PBL

I know what you're thinking.

Don't think I don't.

I do.

Projects in the classroom have been around for a loooong time, and you did a lot of projects in school, so why should you need a quest on PBL? I'll tell you what I see as being around for a long time: At the end of a unit of study, after students do "the real" learning in teacher-directed lessons and assessment of learning, the students get to do "a fun project". Maybe students make a poster, with the criteria being something like: neat; colourful; lot's of information; images (usually printed off the Internet). I don't think that's real PBL. I think we should ditch the word "project" in PBL and just have the "problem". What makes PBL, well, PBL should be the realness of the project. It can be a real problem to identity, research, and fix. Like "How can we get rid of bullying in our school?" What's more real than that? And I think the final project is not separate from the process or the content. If you had the students making a video news documentary on "Which heroes are more heroic, those of Ancient Greece or our heroes today?" or "Does our local stream really need our protection?", then the students have to think about the product throughout the process. They have to think and act like journalists. Like Scientists. Like Anthropologists. It's a rich and inseparable experience.

Oh, my badness. I'm starting to sound like Yesvi.

What I mean to say is that real PBL makes kids suffer more cause it's harder to do. That's what I like about PBL.

Use the SELF-DIRECTED REPEATING QUEST IN BYTEDECK.

Please remember to NOT submit any work which does not conform to these givens:

• All instructions followed carefully and completely.

• Time on Task: Engagement in the quest is substantial enough to warrant the XP for the quest. A 60 XP quest has what looks like approximately 60 - 70 minutes of work completed.

• Engagement is thoughtful and meaningful: Obvious attempts have been made to engage in the content of the quest in a way that is meaningful to the person completing the quest. View Exemplars which demonstrate this Given (Critical Reflection Exemplars are a good starting point)

• Undergraduate Level Engagement: Evidence of fairly deep handling of the topic; references made to assigned reading|viewing; connections made between assigned reading|viewing and other referenced material; concepts fully explained; opinions fully backed up… View Exemplars which demonstrate this Given (Critical Reflection Exemplars are a good starting point)

• It is the responsibility of the student to note when a quest has been returned or when there is an instructor comment on a quest.