We here at Guerilla Educators are consistently asked 3 basic questions about the Project Based Learning methodology:
- What is Project Based Learning?
- How can educators use projects to assess mastery of curriculum?
- Where can research data be found to confirm (or deny) the effectiveness of PBL as a successful pedgogical strategy with students?
To answer these questions, we turn to the great online education magazine, "Edutopia", for assistance:
- What is PBL?
In the article, "Why Teach with Project Learning?" an article by the Edutopia editorial staff defines PBL like this; Project learning, also known as project-based learning, is a dynamic
approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and
challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while
working in small collaborative groups.
To this definition, we would add that the incorporation of a Service component (i.e. Service learning) with Community Partnerships into projects models what good citizenship looks like and is a crucial element in the Project-Based teaching and learning.
- How can educators use projects to assess mastery of curriculum?
To learn about how projects can be used to assess student academic progress, take a look at Eeva Reeder's students at Mountlake Terrace High School, near Seattle, Washington.
In our view, a project's success ultimately has value to the extent that it can advance students towards mastery across a range of curricula and that this progress can be assessed.
- Where can research data be found to confirm (or deny) the effectiveness of PBL as a successful pedgogical strategy with students?
A great place to begin investigating the growing body of research that supports the use of projects with students can be found in the Edutopia article, "PBL Research Summary: Studies Validate Project Based Learning".
Guerilla Educators is the best global resource available to see Project Based and Service Learning in action.
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