#differntiate

Project based learning is a teaching method that provides students opportunities to learn by engaging in dynamic, and meaningful projects that challenges them to respond to authentic and complex problems (Buck Institute for Education, n.d.). Often student PBL’s extend over a period of time, yet really motivates engagement.

PBL permits the students to develop:

1. Critical thinking

2. Collaboration

3. Creativity

4. Communication skills

(Avondale University, 2021).

Strategically, PBL allows students space to lead their learning with the scaffolding and assistance of teacher. PBL aligns with the concept of student-centred learning, where students facilitate their own learning with minimal assistance from the teacher (University of Leicester, n.d.). Solving problems require students to apply higher-order thinking skills and teamwork that will effectively create higher quality work rather than remembering information (Buck Institute for Education, n.d.).

The Gold standard PBL model consists of two guides for teachers to utilize when planning quality lessons:

1. Seven Essential Project Design Element “provide framework for developing high quality projects for your classroom”

a. A challenging problem or question

b. Sustained inquiry

c. Authenticity

d. Student voice & choice

e. Reflection

f. Critique & revision

g. Public Product

2. Seven Project based Teaching practices “help teachers, schools, and organizations improve, calibrate, and assess their practice”

(Buck Institute for Education, n.d.).

(Buck Institute for Education, n.d.)

For PBL to be effective, students need to be given a voice, learning needs to be authentic, connect and resonate outside the classroom, and reflection in addition to feedback are naturally embedded (Richard Parker, 2019). One way this can be achieved is for the teacher to differentiate instruction and assessment to accommodate students who might need extra scaffolding and modifications. Teachers need to keep in mind student interest, readiness and learning styles to plan more effectively (Parker, 2019).

References

Avondale University. (2021). HOW DO I CONNECT DEEP STUDENT LEARNING THROUGH PBL & OTHER STRATEGIES? [Booklet]. Moodle.

Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.). What is PBL? https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl

Buck Institute for Education. [Image]. https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl

Richard Parker. (2019, December 18). Using project-based learning in the classroom. LD@school. https://www.ldatschool.ca/project-based-learning/

University of Leicester. (n.d.). Student-led learning. https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/lli/developing-learning-and-teaching/enhance/strategies/copy4_of_active-learning