A Rationale for Project-Based Learning
Naomi Kirchner
University of Georgia
Project-based learning is something I’ve been thinking about on and off for the past 15 years. Not because I was some child genius, but because the project-based gifted program that I participated in as an elementary student truly had a positive impact on my schooling. The gifted program then was a once-a-week pull out class that was driven by projects. We built our own bridges, researched and performed Greek myths, studied animals and created observation reports of animals at Zoo Atlanta, created and marketed a business—it was pretty close to authentic learning and I think those classes helped to shape me as a learner by encouraging curiosity, creativity, ingenuity, problem-solving, and team work. In addition, at nine years old, I saw that learning was connected to a world outside of Camp Creek Elementary. And at fifteen years old, I was devastated to learn that the gifted program in elementary schools had shifted to a more accelerated approach to the core subjects.
As a classroom teacher, I am acutely aware that at any given time at least half of my class is not actively engaged. I struggle knowing that a one-size-fits all curriculum is inherently alienating kids. I realize that students aren’t authentically engaged and, more and more, students aren’t even ritually engaged either. I don’t think project-based learning is the answer for all of the problems facing education today. I don’t even think it’s a good fit for every teacher, every student, every school. But I think in the right context, with a supportive administration and teachers with vision, enthusiasm, and a relinquishing on control, project-based learning can make a huge impact on students’ learning. I believe I have the disposition of an effective PBL teacher and I am hopeful that embracing PBL will make me a better teacher and allow me to engage all my students in a way that is meaningful, going beyond ritual engagement.
What is Project-Based Learning?
Project-based learning allows students to have an active role in their learning because it’s their interests and their decisions that drive their projects. Teachers give students a framework—the required standards perhaps or an interestingly worded problem—and then students have the autonomy to decide how they want to address the project. The teacher is not the emitter of fact and the student is not just a vessel to be filled. Instead the student is created his own meaning through inquiry, research, and collaboration. According to Boss and Krauss, the hallmarks of project-based learning is that “projects form the centerpiece of the curriculum—they are not add-on or extra at the end of a ‘real’ unit” and that “students engage in real-world activities and practice the strategies of authentic disciplines” often working collaborative with “technology integrated as a tool for discovery” (p. 12). Project-based learning makes the learning authentic because “the project-based system changes the emphasis of assessment from short-term goals of facts, terms, and content to understanding complex ideas and processes: from mastery of isolated skills to mastery of integrated skills” (Newell, 2003, p. 23).
Project-based learning is not just a trick to get students to pay attention in class. In fact, it requires a pretty substantial paradigm shift about the nature of learning and the role of teachers and students in the learning process. Students make meaning rather than receiving meaning from the teacher or working to find meaning through a textbook. Project-based learning is not just integrating activities into the classroom; in fact PBL is antithetical to many traditional classroom activities. Activities are teacher-driven, while PBL is student-driven; activities give students answers, and PBL allows students to make their own meaning; activities may be fun, but PBL is captivating; activities focus on the school-world and are enhance the curriculum, whereas PBL is centered in the real world and the projects themselves are the curricular focus (S. Boss, personal communication, June 2, 2011). Project-based learning, although student-driven, is not a free-for-all either because “students are solving problems that are central to a field or study and designed around specific educational goals” (Gallagher, 2009, p. 307).
Why Project-Based Learning?
To me, the main advantage of PBL is that it allows, in fact requires, the student to be an active force in his/her education. In a PBL classroom, a student cannot just sit in the back and “cruise.” The nature of the class forces students to be actively involved, and yet, my hope is that since the projects are driven by the students’ own curiosities and ideas, they will want to be involved. Instead of the teacher telling the students what they will learn, how they will learn it, and then how they’ll be assessed, PBL creates an environment in which the student can make those decisions. Project-based learning is meaningful learning, which “engages the emotional, the feelings; it is just-in-time, authentic and transformative” (Newell, 2003, p. 17). Project-based learning has also been called “passion based learning” (Boss & Krauss, 2011, p. 52), which I think exemplifies the spirit of PBL—that it is driven by the needs and passions of the students.
Proponents of project-based learning frequently talk about how PBL goes beyond just addressing the academic standards, but also gives students the opportunity to practice and learn other skills, called 21st century literacies (Boss & Krauss, 2007), skills and dispositions (Newell, 2003), and executive functions (Wills, 2011). I could make a list of these skills that would be ten pages long, but essentially these skills include “the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, use continually changing technology, be culturally aware and adaptive, and possess the judgment and open-mindedness to make complex decisions based on accurate analysis of information” (Wills, 2011). Boss and Krauss list several of other 21st century skills including digital-age literacy (scientific, economic, multicultural, technological), inventive thinking (managing complexity, self-direction, curiosity, creativity, risk-taking), effective communication (teaming, collaboration, interpersonal skills, personal and social responsibility), high productivity (prioritizing, planning, managing time), high level thinking skills, and research and information fluency (p. 48). I believe most teachers would agree that teaching these skills are important to students’ future success, but the traditional classroom often limits students’ ability to practice these skills. When the classroom in monologocial, the teacher is often the only one thinking critically, using technology, communicating, planning, and managing time. If students are simply receiving information, they don’t have to make judgments or decisions, they don’t have to work collaborative, and they aren’t encouraged to take risks or be curious.
These skills are essential if students are to be prepared for an ever-changing world and work force. The factory model of schooling—traditional “sit and get”—doesn’t allow for “life-long learning skills, learner-driven learning, customized learning, or contextual learning” like project-based learning does (Newell, 2007, p. 8-9). According to Willis (2011), “If students do not have opportunities to develop their higher order, cognitive skillsets they won't develop the reason, logic, creative problem solving, concept development, media literacy, and communication skills best suited for the daily complexities of life or the professional jobs of their future. Without these skills, they won't be able to compete on the global employment market with students currently developing their executive functions.” I had an administrator put it like this: Teachers are preparing students for a world in which they don’t even know what it will look like. By instilling these crucial skills in students “through well-designed projects that use digital tools, [teachers] do more than create memorable learning experiences. They prepare students to thrive in a world that’s certain to continue changing” (Boss & Krauss, 2007, p. 13). The beauty of project-based learning is that the teacher doesn’t necessarily have to teach a lesson on these skills, like many advisement programs do in high schools, but students inherently practice and learn these skills as a natural extension of completing a project.
What does a PBL teacher look like?
I don’t think project-based learning works in every classroom. In fact, I cringe at the idea of a misinformed but well-meaning administrator mandating project-based learning to be implemented in every classroom in a school. Embracing PBL definitely takes a paradigm change and it can be difficult to break the Pavlovian routines in the traditional classroom. A PBL teacher must relinquish authoritarian control and place some of the power in the students’ hands. Teaching in a project-based classroom requires a deep faith in students’ abilities to make their own meaning. It’s important to understand that “project based learning completely changes the role of the teacher: from lecturer and director of instruction to that of resource provider and participant in learning activities” (Newell, 2007, p. 5). In a project-based classroom, “the teacher invests in preparation and planning to set the stage for a project. After that, [the teacher] shifts control to the students” (Boss & Krauss, 2011, p. 20). Teachers in a project-based classroom need to be flexible, willing to learn, creative, and open to new ideas. They also need to be learners themselves and willing to embark on their own learning journey. Bob Fecho, in writing about teachers in dialogical classroom, states that dialogical teachers should “see learning as generative, value relationships, evolve a learning community, combine engagement and rigor, and take a critical stance on learning” (Fecho, 2011, p. 34). I believe that in a project-based classroom, the teacher has to embrace dialogical practice, and therefore, should have the qualities of a dialogical teacher.
I don’t think project-based learning works in every classroom. In fact, I cringe at the idea of a misinformed but well-meaning administrator mandating project-based learning to be implemented in every classroom in a school. Embracing PBL definitely takes a paradigm change and it can be difficult to break the Pavlovian routines in the traditional classroom. A PBL teacher must relinquish authoritarian control and place some of the power in the students’ hands. Teaching in a project-based classroom requires a deep faith in students’ abilities to make their own meaning. It’s important to understand that “project based learning completely changes the role of the teacher: from lecturer and director of instruction to that of resource provider and participant in learning activities” (Newell, 2007, p. 5). In a project-based classroom, “the teacher invests in preparation and planning to set the stage for a project. After that, [the teacher] shifts control to the students” (Boss & Krauss, 2011, p. 20). Teachers in a project-based classroom need to be flexible, willing to learn, creative, and open to new ideas. They also need to be learners themselves and willing to embark on their own learning journey. Bob Fecho, in writing about teachers in dialogical classroom, states that dialogical teachers should “see learning as generative, value relationships, evolve a learning community, combine engagement and rigor, and take a critical stance on learning” (Fecho, 2011, p. 34). I believe that in a project-based classroom, the teacher has to embrace dialogical practice, and therefore, should have the qualities of a dialogical teacher.
A colleague of mine recently started to integrate PBL into his language arts classroom and he said that a good PBL teacher embraces the chaos but gives it meaning, gets comfortable with not having all the answers, doesn’t make assumptions, gives quick feedback, and collaborates with other teachers and experts (N. Carroll, personal communication, June 1, 2011). Teachers in a PBL classroom must commit to continual learning themselves and feel comfortable with seeing knowledge as something in continual flux. Because project-based learning is so different from the traditional classroom, a PBL teacher must also be adept in communicating with parents, administrators, and the community. A PBL teacher must be an advocate for his/her own classroom.
My Project-Based Learning Journey
I will be teaching in a project-based classroom next year and I’m excited about embarking on a new journey with my students. I anticipate many challenges along with many successes. My goal is to create a framework that allows for dialogue, enthusiasm, and inquiry; I want my students to have rich and varied learning experiences that help them to grow as English students, learners, and people. Throughout the semester, I hope to have Suzie Boss in my head: "From now on, ask yourself: In what ways can a project help students learn how the world works and how they will work in the world? How can it set them up to practice skills that will make them effective, lifelong learners?" (Boss & Krauss, 2007, p. 51).
References
Boss, S & Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects in the digital age. Eugene: International Society for Technology in Education.
Gallagher, S. (2007). Adapting problem-based learning for gifted students. In Karnes, F. & Bean, S. (Eds.) Methods and Materials for Teaching the Gifted. Waco: Prufrock Press.
Newell, R. (2003). Passion for learning: How project-based learning meets the needs of 21st-century students. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Willis, J. (2011, June 13). Understanding how the brain thinks. Retrieved from http://edutopia.org.
