete (Is our water safe to
drink?); or focused on solving a problem (How can we improve this website so that
more young people will use it?).
A project without a driving question is like an essay without a thesis. Without a thesis
statement, a reader might be able to pick out the main point a writer is trying to make;
but with a thesis statement, the main point is unmistakable. Without a driving question,
students may not understand why they are undertaking a project. They know that the
series of assigned activities has some connection with a time period, a place, or a
concept. But if you asked, "What is the point of all these activities?" they might only be
able to offer, "Because we're making a poster."
3. Student Voice and Choice

This element of project-based learning is key. In terms of making a project feel
meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. However, teachers
should design projects with the extent of student choice that fits their own style and
students.
On the limited-choice end of the scale, learners can select what topic to study within a
general driving question or choose how to design, create, and present products. As a
middle ground, teachers might provide a limited menu of options for creative products to
prevent students from becoming overwhelmed by choices. On the "the more, the better"
end of the scale, students can decide what products they will create, what resources
they will use, and how they will structure their time. Students could even choose a
project's topic and driving question.
Reference:
4. 21st Century Skills
A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as
collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will
serve them well in the workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the
second criterion for meaningful work—an important purpose. A teacher in a project-
based learning environment explicitly teaches and assesses these skills and provides
frequent opportunities for students to assess themselves.
5. Inquiry and Innovation

Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry, which does not
mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real
inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for
resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new
questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions. With real inquiry comes
innovation—a new answer to a driving question, a new product, or an individually
generated solution to a problem. The teacher does not ask students to simply reproduce
teacher- or textbook-provided information in a pretty format.
To guide students in real inquiry, refer students to the list of questions they generated
after the entry event. Coach them to add to this list as they discover new insights. The
classroom culture should value questioning, hypothesizing, and openness to new ideas
and perspectives.
6. Feedback and Revision

Formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning
meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances
is an important purpose of the endeavor. Students need to learn that most people's first
attempts don't result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-world
work.
In addition to providing direct feedback, the teacher should coach students in using
rubrics or other sets of criteria to critique one another's work. Teachers can arrange for
experts or adult mentors to provide feedback, which is especially meaningful to students
because of the source.
7. A Publicly Presented Product

The invited audience included parents, peers, and representatives of community,
business, and government organizations. Students answered questions and reflected
on how they completed the project, next steps they might take, and what they gained in
terms of knowledge and skills—and pride.
Schoolwork is more meaningful when it's not done only for the teacher or the test. When
students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality. Once
again, it's "the more, the better" when it comes to authenticity. Students might replicate
the kinds of tasks done by professionals—but even better, they might create real
products that people outside school use.
Reference:

Project Based Learning

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Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and

skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an

3. Student Voice and Choice

5. Inquiry and Innovation

6. Feedback and Revision

7. A Publicly Presented Product

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