Project Based Learning

I really do like project based learning. We all know that students learn by doing. I really do like projects, they help students to learn the material in a different way. I think students might even learn more from creating a project than they would if the teacher just talked at them.

Image result for cow id projects with cow head print outs
While I am student teaching or teaching in general I think I will do some project based learning with multiple things. I saw an idea that a teacher hands out black and white cut out of cow heads. The students are assigned a breed of cattle. The students are assigned with coming up with facts that describe the breed and its history. the students also color the cow the colors of their assigned breed. The students then share their facts with the rest of the class. I really like this project, and I really would like to use it while students teaching. The cow cut our that I found to be helpful for this project is to the right.

When talking about project based learning I can not help but to think about group work. Based on my own experiences I plan on picking a lot of the groups, or I will use a strategy for random grouping.

From this weeks reading it talked about the wording, about how to use everyday language. I am taking this out of context, but I do really think that the language that we use in our classrooms tells a lot about us as teachers. If we are not using common language or words, students might not feel as welcome or they might not be able to form that ideal connection with me as the teacher.

There are multiple courses that I have taken as PSU that uses projects based learning. AEE 349 we created a 360 video as a group. This video we got to work together in groups to capture a video of some time of agriculture. We also work in groups a lot when it comes to 350, we learned plumbing as a group, as well as small gas engines. My biggest concern is that there will be some students that do not pull their weight for the group.

There is a source that I found about project based learning. This source talks about PBL in a high school English class. The students were challenged with coming up with their own topic for their project based learning. I think that this is a good idea, students will be more excited to learn about something that they are interested in, rather than a topic that was assigned to them.
 https://www.edutopia.org/article/project-based-learning-and-research-paper


What are some of your all time favorite projects that students create for an assignment? 

Comments

  1. Becky HaddadOctober 9, 2019 at 11:28 AM

    Thanks for sharing, Britton! I want to back up a little: What is project based learning? Is it just learning by doing? If so, I'm going to challenge you to articulate where the learning occurs in the doing. :-) Maybe a better question is to ask you to articulate the difference between project based learning, inquiry based learning, and learning as problem solving.

    Is project based learning synonymous with group learning? If yes, what do you know about learning that leads you to think so? If not, what are the differences?

    Lastly, as you consider your own implementation of PBL, do you see any differences between the example you found of the HS English class and the example you listed? What is a key difference and how does that impact your thinking about PBL?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daniel FosterOctober 9, 2019 at 5:09 PM

      Britton, I love this comment by Dr. Haddad!

      You are one lucky duck to have such great virtual mentors

      And I would LOVE to see you navigate in your words the differentiation between Project-Based, Inquiry-Based, and Learning as Problem Solving (we did talk in class on Monday about this ;))

      Delete
  2. Jarod ArmstrongOctober 9, 2019 at 7:56 PM

    Hi Britton. I also love when project-based learning can be utilized in the classes that we teach. You mentioned in your post that you think that students might learn more by CREATING their own project as opposed to being "talked at" by a teacher. I do not disagree with this. You also link PBL with group work or group projects. Here are some questions that I have for you to think about is relating to this:
    - How will groups "create" projects when group members have different interests and skills? Will they be grouped with similar interests or will they have to compromise? And if they do have to compromise, are they now engaged in a project that they aren't fully interested in? Does that diminish the original intent of PBL or does that create new opportunity?
    - If students create their own projects, who identifies what learning standards and objectives they will be measured against? Do they identify these or does the teacher?
    - Will students creating their own projects work in a large class?
    - Where will the students attain the basic skills required to make the Project successful?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jarod ArmstrongOctober 9, 2019 at 8:00 PM

      I see my identity didn't appear on the above post - Jarod Armstrong

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Participation is Success

Image
This week I was teaching three classes of really amazing students. I had my two classes of introduction to agriculture and I have added a large animal science class. I have realized that teaching two classes that are the same subject can be really tricky. It all really depends on the students in the class, I realized that in the first section I don't get as far in the second section. At first it was stressing me out that I wouldn't get as far in the first section as I would the second. Then I realized that the first section seems to be asking more questions, really awesome good questions. The second section seems to be a little bit more shy ( I am working on that). The state FFA officers came in, and I am super proud of the way my students responded and participated with the officers. They did whatever was asked of them, and I think they were able to learn a lot too. I loved to see my shy group of intro students really get into the activities that were going on around them.
Read more

Visiting a Cohort Member

Image
Although Covid 19 came and I was not able to physically go to see another cohort member teach classes, I have been following my cohort members on social media. Everyone has done some really awesome things with their classes. It may not surprise all of you but Jess, and I have remained in really close contact through out this student teaching journey. Let me tell you about Jess, her and I met in 9th grade at Derry for local CDE's in the spring. Jess was the girl with the selfie stick ( I am not kidding, she carried it everywhere). We ran for state office together, went to gold toe socks together, and then ended up at Penn State together. We had our first college class together, NOT PLANNED. None of this was ever planned, but because it all happened we were able to become really close friends. When she changed her major to ag ed, we became even closer, spending more and more time together. Fast forward to student teaching we were both placed in the west, but were about an hour ap
Read more

Setting Sail at ACES

Image
I have seen something over this past week, some students when they see work they don't want to do it. This includes taking notes, taking notes is super important especially for those that want to move to higher education. I noticed this was a problem, so I made a learning experience of it. I had a conversation with my students, why is not taking important. I told them about the studies that show that taking notes helps to remember the material, it helps to be able to have a better understanding of the material.  The point is that at the first week of the ACES conference, setting sail and believing in your self was a huge theme. It was amazing to see how the state officers really made this theme come to life. I think that it is important for young FFA members to see these strong members being themselves, and really setting sail to their dreams.  The thing is, in order to set sail to be where you want to be, you need to be able to put in the work. It might starts with things t
Read more