ProjectBased Learning and the Web

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Project-Based Learning andthe Web
Alan EngleInstructional Technology
SpecialistRockwall ISD TCEA, Austin Texas
February 9, 2006 www.todaysteacher.com/pbl
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Todays Class Norms

• Stay on schedule be on time.
• Participate actively
• If you think it, say it
• Ask questions
• Browse sparingly and discreetly
• Take care of yourself.
• What is said here stays here what is learned
  here, leaves here.
• Its OK to have FUN!

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Birth Order in the Workplace
What effect does birth order have on an
individual's workplace ability and performance?
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Birth Order in the Workplace
1. Where do you fall in your families birth
order? Oldest born? Middle child? Youngest
child? Only child? Twin?
Oldest
Twin
2. Go to your Birth Order spot in the room and
discuss with your Birth Order cohorts how you
feel your place in the family has affected you in
your role as an educator?
Only
Middle
Youngest
3. The member of the group with the biggest face
on their watch -- will report out to the class
your group findings.
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Obstacles

• The biggest obstacle to school change is our
  memories.
• -- Dr. Allen Glenn

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A few thoughts for the day...

• Creating schools for the 21st Century requires
  less time looking in the rearview mirror and more
  vision anticipating the road ahead.
• Teaching has been an activity undertaken behind
  closed doors between moderately consenting
  participants.
• Technology enables students, teachers, and
  administrators to reach out beyond the school
  building.
• Innovative classrooms are not defined by fixed
  places but by their spirit of curiosity and
  collaboration among students, teachers, and
  others in a true learning community.

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Change

• We must be the change
• we want to see in the world.
• -- Mahatma Gandhi

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Create a Learning Community

• A strong teacherstudent relationship
• Rigorous, shared standards
• Opportunity for student voice and choice

Under these conditions you will also promote
resiliency in students and help build a culture
of engagement in your classroom and school.
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Classroom Norms
Twelve Classroom Norms
1. collegiality 2. experimentation 3. high
expectations 4. trust and confidence 5.
tangible support 6. reaching out to the
knowledge bases 7. appreciation and
recognition 8. caring celebration and humor
9. involvement in decision making 10. protection
of whats important 11. traditions 12. honest,
open communications
It is by utilizing all of these qualities within
a classrooms culture that the capacity to
improve the classroom is dramatically affected.
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Project-Based Learning
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What is PBL?

• Project-Based Learning is curriculum fueled and
  standards based.
• PBL asks a question or poses a problem that ALL
  students can answer. Concrete, hands-on
  experiences come together during project-based
  learning.
• PBL allows students to investigate issues and
  topics in real-world problems.
• PBL fosters abstract, intellectual tasks to
  explore complex issues.

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Use Design Principles
Begin with the End in Mind
Frame the Essential Question
Manage the Process
Map a Meaningful Product
Plan the Assessment
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Begin with theEnd in Mind
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Begin with the End in Mind -- Plan Backwards

• What are the outcomes for students?
• What products will students create?
• Who is the audience for the product?
• How will you assess the student work?
• How should activities be organized?

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Projects versesProject-Based Learning

• Projects
• Loose set of activities
• Supplements the curriculum
• Thematic
• Broad assessments
• No management structure

• Project-Based Learning
• Uses the Essential Question to focus the inquiry
  process
• Part of the curriculum
• Focused and Inspiring
• Aligns specified outcomes with assessments
• Uses project management tools to structure
  learning

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Frame the Essential Question
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Frame the Essential Question

• Focused
• Consistent with standards and curriculum
• Requires core knowledge to answer
• Concrete

• Inspiring
• Provocative
• Open-ended
• Authentic

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Using the Essential Question to Focus the Inquiry
Process

• Brainstorm multiple perspectives or points of
  view on the question
• Anticipate need to knows and teachable moments
• Track knowledge gaps with formative assessments
• To EvaluateTo SynthesizeTo Analyze

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Framing Essential Questions
You may be fighting a long history of subject
matter research. For years students have gone to
the library to "find out about" an assigned
topic. This tradition has led to information
gathering but little analysis or
thought. Essential questions set students free
from this tedious and wasteful ritual. Research
becomes motivating and meaningful. A well crafted
essential question has some well defined
attributes.
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Refining a Driving Question
How is nature interconnected? How does the
biological data collected in the Central Texas
watershed inform us about the interconnectedness
of natural systems?
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Refining a Driving Question

• What is a safety shed?
• How can we design and build a cost-effective,
  fireproof safety shed that can be used in all
  schools in the district?

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Refining a Driving Question

• What is the history of our community?
• How do oral histories help us interpret our past
  and predict the future of our community?

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Refining a Driving Question

• What is a heart-healthy meal for seniors?
• How do heart healthy meals nurture seniors and
  extend longevity?

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Refining a Driving Question

• Can science be used to solve crimes?
• How can we rely on scienceto convict criminals?

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Map a Meaningful Product
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Require Authentic Products

• Construction of Knowledge
• Disciplined Inquiry
• Build on prior knowledge
• In-depth understanding
• Elaborated communication
• Value Beyond School

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The Trinity of PBL Products
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Personal Strengths

• Intrapersonal
• Independence
• Assertiveness
• Self-awareness
• Mood regulation

• Interpersonal
• Empathy
• Listening
• Conflict resolution
• Social responsibility

• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Flexibility
• Reality testing

• Stress Management
• Working with deadlines
• Impulse control

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Skills

• Communication speaking presenting publishing.
• Group process leadership teamwork
  collaboration.
• Self-management time and task management
  self-monitoring.

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Content
Coverage
un-Coverage
Nice to KnowStandards
PowerStandards
Think about What are they and how do you teach
them? How many? State and national content
standards. School-wide or District
outcomes. Literacy
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Manage the Process
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Manage the Process

• Share Project Goals with Students
• Use Problem-Solving Tools
• Use Checkpoints and Milestones
• Plan for Evaluation and Reflection

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Organize Tasks and Activities

• Direct instruction What content knowledge do
  students need to succeed?
• Skill-building Do students know how to succeed
  in the project?
• Culture-building Are students ready to manage
  themselves?

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Use core management tools

• Task lists
• Daily goal sheets/briefs
• Time sheets
• Reflections in journals or problem logs
• Debrief with team leaders
• Have groups report out to whole

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Plan the Assessment
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Best Practices in Assessment

• Provide assessment criteria at beginningof
  project
• Create rich descriptors for criteria
• Provide exemplars
• Offer ongoing feedback
• Capture process as well as product
• Use assessments to support the success of all
  students, rather than sort and select

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A Balanced Assessment Plan

• Daily Homework
• Weekly Quiz
• Early milestone Journal, Self-reflection,
  Informal assessment
• Mid-project milestone Essay, Artistic product
• End of project Exhibition and oral presentation,
  Exam

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Include Artifacts

• Email records, library record searches, telephone
  logs, minutes of meetings, journals, self-report
  measure, reflections, observations, interview
  notes, etc.
• Document the process of learning
• Evaluate skills and habits of mind
• Encourage meta-cognition
• Allows you to assess all work

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Use Products that Assess Project Outcomes
State standard Plate tectonics operating over
geological time has changed the patterns of
land, sea, and mountains on earths surface
Product Visual display and oral presentation on
volcanoes
Assessment Presentation must demonstrate and use
vocabulary relating to (1) three kinds of plate
boundaries (2) properties of rocks and how they
were formed and (3) volcanoes on ocean floor.
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Use Rubrics to Evaluate Skills and Performance

• Fulfill conditions for good assessment
• Provide a tool for precise feedback.
• Increase fairness while decreasing grading time.
• Reduce quibbling over grades.
• Acknowledge subjectivity of grading.

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Evaluate and Reflect

• Evidence shows robust correlation between
  reflection and retention.
• Using a cycle of inquiry helps to prepare for the
  next project and develop an inquiry-based
  classroom.
• The methods whole class debrief fishbowl
  survey self-report.

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Your Own Reflections
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Reflect on Process and Outcomes

• Student performance.
• Student engagement.
• Clarity of instructions.
• Clarity of process.
• Clarity of evaluation.

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In Summary

• Question

• Plan

• Schedule

• Monitor

• Assess

• Evaluate

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Start with the essential question.
• Take a real-world topic and begin an in-depth
  investigation.
• Make sure it is relevant for your students.

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Plan which content standards will be addressed
  while answering the question.
• Involve students in the questioning, planning,
  and project-building process.
• Teacher and students brainstorm activities that
  support the inquiry.

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Teacher and students design a timeline for
  project components.
• Set benchmarks.
• Keep it simple and age-appropriate.

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Facilitate the process.
• Mentor the process.
• Utilize rubrics.

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Make the assessment authentic.
• Know authentic assessment will require more time
  and effort from the teacher.
• Vary the type of assessment used.

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Question ? Plan ? Schedule ? Monitor ? Assess ?
Evaluate

• Take time to reflect, individually and as a
  group.
• Share feelings and experiences.
• Discuss what worked well.
• Discuss what needs change.
• Share ideas that will lead to new inquiries, thus
  new projects.

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PBL is Forward Thinking
PBL
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Activities

• What ideas do you have for a project?
• What question will you ask your students?
• Record your ideas.
• Record questions that will launch PBL.
• Choose one of your questions. Brainstorm with
  your colleagues. Create a concept map.
• What content standards will be addressed?
• What subjects can be woven into the process?