You say project, I say project….but do we mean the same thing?

I ran across this fun “invent an insect” project and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to turn it from good-to great through a Project Based Learning approach. You see, as this assignment stands it is project-oriented, and what most teachers or parents would call a project. Not sure what the difference is between project oriented and project based? Then watch this quick video or read this great article.  Examples of project-oriented assignments include the well-known California mission project, Presidential was museums, The Texas Alamo diorama, or colonial dress-up days. They are mostly fun, thematically relate to previous learning and often involve some sort of showcase. There is potential in each of these for a good project, but they are missing some critical components that could ensure deeper learning.

 

• Most of the preparations don’t happen in the classroom where a teacher can observe and assess content knowledge
• Similarly, because the work is happening outside of the classroom the teacher cannot provide feedback and assessment on collaboration skills
• Benchmarks aren’t embedded as safety nets to address gaps in content knowledge
• Not all students have equal support systems or access to materials at home; and that is an equity issue!
• The learning happens before the project rather than in service of the project, which does not provide context and meaning for deeper learning.

I do love this assignment because it is a fun idea and has SO much potential. See below for how a few tiny tweaks could make all the difference and lead to rigorous learning, and be sure to check out CraftED’s PBL workbook to help you build your own robust PBL experiences.