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From the Massachusetts Frameworks:
From the Massachusetts Frameworks:
In Project-Based Learning (PBL) , students go through an extended process of inquiry or design in response to an authentic question, problem, or challenge. They draw from many disciplines when understanding and addressing a complex problem. PBL is centered on student and teacher collaboration and application of academic knowledge and skills.
While engaged in PBL, students are engaged in science and engineering practices, as well as cross-disciplinary concepts; students engage in reading and writing informational text and mathematics depending on the driving question of the project. A PBL approach allows for some student choice and voice that promotes motivation and educational equity. PBL includes a process of revision and reflection that requires students to learn how to communicate and receive instructive feedback and to think about their own cognition and understanding.
Project-based learning projects can be run in tandem with more traditional instructional approaches.
Classrooms in schools that emphasize project-based learning, such as Nu-Vu Studio in Cambridge, High Tech High in San Diego, or Latitude High School in San Francisco often feel more like start-up companies than traditional schools, as students are engaged in solving real-world, multi-disciplinary problems.
Project-based learning is not necessarily an either/or proposition. Teachers can have students complete a unit-long PBL project, incorporating student voice and choice, while having a parallel sequences of textbook-based lessons. This approach is used by most textbook publishers such as Pearson.
HIGH TECH HIGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING- BASIC ELEMENTS
Project Based Learning, or PBL, is a teaching method that uses hands- on experiences instead of textbooks and lectures. It is a more exciting way for teachers to teach and students to learn. This method teaches students how to work in groups, research, volunteer, make decisions and manage time.
Project Based Learning relates skills students are learning to real-world situations, and having real world connections helps students realize that what they are learning is important. Our goal at High Tech High is to make learning memorable while also covering state standards. Our teachers teach students the necessary skills they need for the next grade and beyond, while making their lessons memorable. They are free to teach using any method they would like. Most teachers split their students into groups, because it teaches collaboration and patience.
See "High Tech High PBL Learning Structures"
Example Project:Kinetic Coasters https://www.hightechhigh.org/htmma/project/kinected-coasters/
High Tech High Project-Based Learning- Basic Elements
High Tech High Project-Based Learning- Basic Elements
Components( Not every project will have all components):
An Essential/Driving Question – What question guides the student experience or what question are the students trying to answer with their work? Example: “Is democracy the most effective means of government?” A driving question should include (1) Who is responsible?(Individual/team/whole class) (2) The Audience(teacher/students in school/general public) (3) The specific challenge or problem being addressed (4) Should allow for multiple solutions.
Learning Goals( content/process skills) – What do you want your students to learn, do, or accomplish during this project? Example: “I want students to interact meaningfully with adult professionals, understand how the democratic process works, and learn how to record and edit videos.”
Products and Deliverables- What do you want the students to create? Example: “A two minute documentary film”. Deliverables can include both individually graded elements and group elements.
Required Materials /Tools/Skills- This will affect both materials on hand and any preteaching or embedded tutorials made available to students, such as knowing how to use Scratch or I-movie
Audience & Exhibition – When, where, how, and to whom will students present their completed works? Example: “Students will present their videos to the local city council just before the primary election season.”
Student Reflection- " The Wicked Soap Company was a experience and project that really combined a lot of elements of chemistry together while making the process of learning fun. We learned through all the different recipes we experimented with this semester. It was also a way to incorporate how it would feel to be in a business, letting others interested in that field in the future seeing if they would really like to go down that path or not. It was overall just a fun experience and a project that you can you could only get here at HTHMA. – Mikaela Cuevas" https://www.hightechhigh.org/hthma/project/wicked-soap-company/
Teacher Reflection- "...The work groups did in this final stages of the project dwarfed that which was done individually and the workload was not divided evenly between groups. The machinists shouldered the majority of the workload and were completely overwhelmed by both the technical difficulty of the project as well as the sheer workload. Many of the machinists stayed regularly until 6pm at night, came in on weekends, and even came in during thanksgiving break to work. ..." Scott Swalley, High Tech High http://gritlab.org/apocalypto-reflection/
See additional resources at www.hightechhigh.org/project/hth-structures-project-management/
Below: Grading structure, MIT 2.009 Product Engineering Processes:
The Process of Project-Based Learning- Studio-Based Learning at NuVU
https://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/the-process-of-project-based-learning/
Developing a Driving Question
Developing a Driving Question
Learning Objectives are the skills and content we want them to learn though the project, such as learning how to roll a paper column, learning how to record and edit a short video, the definition of concepts like structure, load, tension, compression, strut, column, truss, beam, etc., how to calculate an average, how to balance a chemical equation. These will typically be based on the Massachusetts Frameworks and other standards.
Outcome Objectives are the deliverables we want them to produce: A tower, a house model, a video, a 5-paragraph essay on types of bridges, a written exam, a spreadsheet, a disease prediction.
The Driving Question or Design Challenge is the driving force of the project- what is the real-life goal we are trying to solve?
How to Write Driving Questions
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/pbl-how-to-write-driving-questions-andrew-miller
PBL ToolKit- Driving Questions
Examples:
Product-Oriented: How do we create ______ to ______? This is a great type of driving question to use if you have a specific student product in mind. Notice that it isn't just about the product, but the purpose as well
How do we create a podcast to debunk myths and stereotypes of world religions?
How do I create an epic poem about an important episode in my daily life?
Why is science important and how can it help save people? Too vague- can be rewritten as:
Should we allow for genetic engineering to prevent diseases and illnesses?Here the question is contentious and debatable, and it is focused on specific topics so that the scope isn't too large.
Design a bridge for Route 93 as it crosses the Charles River that can both carry the necessary traffic and serve as a gateway to the city of Boston? (i.e., the Zakim Bridge) http://westonk12engineering.org/structures/pages/menn.htm
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