B.A. Social Studies
The origins of Project Based Learning (PBL) in my classroom is credited to my spouse, an 8th grade science teacher. She was the first to bring the ideas into our home when she shared all of the challenges, successes, and excitement that she had with it. PBL lends itself to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields extremely well, but is more difficult to incorporate into the social studies, especially American History and Government because most of the content and curriculum deals with events that have happened in the past. The curriculum deals with how the United States system of government works, which students need to understand before diving in and solving the problems that we face through the system (though I would love to teach a “Government II” course, where this could be incorporated to build on content knowledge gained in my course). That was the most significant challenge when making the commitment to implementing PBL in my government course: “How do I get all of the awesome stuff that PBL brings, while incorporating the curriculum and content successfully?” Challenges like this that present themselves while making changes in the classroom keep many teachers from pursuing them. There is a fear of failure. “What happens if it doesn’t work?,” “Will I be wasting my time?,” Or the all important (or not), “What will happen to my test scores?” I decided to take the risk and told myself, "JUST DO IT & LET IT GO."
Most of my study came from the Buck Institute for Education, and their model for project based learning. I immediately understood that the key elements that they included in that model made PBL what it is (“Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements:” http://bie.org/blog/gold_standard_pbl_essential_project_design_elements). That model provided a framework for me to follow, but not the details about how to do it. I also understood that it would take a large amount of time and effort to plan and prepare. The more I looked into it, the more I felt that the change would be worth it. Another major focus of my summer reading and learning pertained to the topics of “Growth Mindset,” “Grit,” and “Soft Skills.” As I continue to dive into the topics even closer, I think that this should be the focus for education in general. My school district’s mission statement falls directly in line with these ideas: “Equipping students for their next stage in life.” Implementing these ideas in the hidden curriculum will benefit our students directly in preparation for whatever they do after they leave school. That is the purpose for education after all. In making the change to PBL, I felt that my students would gain these types of skills while providing choice and voice, and a vested interest in their their schoolwork outside of grades. One of the ideas that I have grown more passionate about over the past couple of years is getting students to understand that education is about learning, not ONLY about grades (again, a story for another day). The results that I have had in my class to this point support the research. Though immeasurable, student engagement is at an all time high. A supermajority (there’s a government term for you) of my class is engaged in their assigned tasks and they also seem to really be enjoying their time in government class on a daily basis. Instead of going through the motions, completing assignments for the sake of grades, and simply being there because they have to be, I feel that the students in this course truly enjoy being a part of it. My experiences to this point have been mostly positive, leading me to become an advocate for incorporation of this pedagogy into more classrooms. My goal is to get more teachers to buy into the concept of this student-centered instruction but also want to make the challenges clear. It’s not easy, but it is worth it, if our primary goal is to create the best learning environment for our students. In the process of reflecting on the process of planning and implementing the first project based assignment of my career, the most significant issue that I encountered was the amount of time on the front end planning, and on the back end putting together assessment data. I think it is necessary to reiterate the previous statement: the “work” for the teacher is done before and after, but not during. I mean this in terms of time spent outside of class. Instead of focusing on working my tail off with direct instruction on a daily basis and coming up with separate lessons to hit each curriculum standard, the primary focus in class is providing guidance for students to achieve the best end-results through the inquiry, research, and creation process that covers multiple standards and allowing student to make connections. Instead of concentrating on direct instruction methods, class time is spent guiding students, on a more personal basis, to achieve their goals for their audience while they LEARN the content largely on their own. They know that they have to show understanding of the concepts in order to present the information to their audience successfully, therefore creating an interest in the process instead of focusing on the end result. The most significant challenge in terms of class time is getting students to understand that they have the ability when provided with the proper tools to be successful on their own account. My time during class is spent encouraging and asking the proper questions to prove this to them. This entire learning environment promotes personalized learning. Students aren’t provided with the blueprint for how to achieve the desired outcome, leaving them with the opportunity to learn in the best way for them. Offering students this choice creates a different experience for them. They understand that their success or failure is a direct result of the choices they make along the way--a learning experience for them that will benefit them in the future. If a student struggles because of their choice though, that is an opportunity for them to learn and be redirected toward becoming successful--that is the role of the teacher in the classroom and the focus of my instruction time with my students during this type of assignment. Instead of providing answers for students, my role in the classroom is to provide and guide them toward more questions with the intent of creating an understandable explanation of the big picture idea associated with the essential question that connects the concepts to each other. Perhaps the most important part of project planning is coming up with an essential question that provides a “big picture” end goal that lends itself to the process of creating a project while presenting research and comprehension of the curriculum and content embedded within the assignment. This provides the structure that students crave and the framework that they must follow. I spent hours brainstorming on pages of a notebook to come up with the questions that I have used. The first step in this process is analyzing standards and identifying those that connect multiple ones. When I sat down to create the outline for my government course this semester, I had to alter the sequence that I have used in the past to address my curriculum requirements and make them work well with each other.
As you can see, there was a dramatic shift in the combination and structure of topics that, in my opinion, make the best connections for students. Also, the units overlap so that students can make connections across all parts of the curriculum. The chosen sequence has a drastic impact on the questions. Units should be designed with the content that makes the best connections and lends to essential questions that promote critical thinking and learning. Instead of looking from the beginning to the end, essential questions should help students focus on the end of the story and finding the reasons for why the story ended the way that it did. It turns the process on its head from a “what happened?” question (DOK 1 or 2), to a “why did it happen?” one (DOK 3 or 4). This is the key to creating a successful project based lesson for students, especially when analyzing the past. The essential question should encompass higher level thinking skills and content knowledge, while offering a multitude of options regarding process which is what makes them so challenging to develop.
As we all know, motivation is key for getting students to invest in their education (and anybody for that matter to better themselves). The idea that they have an audience for their work, outside of their teacher(s), provides them with that motivation. The idea that somebody else is taking an interest in their work, leads to a better product that shows student learning at the end. Pride is a powerful intrinsic motivator. Offering students the choice to present their material in their own way along with an appropriate audience that they respect can be the key source that creates “buy in” for students. Finally, intrinsic motivation can and should be created through the use of collaborative learning and group work. It’s up to the teacher to determine the amount of freedom that students have regarding the structure of groups, but this is another opportunity to provide students with a choice in the direction that they will go throughout the creation of their projects. We have all worked in groups and been the one left with doing a majority of the work while others don’t hold up their end. The challenges of collaborating with others are the same in the work environment making this a valuable opportunity for students to learn how to interact and hold each other accountable. Grading group work is a major issue to consider when preparing to implement PBL. It is difficult to assign grades in group work that also provide individual accountability. Also, the grading structure should encourage the intrinsic motivation that students get from having choice and voice as outlined above. If the goal is to teach students that learning is the objective, not grades, the grading system must provide balance between providing an evaluation tool while not squashing intrinsic motivation. After spending hours thinking about and tinkering with how students would be assessed and graded in the end, I decided that they should be measured on how well they completed the assigned tasks throughout the project, how well they worked in their group, how well they presented their content in the end product, and how well prepared they were for their audience. Again, by offering students the opportunity to have a say in the process, they become invested in their groups. Grading should take individual contribution into account, and in my experience, providing peer evaluation of how well group members meet the expectations of their other group members meets this goal. Grades should also include a self-reflection piece and include information regarding how successfully students navigated the research and creation processes.
Clear expectations are integral, and having a neutral, outside audience allows for neutral outside evaluation that matters to students. Finally, the purpose for the unit test piece is to provide students with the responsibility of making sure that all members in their group take on an active role throughout the process. It is a motivating factor for students to both pull up those around them and work to keep from bringing their group down.
The entire purpose of this post is to help teachers and administrators understand that buying into this style of pedagogy has a positive impact on the classroom environment and, I think in the end, can influence the culture of entire schools, districts, and communities. When students take a stake in their learning, they are more likely to attend school and be engaged in it. The biggest issue is that teachers and administrators need to be ready and willing to take the risks and offer the support that come with making this major of a shift in the way that education is done. The availability of technology makes this readily available and is a valuable tool. Project Based Learning provides students with the skills that they need when they leave for the work environment and employers are looking for people with those types of skills. The ability to collaborate, think critically, and have intrinsic motivation have been lost in many cases in part (obviously, there are many other factors) because the education system has not evolved with the workplace. Creating a student-centered learning environment where students have freedom to learn these skills is integral to their success and the success of our communities as a whole, and PBL offers one method of doing so. The benefits--engagement, critical thinking, buy-in--outweigh the costs--time, effort, and risk. This is why I decided to let it go and jump into PBL. My next post will focus on the challenges and successes of executing the plans that I prepared early on. Be sure to come back to see what I have to add over the next couple of weeks! I would love to hear feedback and/or questions from anybody with experience or thinking about implementing Project Based Learning into their classroom. Please contact me or leave a comment below. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorBrian Anton currently serves the Purdy R-II (Missouri) School District as the 7-12 Principal after working in the PK-12 Assistant Principal and Athletic Director roles for two years. In the 12 years prior to moving into administration, he served as an award-winning high school social studies teacher. Archives
September 2018
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