Project-Based Learning
From IAE-Pedia
Readers interested in this page will likely also be interested in the page Good PBL Lesson Plans.
Contents |
The basic premise in this document is that Project-based Learning (PBL) could be and should be a unifying theme in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In PBL, students "do" activities that result in products, performances, presentations, and other tangibles. In the process, they learn and they use their learning.
Notice the emphasis on "use their learning." Much of what students "learn" in school is soon forgotten because they do not routinely make use of what they have learned, and because they have no solid product, performance, or presentation that stands out as a measure of the learning and use of the learning.
Another feature that helps to distinguish PBL from other forms of teaching and learning is that commonly a project is multidisciplinary, and quite often a team of students work together. Thus, PBL can provides a variety of learning environments that are authentic—real world.
[edit] Viewing Through PBL Glasses
You have probably heard about the idea of viewing the world through rose-colored glasses. A rose is a beautiful flower. It comes in many different sizes and colors. It has a wonderful smells. When viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, the world appears rosy.
Of course, some roses have thorns. So, when viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, a person might be aware that there are two possible types of views.
Now, think about the world from the point of view of solving problems, accomplishing tasks, producing products, giving performances, doing presentations, and other action-oriented activities. From this point of view, a typical day can be thought of as doing a sequence of projects.
My day starts with the project of getting out of bed, bathroom activities, getting dressed, preparing breakfast, reading the newspaper, and eating breakfast. It continues with "chores" such as feeding some cats, unloading and loading the dishwasher, doing some kitchen cleanup and general household pickup, and so on.
Perhaps later in the day I do go shopping, either online or at some local stores. There, I acquire goods that I need for current and future projects, such as supper, building a squirrel feeder, and getting shelving needed to make more efficient use of space in a closet. Perhaps I do a photography project that includes taking some pictures, loading them into my computer, and sorting them into various storage categories.
Recently, I hired a contractor to do remodeling on my house. The contractor had a team of people working on the project. From time to time, different teams of people came in to work on various pieces of the overall project. My contribution to all of these projects was as a consultant and sidewalk superintendent.
Some of the projects mentioned above are relatively self-contained, while others tie in with longer term projects. Thus, as I read the newspaper I an "following" various sporting teams and players. I am following the continuing sagas of various comic strip stories. I am continuing to maintain and build my knowledge of changing political conditions throughout the world.
Finally, think about the project-based view of the world in terms of the informal and formal education needed to effectively participate in this world. It is easy to see that various projects require various types of informal and formal education.
Clearly, many parts of formal education are important to PBL activities. It is easy to see that reading and learning by reading are important. Math is also important in dealing with money, time, travel, and so on. A general knowledge of the world, politics, maps, economics, and so on is being used as I carry out some of my projects. Perhaps I draw upon both informal and formal knowledge of good nutrition as I plan a meal and buy groceries.
For much of what I do, however, it is not easy to clearly separate informal education from formal education. For example, as I read the newspaper for enjoyment and to gain information and knowledge, I am building upon and maintaining the reading skills that I gained in school. As I shop, I may use some school arithmetic, but perhaps I am mainly depending on my "street smarts" or Folk Math gained through comparison shopping and being a frugal person.
[edit] Project-Based Learning in School
Project-based learning is widely used in precollege schools and in higher education. For example, students at all levels are often expects to explore a topic and to produce a written or oral presentation about various aspects of the topic. Nowadays, an oral presentation may make use of presentation media and may include photos, video, and audio. A "written" presentation may be a standard hard copy written paper, but it may also be a multimedia document such as a Web site.
[edit] Process Writing
The process of writing a paper or preparing a multimedia document illustrates steps that are common to many projects. In writing instruction, our schools often teach process writing. Process writing can be used in writing a short paper, a term paper, an article, or a book. A six step version of Process Writing is:
- Brainstorming the topic and obtaining needed information, such as through library and other research, talking to people,gathering data, etc.
- Organizing the brainstormed ideas.
- Developing a draft of the document.
- Obtaining feedback. Feedback always comes from ones self, and may also come from others.
- Revising, which may involve going back to earlier steps. This step may be carried out many times in doing a writing task. While some revisions with be at the copy edit level, the greatest emphasis is revisions at the content level.
- Final polishing and then publishing. Get the document into a final form that is suitable for use by others. This includes final copy editing and cleaning up the layout of the document.
The six steps are numbered and are suggestive that the overall process is linear. However, many people do not write in such a linear manner. For example, when I am writing an article, I compose at my computer keyboard, and I use Microsoft Word with a style sheet set up to produce the final desk top publication layout I want to have. My computer provides me feedback on spelling errors and typos, and I correct them every few sentences. My computer also provides feedback on possible errors in grammar. I contemplate these suggestions from time to time, and sometimes make changes based on these suggestions.
While I often write paragraphs and even full sections of an article in a linear form, I also skip around a lot, adding paragraphs or sections into various parts of the document as ideas occur to me. Moreover, I am often doing online research for an article as I write it. Thus, when I find information that seems to fit well into a particular part of the document, I compose a piece of the document and insert it in its proper location as part of the note taking process.
Computer technology is an extremely valuable aid to my writing. It also adds to the challenge of writing. Suppose, for example, I want to include a drawing or diagram, a table or a piece of a spreadsheet, or a pictures (perhaps some that I take) to the document. Notice the needed additional skills necessary to complete these added tasks. Moreover, notice that the design (layout) of the document becomes a greater challenge. It is not at all easy to design an effective newsletter that appropriately contains and presents the information and message that it is supposed to present.
Karen Rains (EDT630)July, 4,2008
I agree with you that the computer is a valuable tool for me both as a teacher and as a college student. I wouldn't survive without Microsoft Word and Publisher. It makes much more sense to type my thoughts into the computer and then go back and edit as needed. I tend to skip the brainstorming part of the writing process and get right to the draft. After I have written my draft which at times will be in one sitting, and sometimes it may be over the course of several days, I will go back and edit it. First I make sure I am happy with what I have written and make sure I don't need to add anything. Then I use the spelling and grammar check on my computer program. This is a wonderful tool. Maybe we should develop a writing process that is just for the computer. It might look a little different than the one most people refer to.
However, as a teacher I feel like my students need to go through the entire process. They are still learning how to organize their thoughts and structure their writing. Teacher's tend to leave the computer out altogether or only use it for publishing purposes. I personally feel like we should incorporate the computer into the writing process. Unfortunately, this is difficult to do properly when students only have access to one or two computers in the classroom. In this case we are basically forced to exclude or minimize the use of the computer in the writing process. This brings up a whole new topic of availability of technology in classrooms.
[edit] Research to Support PBL
- "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius)
Project-based learning is of interest to schools throughout the world.Fpr example, the Japanese have a highly centralized school system. The following quote is from an 8/11/2002 article in Education Week:
- Japan's revised national course of study, which went into effect for elementary and junior high school students this past spring and will kick in for those in senior high next year, has been reduced by as much as 30 percent to make room for more hands-on learning and student-guided projects. Education officials here hope the new approach to schooling will better equip students with the problem-solving skills many educators say are essential in a knowledge-based economy.
The article suggests that the Japanese have decided that substantial use of project-based learning will improve the education of their students. Notice the emphasis on "hands-on learning and student-guided projects" and the emphasis on better equipping students with problem-solving skills.
The research literature specifically on project-based learning is somewhat limited in breadth and depth. Thus, it is important to study the research on closely related approaches to education. Research in each of the following areas contributes to the assertion that PBL is effective.
- Constructivism and Situated Learning.
- Motivation Theory (intrinsic motivation).
- Inquiry & Discovery-Based Learning.
- Cooperative Learning.
- Peer instruction.
- Individual & Collaborative Problem Solving.
- Problem-Based Learning.
- Rubrics—clearly defined (not hidden) expectations.
- Multiple forms of assessment. Authentic assessment. Clearly defined rubrics facilitating self-assessment, peer assessment, assessment by the teacher, and assessment by outside experts.
- Direct research studies on PBL.
[edit] Assessment in PBL
An assessment process should be valid, reliable, and fair. Assessment and evaluation are related, but are not the same thing. "Assessment" refers to assignments, tasks, and tests that provide information, and "evaluation" refers to judgments based on that information. Developers of widely used, national-level tests such as the SAT or the GRE spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in an attempt to develop an instrument that is valid, reliable, and fair. They often come under heavy attack for failures in achieving these three goals.
This strongly suggests that an individual teacher who spends a modest amount of time creating a test is unlikely to produce one that is valid, reliable, and fair. It also means that an individual teacher who is developing an assessment procedure for use in ICT-Assisted PBL should not expect perfection!
Students can learn to assess their own work. (Remember, this is different than assigning a grade to their own work.) Similarly, students can learn to provide constructive feedback to other students. Learning self-assessment and peer-assessment can be important learning goals in a PBL lesson. It is not easy to learn to effectively assess one's own work and to provide constructive feedback on other's work. Thus, these are topics well worth addressing in the courses you teach or plan to teach. Here is a reference for an article on self-assessment:
Harrington, Thomas F. (1995). Assessment of Abilities. ERIC Digest. Accessed 1/24/08: http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-3/abilities.htm.
To find out more on peer assessment, use the search term "peer assessment" in your favorite Web search engine.
Quite likely you are familiar with the terms "formative evaluation" and "summative evaluation." Formative evaluation provides feedback in a timely manner so as to allow mid course correction. In a project, assessment may be ongoing and produce formative evaluation feedback to the students in a timely manner. Formative evaluation may provide information used in summative evaluation. Summative evaluation of a project is a final evaluation after the project is completed. Students and teachers often think of a summative evaluation as a final grade. But, a letter or a number cannot adequately represent the time and effort that goes into doing a project, or the product, performance, or presentation resulting from a project. That is one of the reasons that portfolios and portfolio assessment have gained in acceptance and popularity.
[edit] Development of Rubrics
The development and use of rubrics or scoring guides is a key concept in PBL assessment. There may be many people involved in assessment. Thus, there may be self assessment, peer assessment, assessment by instructor, and assessment by others. Some important assessment ideas include:
- Students help develop assessment criteria
- Students learn to self-assess
- Students learn to assess fellow students
- Multiple methods of assessment
- Assessment is "authentic"
One of the most important aspects of authentic assessment is that the students have a full understanding of the assessment criteria. Gran Wiggins is a world leader in the field of authentic assessment.
- Wiggins, Grant (1990). The case for authentic assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 2(2). Retrieved January 24, 2008 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=2&n=2.
Part of the learning that needs to go on in PBL is for students to learn to understand the assessment criteria, learn to assess themselves, and learn to assess their fellow students. Specifically, focusing on self assessment, we want to help students develop good answers to:
How can I (a learner) tell if I have learned well enough:
- to serve my current needs?
- so that it will stay with me, for use in the future?
- to transfer my new knowledge and skills to new (perhaps novel) situations where it is applicable
- so that I can build on my new knowledge and skills in the future?
- so I have some insight into what I don't know, why I might want to learn some of the things that I don't know but might want to know, and pathways to doing the learning?
A key aspect of authentic assessment is helping the student learn the details of what is being assessed, why it is being assessed, and how it is being assessed. Assessment becomes a "white box" instead of being a "black box."
[edit] References
Gewertz, Catherine (10/13/08). States Press Ahead on '21st-Century Skills.' Education Week. Retrieved 10/15/08: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/10/15/08skills.h28.html?tmp=1130304186. Quoting from the article:
- The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a Tucson, Ariz.-based coalition of business leaders, has been helping nine states as they rework their academic standards, curricula, assessments, and other touchstones to ensure that students are well prepared for college or work.
- “Fifty years ago, the ticket up the economic ladder was content mastery of four or five subjects,” said Ken Kay, the partnership’s president. “Today, it’s the ability to think critically, solve problems, communicate, collaborate, use technology and be globally competent.”
The ideas presented above are relevant in each academic discipline. Moreover, PBL may well be a useful vehicle to help students become engaged in activities that help them gain increased levels of expertise in critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, information technology, and global affairs.
Moursund, D.G. (n.d.). ICT-Assisted Project-Based Learning. Retrieved 1/24/08: http://uoregon.edu/%7emoursund/PBL/index.html.
Moursund, D.G. (2008). Good math lesson plans. Retrieved 10/4/08: http://iae-pedia.org/Good_PBL_Lesson_Plans.
[edit] Author or Authors
The initial version of this page was written by Dave Moursund.
[edit] Ideas for Revision and Expansion
9/20/08 notes about possible additional topics and revisions for this page:
Write some content (a short "handout for students") at a low reading level, so that young students can read them.
Tie PBL in with the Taking Responsibility book.
