Hello there! Please note that New Heights Math is still a work in progress. Thank you for your patience!
One of the most significant teaching development opportunities from the NAUTeach program was being able to co-create and implement a Project-Based Learning unit about slope-intercept form and systems of linear equations. Themed around the popular show Shark Tank, student teams created a product, researched its costs, and pitched their ideas to a panel of "sharks" using graphs and equations. Linked below is another PBL unit I created that involves roller coaster design and interpreting key features of graphs for an Algebra 1 class.
Project Based Learning (PBL), also referred to as Project Based Instruction (PBI), is an instructional framework that embeds the development of content knowledge and success skills within a cohesive and engaging unit. The learning goals of a PBL unit focus on students' acquisition of key knowledge, understanding, and success skills. Seven essential elements of PBI exist in tandem throughout a unit: Challenging Problem or Question, Sustained Inquiry, Authenticity, Student Voice and Choice, Reflection, Critique and Revision, and Public Product (Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements, n.d.). In PBL, students develop knowledge and skills by investigating rich, open-ended questions to “make meaning” of the world and apply their learning in purposeful ways (Krauss & Boss, 2013). Thus, the teacher of a PBL unit designs, prepares, and guides meaningful projects, elicits higher-order thinking, and assesses growth throughout the entire learning process -- all of which are ideals within mathematics teaching practice.
References & Resources
Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements. (n.d.). PBLWorks. https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-project-design
Krauss, & Boss. (2013). The Whys and Hows of PBL. In Thinking Through Project-Based Learning. Corwin Press.