Project-Based Learning Basics
This is me in 8th grade. I was a combination of embarrassment and nerdy. My whole purpose was to remain invisible. I had one friend, this kid named Matt. We were two nerds in a hole. And, fortunately for me, he was there well every year. Until one day he was sick. I stand in the restaurant, looking at the sea of students, someone will invite me. But it did not happen. I hid in the boy's toilet for the next 24 minutes.
I was invisible. But not to Mrs. Smoot and Mr. Darrow. They didn't know. They knew I was concerned about social justice and baseball and history, so they invited me to do a History Day project.
Although it was fun, it was also scary. I had to plan the whole project and track my progress. I had to find out what questions to ask and where to find the answers. I had to narrow my head to something I care about — this time, Jackie Robinson and the baseball combination.
I wrote to the media and made calls to former players. I remember picking up the phone, my hands shaking, as I read aloud my previously recorded text and waited for a stranger to reply.
Eventually I worked on a slide presentation. A very emotional moment happened while I was sitting in the radio studio recording my text. When I first heard my voice, I hated it.
One time, I threw my hands up in the air. "I'm not doing this," I said. But Mrs. Smoot looked me in the eye and said: I ended up sharing my lesson and competing with the district, state competition, and finally in Washington D.C.
Although I was not aware of it at the time, Mrs. Smoot became my pastor. That project helped me to grow into a strong thinker. And that experience is why I finally embraced project-based learning.
Project-based learning is different from traditional classroom projects Learning through project completion projects Student selection in design vs. following a set of instructions Student Inquiry vs. Pre-planned questions Peer-to-peer assessment and self-assessment vs Teacher assessment Student identity through process vs. process.
The Buck Institute identifies the following seven project design elements:
1. Challenging Problem or Question
2. Sustained Inquiry
3. Authenticity
4. Student Voice & Choice
5. Reflection
6. Critique & Revision
7. Public Product
Note that project-based learning can work in tandem with other pedagogical models, like inquiry-based learning, design thinking, and problem-based learning.
But the key idea remains that students are learning through projects and as a result, they engage in deeper learning.
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