How can / has the implementation of Project-Based Learning changed the learning environment in my classroom?
Project Based Learning can impact the environment of a classroom in a number of was. First, it continues to tear down the model of teacher as expert. It asks students to become the experts on a given subject. Second, the approach of finding solutions to a prompt has many real world applications.
What impact does an excellent Essential / Driving question affect student engagement and the quality of the final projects?
On the most basic level, the quality (or lack there of) of students answers is directly related to the quality of the questions you ask. The significance of this truth is amplified when the questions need to last for an entire unit.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Problem Based Learning
I thought the "Bad Day for Sandy Dalton" activity was really nice! In fact, in college, I took a class called "Physics for Poets" that tried to teach science in a similar way. I enjoyed the class, which is the most important aspect of these kinds of lessons: students really get into the narrative aspect of these problems. Additionally, it makes lessons relevant because something like a car accident is common and relatable.
I also really like the idea of coming back to a single case study during a unit. One way to do this is to frame a recurrent essential question, with a story. For example, in my Literature of Sports and American Culture class we continually return to the Ed O'Bannon's legal suit against the NCAA for profiting off the use of his likeness. By continuing to come back to the case each time we get new information, it requires students to continually re-evaluate their own opinions.
I also really like the idea of coming back to a single case study during a unit. One way to do this is to frame a recurrent essential question, with a story. For example, in my Literature of Sports and American Culture class we continually return to the Ed O'Bannon's legal suit against the NCAA for profiting off the use of his likeness. By continuing to come back to the case each time we get new information, it requires students to continually re-evaluate their own opinions.
Understanding by Design
I think the most relevant essential question for the Gold Coast activity is: How might the lives of humans living in coastal areas change because of changing sea levels?
(Though this doesn't come directly from the information presented in the assignment, I'd also want my students to think about culpability by answering the following: If human initiated climate change is responsible for rising sea levels, do we have a moral responsibility to change our activity to try to arrest the impact for people living on the coasts?)
(Though this doesn't come directly from the information presented in the assignment, I'd also want my students to think about culpability by answering the following: If human initiated climate change is responsible for rising sea levels, do we have a moral responsibility to change our activity to try to arrest the impact for people living on the coasts?)
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