The Difference Between Projects And Project-Based Learning The Difference Between Projects And Project-Based Learning by TeachThought Staff Projects in the classroom are as old as the classroom itself. ‘Projects’ can represent a range of tasks that can be done at home or in the classroom, by parents or groups of students, quickly or over time. While some examples of project-based learning might be helpful, it’s also useful to understand the big picture: While PBL is a different approach to learning, it’s not hugely different from traditional learning from a broad enough perspective. By design, PBL is learner-centered. The chart by Amy Mayer at the bottom of this post is helpful to clarify that important difference between projects and project-based learning. Projects The audiences for projects are generally in the school Are more about the end-product and less about the learning and process The project is pre-planned and clear The project is based on directions and criteria The project can be done at home without teacher guidance or collaboration
icts-sc / The Simple Four The Simple Four is a problem-solving research model developed for South Carolina and works with the research and inquiry standard (Standard 6) in the 2007 ELA Academic Standards. Step 1: PLAN (Planning means that students are engaging the topic or assignment and deciding what they know about the topic; what they want/need to know about the topic; and what information they need about their topic to complete their assignment or research project.) Students demonstrate the ability to: Step 2: Act (As students ACT ontheir plan, they must prioritize their list of possible sources of information, find those resources, engage the resources, to extract the relevant information and then evaluate the information for credibility, authority, and relationship to the topic or assignment.) Step 3: Organize (When students ORGANIZE their information, they make decisions about that information and their topic or assignment. Step 4: Reflect
untitled Project-Based Learning Through a Maker's Lens The rise of the Maker has been one of the most exciting educational trends of the past few years. A Maker is an individual who communicates, collaborates, tinkers, fixes, breaks, rebuilds, and constructs projects for the world around him or her. A Maker, re-cast into a classroom, has a name that we all love: a learner. A Maker, just like a true learner, values the process of making as much as the product. In the classroom, the act of Making is an avenue for a teacher to unlock the learning potential of her or his students in a way that represents many of the best practices of educational pedagogy. Making holds a number of opportunities and challenges for a teacher. What Do You Want to Do? The first step in designing a PBL unit for a Maker educator is connecting specific content standards to the project. Choosing, thinking, reflecting, and sorting possible projects should be a career-long process. Essential Questions Making requires partners. Failure Is a Preferable Option
Building Good Search Skills: What Students Need to Know | MindShift | KQED News Getty The Internet has made researching subjects deceptively effortless for students — or so it may seem to them at first. Truth is, students who haven’t been taught the skills to conduct good research will invariably come up short. That’s part of the argument made by Wheaton College Professor Alan Jacobs in The Atlantic, who says the ease of search and user interface of fee-based databases have failed to keep up with those of free search engines. In combination with the well-documented gaps in students’ search skills, he suggests that this creates a perfect storm for the abandonment of scholarly databases in favor of search engines. His article is responding to a larger, ongoing conversation about whether the ubiquity of Web search is good or bad for serious research. So what are the hallmarks of a good online search education? SKILL-BUILDING CURRICULUM. A THOROUGH, MULTI-STEP APPROACH. TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING SOURCES. TECHNICAL SKILLS FOR ADVANCED SEARCH. Tasha Bergson-Michelson
Guided Inquiry Process The guided inquiry process puts the emphasis on scientist in “student-scientist.” The primary objective of guided inquiry is to promote learning through student investigation. This material is designed to assist teachers in targeting higher-level thinking and science process skills for their students. Teaching Methods Inquiry, a process important at all grade levels requires students to engage in higher-level thinking skills of summarizing, analyzing, and evaluating. The Guided Inquiry Process Educators support student-scientists who decide on an inquiry question and describe the known concepts that support their investigation. Figure 1. Guided Inquiry Steps Follow the Guided Inquiry Map Diagram above to flow through the guided inquiry components: Students work in a counter clockwise motion, beginning with writing an Inquiry Question. Notes: Conceptual steps are highlighted in purple. Support Templates and Resources Resources Sources
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Conducting Effective Internet Research | TWO WRITING TEACHERS There has been a great deal of buzz about research-based writing lately, in no small part because of its emphasis in the Common Core Standards. Indeed, there is an entire strand of the writing standards dedicated to research. From the document English Language arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (p.18): Research to Build and Present Knowledge 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 8. Research-based writing is quite challenging in that it requires complex reading skills. One thing I find so interesting when I visit schools, or when I’m teaching myself, is noticing what is exactly the same as when I was in elementary school thirty years ago and what is different. There is, of course, one HUGE thing that has changed about research-based writing: the Internet. Bookmark appropriate search engines. Your Turn Like this: Like Loading... Related
Inquiry-based Learning: Explanation What is inquiry-based learning? An old adage states: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand." The last part of this statement is the essence of inquiry-based learning, says our workshop author Joe Exline 1. Inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge. "Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." A Context for Inquiry Unfortunately, our traditional educational system has worked in a way that discourages the natural process of inquiry. Some of the discouragement of our natural inquiry process may come from a lack of understanding about the deeper nature of inquiry-based learning. Importance of Inquiry Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world. The Application of Inquiry
Designing a School Makerspace Makerspaces, STEAM labs, and fab labs are popping up in schools across the country. Makerspaces provide hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent as they deeply engage in science, engineering and tinkering. A makerspace is not solely a science lab, woodshop, computer lab or art room, but it may contain elements found in all of these familiar spaces. Therefore, it must be designed to accommodate a wide range of activities, tools and materials. Diversity and cross-pollination of activities are critical to the design, making and exploration process, and they are what set makerspaces and STEAM labs apart from single-use spaces. A possible range of activities might include: Cardboard construction Prototyping Woodworking Electronics Robotics Digital fabrication Building bicycles and kinetic machines Textiles and sewing Designing a space to accommodate such a wide range of activities is a challenging process. Ask the Right Questions Going Forward
Enter into the Research A MiddleWeb Blog “Do you always do this research project?” she asked, as class was ending. All around her, classmates were putting away laptop computers. She had spent the past 30 minutes writing with intensity and passion. She had not wanted to stop writing even when I asked her multiple times. “I really like it,” she added. “Some years, we do political essays,” I responded. Then, as a typical sixth grader, she said it anyway. I wish every conversation with my sixth grade students about classroom research projects were this positive. A memory that gives me shivers Kevin, behind his 6th grade teacher I still remember a monumental, and nearly insurmountable, research project that I was assigned in elementary school on an African country. I don’t even remember the country I researched nor do I recall what I discovered in my inquiry. Lehman reminds us that small scale research endeavors are more effective than huge research projects that overwhelm students. I’ve taken this advice to heart.
What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning? Inquiry-based learning is more than asking a student what he or she wants to know. It’s about triggering curiosity. And activating a student’s curiosity is, I would argue, a far more important and complex goal than mere information delivery. Despite its complexity, inquiry-based learning can be easier on teachers, partly because it transfers some responsibilities from teachers to students, but mostly because releasing authority engages students. Teachers who use inquiry-based learning combat the “dunno”—a chronic problem in student engagement. When you ask a student something like, “What do you want to know about _____?” What inquiry-based teachers do isn’t easy at all; it’s just hidden, and some people confuse the two. Learning Something New Triggering inquiry is about learning something new, and triggering curiosity is no small feat. Let’s say you’re clicking through your Twitter or Facebook feed and you stumble on a link in your content area. You have to bring that “whaaa?!” 1. 2. 3.