Video
Talk 1: How to design project-based learning
Hello and welcome to this
topic on project based learning. My name is Anne Gilleran and I come from
Dublin in Ireland. I currently work at European Schoolnet as a Pedagogical
Manager. However I have worked all my life in education, as a teacher, guidance
counselor, school principal, and teacher trainer.
Today I want to explore
with you some of the ideas behind Project Based Learning (PBL for short); look
at some of the various models of PBL and pinpoint some basic considerations
which must be taken into account when planning a PBL activity with your
students.
Project-based learning is
an approach which uses methods such as inquiry-based learning and problem-based
learning to develop students’ competences. Let me explain this a little more.
Having decided to explore a topic or concentrate on an aspect of your
curriculum you can decide to use either an Inquiry based approach or a Problem
based approach, or indeed a mixture of the two.
Let’s examine the Inquiry-based
learning method first. Inquiry is "a
seeking or request for truth, information or knowledge". Inquiry-based
learning starts with questioning, continues with exploration and investigation and ends with finding a solution, drawing a reasonable conclusion,
making a substantive decision or applying new knowledge or skills. It is often used to
explore deep questions such as; Are
all humans born free? Is
democracy the ideal way to organise society?
Inquiry-based learning relies on questioning – you may say “but so does the traditional approach to learning.” The difference is, however, that in the traditional classroom it is the teacher who asks questions to which answers can easily be found and which usually do not go beyond the immediately available information. In an inquiry-driven classroom, it is not only the teacher who asks open-ended questions, but also students themselves. Students are encouraged to question arguments, information, ideas, opinions and viewpoints, to go deeper and generate new questions, which will lead them to new knowledge.
Inquiry-based learning relies on questioning – you may say “but so does the traditional approach to learning.” The difference is, however, that in the traditional classroom it is the teacher who asks questions to which answers can easily be found and which usually do not go beyond the immediately available information. In an inquiry-driven classroom, it is not only the teacher who asks open-ended questions, but also students themselves. Students are encouraged to question arguments, information, ideas, opinions and viewpoints, to go deeper and generate new questions, which will lead them to new knowledge.
Let’s have a look at the
type of questions that one should concentrate on. I quote here from the work of
John
Mergendoller of the Buck Institute for Education,. He
says that in a PBL environment, the project should investigate what he
describes as "non-Googleable Driving Questions". In
other words questions that cannot be easily answered by just looking up Google,
Bing, Wikipedia etc. Just like in pre internet days, students would look up an
encyclopedia and slavishly copy the information to provide their answers.His
examples of Googleable questions are:
"Who were the first settlers in our city?"
"What does it mean to be a healthy eater?"
"How are airplanes wings constructed?"
"Who were the first settlers in our city?"
"What does it mean to be a healthy eater?"
"How are airplanes wings constructed?"
Of course, to quote Mergendoller, he
doesn't want to say "that these questions aren't worth knowing, because
they are, and they can lead students to engage in a form of research. Such
research, however, emphasizes uncovering information and explicating concepts,
rather than thinking critically about information and concepts."
On the other hand, non-Googleable questions would be:
"What was the most important cause of our city's growth?"
"How can we best convince teenagers to be healthy eaters?"
How can we design an airplane wing that is light and will support 25 pounds without breaking?" Answers to these questions can't be found on Google without "digging" deeply.
On the other hand, non-Googleable questions would be:
"What was the most important cause of our city's growth?"
"How can we best convince teenagers to be healthy eaters?"
How can we design an airplane wing that is light and will support 25 pounds without breaking?" Answers to these questions can't be found on Google without "digging" deeply.
The whole purpose of PBL is to encourage
pupils to research and to find answers and solutions, to help them develop
higher-order thinking skills: analyse the information they find, interpret
it and compare their findings, synthesis the ideas, evaluate its
strengths and weaknesses, peer and self-assess it, find solutions and create a
new product.
Let’s now take a look at the problem-based learning method, which
is more
practical. Students are given a real
life problem to investigate, which can be described as an authentic problem and
have to come up with possible solutions. It may be widely applied to all kinds
of real life problems. The solutions can then be discussed and tested to see
which will work best in a given situation, for example. How to provide the best
care for elderly people in their own homes, How to improve access to public
buildings. Both of these approaches focus on developing problem-solving,
critical thinking and information-processing skills. They also work best when students have to
work in small teams or groups. The two methods are closely related to each
other and often overlap. It is also interesting to note that in this
approach, there are not necessarily right or wrong answers. Each solution may
have merits and demerits and the students have to analyse and judge. This can be a new departure for some teachers
who have up to know maybe always dealt in factual knowledge.
I
am sure you are familiar with this phrase ‘Tell me and I forget, show me and I
remember, involve me and I understand’. This is the basic tenet of PBL. It is of course more demanding on both
student and teacher, but it is also more rewarding.
Implementing the PBL approach in your
teaching requires you to bear in mind a few practicalities before you start.
Here are a few pointers you need to think about, which you can consider as a
preliminary checklist:
·
What is your project idea?
·
What is the time frame proposed?
·
Is the project idea manageable?
·
Is it a project just between you and your
class or will you collaborate with other teachers in your school or in other
countries
·
If it involves partners from other countries,
what is the language proposed?
·
What subjects could be integrated into this
project?
·
What technical tools, if any, will you use?
·
How does your project fit with the school
planning and calendar?
Once
you have fulfilled the basics you are ready to start. If you bear in mind the
following 7 steps then you are well on your way…
Step 1. Involve your
students from the very beginning. Start with a guided exploration of some
topics you have in mind as a whole class; but also be prepared to change if
better ideas are emerging from the class. It is important to establish certain
ground rules regarding behavior with them in advance.
Step 2. Having defined the topic, in discussion with
the class break it down into different tasks. Discuss which technologies to use
and how they will be integrated
Step 3. Plan well, set
goals, define outcomes. Above all be concrete, students need goals to work
towards and responsibility of tasks in order to achieve them
Step 4. Proceed to put
pupils into small groups with responsibilities for a particular task. Encourage pupils to ask personally relevant
and socially significant questions regarding the topics chosen. Work to the strengths
of each pupil.
Step 5. Create a tangible
artifact that addresses the issue, answers questions, and makes learning
visible and accountable.
Step 6. Arrive at a
conclusion...take a stand...take action.
Step 7. Document, justify,
and share conclusion with larger audience. (parents, school etc)
Build in presentation of the
outcomes or artifact to different audiences as a key part of the project.
Presentation of ideas to others consolidates the learning for the students.
When you actively engage the student in
their learning activities and find these activities to be meaningful with a
tangible outcome, their attitude to learning will undoubtedly change for the
better. Learning becomes fun.
4.
Final Points
I hear you ask well, just how do we
assess the acquisition of all these competences developed within project-based
learning? To learn more about this, you can listen to the videos in module 3
which look precisely at this important issue. My final point is this, PBL can
be approached in two ways, either you work in your own classroom with your
class and the work is kept in there, or you decide to work collaboratively with
other teachers in your own school, own country or in other countries. When you
take this broader approach, the rewards of collaboration can be of enormous
benefit both to you and your students. The benefits of exchange and peer
learning really does help you to consolidate your approach to changing teacher
practice through discussion with other teachers. You are no longer alone. If
you are interested in developing projects in a national, European or
international context, checkout the project eTwinning. www.etwinning.net. Here you will find a professional
community of over 260 thousand teachers interested in you and your ideas.
I wish you every enjoyment of this
course, I am sure you will learn a lot, and also apply what you learn widely,
and I look forward to maybe meeting you one day in our connected world.
Video Talk 2: How to Develop Learners’ Collaborative Problem Solving Skills
In this video we interview Professor Patrick Griffin from the University of Melbourne, about the nature of collaborative problem solving tasks, and the cognitive and social skills learners need to apply and teachers need to observe. The concrete steps teachers need to take to set-up collaborative problem solving tasks in the classroom are also explained.
Because this video is an unscripted interview, there is no precise transcript available. However, Professor Patrick Griffin has drafted a dedicated paper to accompany this video, which provides further details.
Download the paper below the video.
Patrick Griffin & Esther Care
Assessment Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
(November, 2014)
Objectives:
1.
Explore the nature of
collaborative problem solving.
2.
Differentiate group work and
collaborative group work
3.
Set guidelines for developing
collaborative projects or problem resolution
21st century framework and skills
What are the capabilities
that have been identified and defined as 21st century skills? One
view is that any skills that are essential for
navigating life in the 21st century could be classed as 21st century
skills. This does not mean that many familiar skills of the 20th and preceding
centuries are no longer needed. But there are new skills emerging as increasingly
important. In this session we will provide an overview of how several global
initiatives have looked at skills within a 21st century framework. Because of
the recent decision by the OECD to focus collaborative problem solving.
Skill, competence, competency - which are we talking
about? Well, different groups conceptualise these notions differently! Some
initiatives are based in an understanding of the school curriculum. They define
competence as something that goes beyond physical and cognitive aspects to
include attitudinal characteristics, and assume that these are essential to
assure a successful life and society. Others, like the ATC21S project maintains
use of the term "skills" but effectively also encompass attitudinal
characteristics. For our purposes in the ATC21S project, we regarded a skill as
an action a person can perform. Competence encompasses the quality and
transferability of that action over time and context. No one performs a skill
at the same level every time. No one operates at their maximum all the time. We
adjust our performance according to the demands at the time. Competence
therefore can be regarded as the ability of the person to adjust the skill
performance to the demands of the context.
The c21 skills
framework
The ATC21S project began in 2009 and one of the first
questions was to do with the definition and framework and because technology
had made changes to the workplace and life styles, new skills were needed as
well as new emphases on older skills. In order to deal with this a symposium
held at the end of the AERA conference in San Diego recommended four sets of
skills be recognised as essential for adjustments to the effect of technology
on life, learning and work. The skills were identified as those which would enable
people to demonstrate new ways of thinking, ways of working, tools for working
and living in the world that had emerged as a result of technology.
Figure 1: the KSAVE Framework for ATC21S
|
\Ways of
thinking were conceptualised to include creativity
and innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning to learn and
the development of metacognition. Ways of
working was conceptualised to include communication, collaboration and
teamwork; Tools for working involved
information and ICT literacy; Living in
the world involved changing emphases on local and global citizenship,
aspects of life and career development, and personal and social responsibility.
These were all grouped under the acronym KSAVE: knowledge, skills, attitudes,
values and ethics. It also meant that the Ways
of learning and ways of teaching
need to be taken into account in the development of the assessment strategies
that focus on these skills.
As we all know, the 21st century does not exist in
isolation! Two initiatives indicate that the concerns began in the 20th
century – those undertaken by UNESCO and PISA. These provide a context for
teaching and assessment in the 21st century skills arena. UNESCO recommended a
competence approach. The Delors’ Report (1996) marked the beginning of UNESCO's
21st century competence learning discourse - with learning to know, learning to
do, learning to be, and learning to live together - forming the four pillars of
learning. These four pillars are more complex than appears and shift the
discussion somewhat to a philosophical level.
Learning to know includes developing the faculties of
memory, reasoning and problem solving; it pre-supposes learning to learn and
could usefully be extended to the concept of knowledge building. This
perspective does not presume that knowledge is fixed. Learning to do implies acquisition of
complex skills, but also refers to developing an aptitude for teamwork and
initiative, and a readiness to take risks. Learning to live together is
the pillar UNESCO emphasizes more than any other. It refers to developing an
understanding of others as well as highlighting the reality that if we are to
understand others, we must first know ourselves. Learning to be is founded on
the fundamental principle that education needs to contribute to the all-round
development of each individual. This pillar deals with what it is to be human,
comprehended by intellectual, moral, cultural and physical dimensions.
The OECD's position,
developed within the DeSeCo Project - Definition and Selection of Competencies
- has a focus on key competencies - and classifying these competencies in three
broad categories. First, individuals need to be able to use a wide range of
tools for interacting effectively with others and the environment. They need
both physical tools such as information technology
and socio-cultural ones such as the use
of language. They need to understand these tools well enough to adapt them for
their own purposes. Second, in an
increasingly
networked and interdependent world, individuals need to
be
able to engage with others. Third, individuals need to take responsibility for
managing their own lives through situating themselves in the broader social
context.
Figure 2: UNESCO Synthesis of Needed
Skills
|
Partnerships 21 took as their mission to catalyse US
K12 education for the 21st century. Essentially they endorse the
"fusing" of traditional academic disciplines with skills including
critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration - the 3Rs with
the 4Cs; these are contextualised within life and career skills, and technology
and media skills.
Figure 3:
Partnerships 21 Curriculum Framework
|
Each of the approaches to understanding of 21st
century skills and how they fit with our notions of education and the function
it serves, emphasises skills that diverge from modern traditional notions of
academic disciplines. They all actually identify enabling skills - skills that
we need to navigate our global society. They converge on a common set of 21st
century competences - collaboration, communication, ICT literacy, and social
and/or cultural competencies; and most include creativity, critical thinking,
productivity, and problem-solving.
Figure 4: Comparisons
of organisations defining c21 skills
|
Notwithstanding the strong degree of agreement across
the initiatives, they are all developed at the conceptual level and they differ
in terms of what they set out to achieve. The P21, European Union, and OECD's
DeSeCo frameworks can be regarded as generic frameworks that provide a
conceptualization of 21st century skills upon which other frameworks can be
built. Areas most in need of explicit development and application are those
associated with teacher development, curriculum, and assessment. Within the
ATC21S framework work has focused on a two complex skills areas in order to
look at precisely these issues - of teaching and assessment, and their
implications for the curriculum. In this session we will focus on just one of
them – collaborative problem solving.
Collaborative problem solving is a complex skill
requiring both social and cognitive competencies. It was rationalised by the
ATC 21S project team as a composite skill arising from the links between critical
thinking, problem solving, decision making and collaboration. The term “collaborative Problem Solving” was
adopted from the work of O’Neill (2014) and from counselling in the work of
Green (2004). Hesse et al (2015) conceptualised collaborative problem solving
as consisting of five broad strands - participation, perspective taking, social
and task regulation, and knowledge building and we will return to these in
detail. These strands have been used as the framework for the development and
field testing of scenario-based tasks designed to elicit collaborative problem
solving skills. Collaborative problem solving is a set of skills that we need
to rely on when the capacities or resources of just one person are not
sufficient to solve the problem. We need to learn how to combine different
resources and skills when faced with complex problems. The OECD has also
adopted these approaches, with a slightly different interpretation and
conceptual framework and will assess collaborative problem solving in 2015 PISA
study.
Figure 5: Two
Domains of Collaborative Problem Solving
|
The challenge for teachers in scaffolding student
learning in collaborative problem solving, is to identify students’ emerging
skills and provide the right support at the right time at the right level.
Teachers’ assessment practices have to adjust and move from generating
summative information about past performance, or as comparison of one student
with others, toward assessment that helps them find the starting point for
instruction and ways in which they can tailor their teaching to students
learning social and cognitive skills associated with collaborative
problem-solving. This is the heart of formative assessment. It links assessment
and teaching and in this course it links assessment and teaching to
21st-century skills.
The Nature of collaborative
problem solving
The primary distinction between problem-solving by an
individual and collaborative problem-solving is its social nature - the need
for communication, exchange of ideas, shared identification of the problem and
its elements, and negotiated agreement on connections between problem elements
and relationships between actions and their effects. Collaborative
problem-solving makes each of these steps observable, as they must be shared
with a partner or other members of a group if a solution is to be successfully
identified. These steps can be described as follows:
1. A problem state must be jointly recognised, and
collaborators must identify and agree on which elements of the problem each can
control or monitor.
2. A representation of the problem must be shared.
3. Collaborators need to agree on a plan of action,
including management of resources.
4. Plans must be executed, which may require a
coordinated effort by collaborators acting together or in sequence.
5. Progress towards a solution must be monitored,
different options evaluated, plans reformulated if necessary, and collaborators
must decide on how to proceed in the face of positive or negative feedback.
This approach to problem-solving has been described in
the literature since 1973, when Polya[1] formalised it as a way to
solve mathematics problems. It has since been adopted in the maths and science
related problem solving tests of the OECD’s PISA international studies. ATC21S
has taken the view that this might not be appropriate for collaborative
problem-solving in areas broader than mathematics and science. Collaborative
problem solving can incorporate social and historical problems as well as
mathematics and science, for instance. Table 1 provides a summary comparison of
the different approaches taken to problem-solving and collaborative
problem-solving by Polya’s (1973) approach, the OECD’s PISA studies, and
ATC21S.
Polya 1973
|
PISA 2003/2012
|
ATC21S
|
Understand the problem
|
Explore and understand
|
Collect and share information about the
collaborator and the task
|
Devise a plan
|
Represent and formulate
|
Check links and relationships ,
organise and categorize information
|
Carry out the plan
|
Plan and execute
|
Rule use: set up procedures and
strategies to solve the problem using
an “If, then..” process
|
Look back and check
|
Monitor and reflect
|
Test hypotheses using a “what if” process and check process and
solutions
|
Table 1: Comparisons of approaches to problem-solving and collaborative
problem-solving.
In the ATC21S study, problem-solving was seen as a
series of steps leading towards hypothesis testing and collaborative testing of
ideas:
1. The first step is where each of the individuals within
the collaborative team explores the problem space and identifies the elements
and aspects of it. They might record their observations individually at this
stage.
2. The next step involves students collecting and sharing
information about problem elements and how they link together. In this process
the students are identifying and collating the total amount of information
about the problem by sharing information about observations and collaborating
and defining the problem space.
3. Discussion then centres on whether there are patterns
and links between elements of the problem, both within and across the areas of
observation available to each of the participants.
4. Once the connections are identified, the discussion
and collaboration begin to formulate rules or contingencies associated with
actions and observations. These need to be shared across the participants’
observation space. The discussion follows the “if… then” paradigm.
5. By a process of observation and collecting data about
the link between actions and observations, the collaborators then begin to
formulate rules or contingencies. These lead to generalisations so that the
collaborators can conclude that every time a particular action takes place a
particular consequence is observed. At this point they move from inductive to
deductive reasoning in the hierarchy of problem solving skills.
6. At the highest ATC21S level of performance, students
reflect on the kind of conclusions that are drawn from the information about
exceptions to the generalisations. At this point the students are testing hypotheses
by challenging generalisations. They address the issue with such expressions as
"what if…"
The importance of collaborative problem-solving in the
workplace is increasing as societies and workplaces become increasingly
knowledge dependent. Collaborative problem solving requires that the people
combine their resources and their strategies in order to reach a common goal.
The assumption here is that collaboration is essential because the task is too
complex for a person to work through it alone. It may be that different people
possess different information; different expertise and experience that they can
bring to the problem space in order to jointly share the knowledge, experience
and strategies in order to jointly solve a particular problem. So combining
resources is important. So too is the knowledge and the kinds of skills that
each person possesses. So we would argue that collaborative problem-solving has
these two main components. The collaborative, sharing or social aspects and the
knowledge, strategic, problem-solving or cognitive aspects.
Collaborative problem solving is therefore defined as
a joint activity where two or more people work together to contribute
knowledge, skills, materials and procedures and move through a series of
cognitive states that involve collection and analysis of information and the
formulation of hypotheses that they jointly set out to test.
There has been, and possibly will continue to be, a
debate about the nature of collaborative problem solving, methods defining it and the concern that
measuring it might distort its nature.
In the ATC21S project collaborative problem-solving was measured by developing
algorithms that monitored and logged the kinds of activities and communications
that a pair of students shared when they were jointly setting out to solve a
problem.
We explored a different approach to assessment.
Traditionally when collaborative teams undertake assessment tasks, problem
based learning projects, or investigations in the classroom, the assessment
focuses on the outcome of the team effort. We now examine how we can identify
individual skill development and their contribution to the overall team result.
This is what makes the measurements of collaborative problem-solving different
from almost every other group problem solving, or collaborative learning
approach. The second thing that makes it different is that it is
technology-based. Just reviewing a couple of simple examples of two people
working their way through a particular collaborative problem solution it
becomes evident that an observer gets lost in the complex interactions and
activities of the participants.
The medium of delivery of the task or project can be
face-to-face or through technology. With technology there is a range of ways in
which the students can collaborate. This can be across different countries,
classrooms and it does not matter if there physically separated by times,
location, page, opportunity or subject knowledge. What is required is that the
students can simultaneously access the tasks and interact with one another via
the Internet to explore potential procedures and strategies that would help
them solve a complex problem. The essential aspect of the collaborative
problem-solving task or a collaborative problem based learning project is that
each participant in the group possesses or controls unique knowledge,
expertise, experience, materials or objects that are essential to the
completion of the task, the project or the problem solution. Without every
individual contributing their specific resource project cannot be completed;
problem cannot be solved; the task cannot be done. Collaborative
problem-solving demands that every participant contributes to the work of the
group and is able to understand and explain to their collaborators their role
and the importance of their contribution to the solution of the task.
So it is clear that collaborative problem-solving
relies upon at least two areas of skill. The students working together must
have the capacity and skills that enable them to work collaboratively and to
share their knowledge, expertise and suggestions of strategy. They must also
have the cognitive skills that enable them to understand the problem and
analyse its tasks and specific requirements. In addition the student will need
to have the cognitive skills that will enable them to assemble information;
build their expertise and understanding of the problem; link their shared
understandings to particular procedures that will enable them to make progress
in reaching the problem solution and to be able to identify patterns and
strategies that can help understand connections and contingencies that will
eventually enable them to make generalizable suggestions to each other about
problem solution and to test those generalisations in the form of hypothesis
testing.
So in designing a collaborative problem based task or
project there are several steps:
1. Define the problem or collaborative project.
2. Identify project elements and components in detail;
3. for each component identify the resources that are
essential. These can be;
a. knowledge
b. materials
c. strategies
d. experience
e. equipment;
4. Allocate to each participant non-overlapping, unique
sets of resources necessary to be contributed to the project completion or
problem resolution. Divide the resources amongst the participants with no
shared or common resources.
5. Clearly state the goals of the task or problem
solution and observed to students procedure in the task.
6. Explain to the participants that they must identify
the problem, sort out a strategy to resolve the problem or complete the task
7. The students also need to develop a means of keeping
records of their decisions and discussions. For face-to-face attempts at
collaborative problem-solving or collaborative project work keeping records is
an essential aspect of the assessment process.
References
Autor,
D., Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2003). The skill content of recent
technological change: An empirical exploration. The Quarterly Journal of
Economics, 118(4), 1279–1333.
Binkley,
Marilyn, Ola Erstad, Joan Herman, Senta
Raizen, Martin Ripley,May Miller-Ricci, and Mike Rumble. Defining Twenty-First Century Skills in
Griffin, P. , McGaw, B., and Care, E., (2012). Assessment and Teaching of 21st
Century skills. Springer. Dordrecht.
Care,
E. , Griffin, P., Claire Scoular, C., Awwal, N & Zoanetti (2015).
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Skills. Methods and Approach (Eds) P. Griffin, & E. Care. (2015) Springer.
Dordrecht.
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J. (1996 ) Learning the treasure within; Education: the necessary Utopia:
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Twenty-first Century. Paris: UNESCO Publications .
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at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1517804
or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1517804
Greene,
R.W. et al. (2004) Effectiveness of Collaborative Problem Solving in affectively
dysregulated youth with oppositional defiant disorder: Initial findings.
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Griffin,
P. & E. Care. (2015). Assessment and
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Griffin,
P. (2014). “Performance Assessment of Higher Order Thinking.” Journal of Applied Measurement.
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Griffin,
P. Mak, A. and Wu,M. ( 2006) Interactive problem solving skill and assessment.
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(Eds). Springer. Dordrecht
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Griffin,
P., Care, E., Harding, S. (2015)Task Characteristics and Calibration in
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Griffin, & E. Care. (2015) Springer. Dordrecht
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N. and Henry E. Siu
(2012). The Trend is the Cycle: Job
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H. (2014) Measurement of Collaborative problem Solving. NAEP Innovations
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Video
Talk 3: A Teacher’s Experience of using Project-Based Learning to Teach
Mathematics
Hi my name is Sandra Fay. I am a second level maths teacher at St Marks
Community School in Ireland, and teach students aged between 12 and 18. In this
video I’m going to talk to you about my experience of the Irish initiative
Project Maths, introduced to you in Module 1. The aim of the initiative was to
improve students’ mathematical competence and shift the focus in the classroom
from teacher led drill and practice to developing the skills of
problem-solving, higher order reasoning and sense-making. I’m going to share
with you the challenges we faced in implementing this new approach, and also
provide you with some top tips on how to develop these skills through your
teaching.
There was
an appetite for change in my school. We knew the system was broken so it had to
be fixed. The maths classes were often teacher-centred. Predominately teachers
demonstrated mathematical procedures and skills, and students practiced them.
Essentially we were focusing on one type of learner and as a result at least
50% of the class was not engaged. As a school we were excited about the reform,
which considerably revised the mathematics syllabus, pedagogy and classroom
assessment which accompanied it, but we knew it would not come without its
challenges. There were major challenges for the school, teachers, and students.
For the
school there were many challenges including time tabling, team teaching
organisation, IT resources, Training facilitation and meeting time allocation.
The principal
had to ensure there was a whole school support, and that students, teachers and
parents felt supported in the process. As the syllabus development happened in
phases, teachers were working from different syllabuses.
1.
New
content was added while other content was removed from the syllabus, depending
on its’ relevance to the overall plan.
2.
There
were no books and initially few resources.
A lot of time was spent by teachers devising new resources of their own. There was also a lot of time spent
discovering and exploring new resources online.
3.
Time
allocation was also a huge concern for teachers. Our routine was totally
disrupted. As the syllabus and its
content were changing and growing we did not know were the time would come from
to cover the content.
4.
We were worried about where the time for
developing skills and focusing on projects, discovery learning, real life
concepts, and group work etc. was going to come from?
Many
teachers had to completely review how they understood their role in the
classroom. There was a whole unease around the sense of newness. The challenge of new topics, new pedagogies,
new assessment and new technology was facing us. We had two choices:
1. One was to embrace the
challenges and take this opportunity and use it as a means of engaging our
students. The hope being that our
students would engage collaboratively, and learn from each other’s problem
solving strategies. This would enable them to think creatively and critically
in relation to maths and hopefully the real world.
2.
Or
alternatively do nothing and stay as we were focusing on lower order thinking
and procedural maths, rather than real understanding and transferrable skills
for the future.
We chose to
embrace the challenges, and we were able to meet them thanks to five effective
strategies. The first was collaboration
among the department. Everyone in the department was fully on board, and we
benefited from the enthusiasm and leadership of our department head also. As
time was a huge challenge and developing resources was extremely important,
collaborating and sharing resources was crucial to its success. We had a shared
server where we uploaded our resources and made them freely available to all
members of staff. There was a huge sense of continuity for the students as we
were using the same T&L, PowerPoint’s, and resources for introducing and
teaching all our topics. There was a real sense of alignment as there was a lot
of discussion and debate among teachers around the logical order to teach each
topic and for how long for. The whole unease around the newness created a
strong nature of support amongst the staff.
The second
important factor was the intensive
school support we received. As a national initiative each pilot school was
allocated a regional development officer to provide professional development
support. Our officer was outstanding and delivered excellent workshops with
great ideas for bringing real life scenarios into the classroom. She helped us
develop resources, and overcome our fears and reservations around the constant
changes in the syllabus. She was also
available at any time online for advice. There was a real sense that we were in
this together, and as a school we felt very much supported. Collaborative
learning was evident amongst us all.
Thirdly, a supportive leadership was paramount to
the success of the implementation in St Marks Community School. Our principal
could see the appetite for change and she spurred it on. The support was
endless - timetabling, team teaching, IT and resource investment, meeting
times, and training times were all taken care of. There was a real sense of
whole school support.
Team teaching was the fourth
facilitating factor, which turned out to be an excellent experience. The young
and old teachers were in a position to glean from each other’s expertise. It
was also a major factor in enabling teachers overcome a lot of fears. Some
teachers enjoyed and encouraged group work. Other teachers felt less vulnerable
experiencing it alongside a confident colleague whilst finding their way. Other
teachers were extremely competent using IT and were able to help and encourage
the colleagues with the use of ICT in the classroom. Team teaching brought huge
benefits to the department as a whole. The skill set of the maths department as
a whole grew tenfold due to the collaborative sharing of resources and skills
which would not have happened without the support and flexibility of the
management.
Finally, the use of IT to support learning
had a significant impact on our ability to change. Maths teachers embraced the
use of statistical packages and also Geogebra.
Geogebra changed the face of the maths classroom. Geogebra allows both student and teachers to
do a lot of investigation and discovery learning in the area of coordinate
geometry, Functions, Graphs, Calculus and trigonometry to name a few. This
means more time can be dedicated to higher order thinking and analytical skills
as the computer can carry out the mundane tasks at a click of a button. We also
use Edmodo, which is an online
learning platform. It provides a
safe and easy way for our classes to connect and collaborate, share content,
and access homework, and in so doing encourages a peer-learning and
peer-support environment – both in the classroom and online. Both teachers and
students are encouraged to post resources they may have found useful.
On
the basis of my experience of using a skills-based approach and project-based
learning in the maths class, my top four tips to teachers would be the
following.
1. Use project-based learning. Introducing project-based
learning, including group work and investigational tasks, is very challenging,
as you have to make sure students stay on task and ensure their work load is
shared evenly in relation to their abilities. However, from my experience, it
is also extremely rewarding. I have implemented statistic projects with my
students which allowed them to investigate and research topics they were
interested in. Seeing statistics as a cycle through the project-based learning
process - posing a question, gathering, collecting, analysing and interpreting
results, allowed my students to see the importance and relevance of what they
were doing. This process can be used across a
range of topics, including Trigonometry, Algebra, and Calculus, or geometry as
in the following example. Let’s say we want students to do a project about
volume. Firstly we need to pose a question:
1.
What
is volume?
2.
What
data might we need to collect to find the volume of an object?
3.
Let’s
collect the data and analyse it
4.
Let’s
now look for patterns and interpret results. Can we come up with our own
formulas ourselves?
Changing the
way we question allows great scope for developing key skills in the classroom.
2. Create
an environment where students can make connections across the subject
Realising
that no topic is stand-alone and that everything in maths is related removes
the time pressure for study and revision. Watching students make this discovery
is really rewarding. Devising your own resources with cross curricular links is
hugely beneficial. When students begin to look
for connections and links across maths you see a huge improvement in their
problem-solving skills, and higher ordering thinking and reasoning. The hope is
they can then apply their knowledge and skills outside the classroom.
3. Create rich tasks and encourage
students to use different strategies. Introducing new topics through a
problem and no other information encourages students to draw on what they
already know. When you give them freedom to answer the question in any format
they wish, you discover the different ways students learn. Some students revert
back to graphs, tables and diagrams, others like to use formulas and algebra,
and others like to describe using words.
4. Encourage students to discuss maths
and justify their solutions.
Rote learning has become redundant, and students are now expected to exchange
and take part in collaborative problem solving. They need to be able to relate
the maths they learn to real life concepts. By asking students to justify their
solutions, rather than just giving the answer by following procedures, you are
also assessing their language literacy. This can be challenging, but it offers
a lot of scope for ‘’think, pair, share’’ learning and self-assessment.
In summary,
the success of the implementation of project maths in our school can be
attributed to the enthusiasm of all involved as well as the effective
collaboration between teachers, the department head, the principal, the
regional development officer, and last but not least the students themselves.
Through Edmodo students could voice their concerns, look for advice and help
and most of all share resources. They became facilitators of their own learning.
I hope the sharing of my experience has been useful and I encourage you to use
the tips in this video to start engaging in investigative, project-based
learning to develop your students’ competences.
Remember that you can access further reading and related resources to
this session from our course library. We also encourage you to visit the course
forum where you can take part in an ongoing discussion linked to this topic
with fellow participants and instructors.
Video Talk 4: Examples of project-based
learning
Hello and
welcome to this session. My name is Anne Gilleran and I come from Dublin in
Ireland. I currently work at European Schoolnet as a Pedagogical Manager.
However I have worked all my life in education, as a teacher, guidance
counselor, school principal, and teacher trainer.
The
projects I have chosen today as examples highlight how Key Competences may be
developed through project-based learning or PBL for short. These examples come
from the project eTwinning, funded by the European Commission, which is the
largest community for teachers in Europe allowing schools to carry out projects
together nationally and internationally.
In
eTwinning a project is usually founded between two teachers from different European
countries. Once it is registered the two founding teachers are then free to
invite other teachers to join the project and all the work is carried out in an
online workspace, called a TwinSpace. The underlying basis of the project work
is that there will be a great deal of emphasis put on exchange and
collaboration, not only between the teachers but also between their students.
The focus is on inquiry-based learning and problem solving, often using
authentic, real-life problems as a starting point. You can learn more about
what eTwinning has to offer teachers by visiting the website www.etwinning.net
Of
course this project work is also an ideal opportunity for teachers to work on
the development of Key Competences in a practical and motivating way, and the
examples I will talk about demonstrate very clearly, how different key
competences can be approached in different ways and with different age levels.
Each example has a video link, and a link to the work done which you can follow
up on in your own time.
My
first example involves students from the lower secondary school level age 12 –
15 year olds in a project called the Rainbow Village and for me it is a perfect
example of how to develop social and civic competence in young people. In the
project the students had to imagine they were living in a post Armageddon
world, where they had to rebuild life in their newly created Rainbow
Village. The TwinSpace for this project highlights the myriad of tasks the students
carried out, from deciding the best situation for their village, drawing up the
rules of their society and holding real time elections. They thought deeply on social and justice issues
and reflected on both the rights and responsibilities of citizens and their
rulers.
The
second project I have chosen to share with you is called Let your Passions
Shine, and it involved quite young students aged 9 – 11. As the title suggests, the work of the
project permitted them to explore various subjects and develop their talent and
skills around those subjects while feeling deeply involved in the project.
There was a wide variety of topics and tasks, presented in a fun, creative and
innovative way. I think this project really highlights one of the most
difficult of the Key Competences to develop in young people, Learning how to
Learn, as students were exposed to different ways of learning in various
subjects. If you look at the working space for this project, available from the course library,
you will find the range of topics from Art and Music to History, Science and
Maths. The students had to explore each subject, and then work in an
international team to set challenges for the whole group. During this process,
the students learned how to develop their own ideas, and work to their own
strengths. Of course along the way the project
also gave the opportunity for the development of other competences such as
digital competence, and communication both in mother tongue and foreign
languages.
My
final two examples involve older students from the upper secondary level aged
16 – 19 years old. The first of these projects is called, Pek the traveller
flea, with students from the vocational school sector in France, Spain , Italy,
Portugal Czech Republic and Turkey, working together. The project worked on developing competence
in foreign languages, and cultural awareness and expression, through building
the story of Pek and his travels in the form of a digital comic strip. Of course digital competence also found a
central role as you can see by looking at both the TwinSpace and the video available in the course
library.
My
final example is called Health for Life and features students aged between 15
and 19 from the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. I think this is a good example of how both
Maths and Science competence can be tackled in an authentic rather than
theoretical way for students. However, the project also fostered the sense of initiative
and entrepreneurship competence, in the way if which it challenges the students
to think for themselves and make their own judgments. The students carried out
surveys on smoking, drug taking, sexual practices etc. among their peers, and
ran lab experiments on the effects of various substances on the body. This is
really well documented in the project TwinSpace
and you will get a real sense of the kind of commitment these students
had by watching the video available in this course’s resource library.
I
hope you will take the time to look at the examples I have described, and most
importantly seriously think about adopting some of these approaches when you
come to plan your own projects to foster Key Competences in both yourself and
your students.
Remember,
you can watch the teachers and students speak for themselves about the projects
I’ve described in the videos and related resources available in our course
library. We also encourage you to visit the course forum
where you can take part in an ongoing discussion linked to this topic with
fellow participants and instructors.
My name is
Livia Di Nardo and I work at Junior
Achievement - Young Enterprise (JA-YE), Europe’s
largest provider of entrepreneurship education programmes, reaching 3.2 million
students at primary, secondary, vocational and university level.
Investing in
entrepreneurship education is one of the highest returns on investment Europe
can make. According to the European Commission’s, Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan, all Member
States should “Offer the opportunity to
young people to have at least one practical
entrepreneurial experience before leaving compulsory education, such as
running a mini-company, being responsible for an entrepreneurial project or a
social project”.
Searching
for education strategies that can aid long-term growth and employability, the
European Commission has identified mini-companies
as a successful programme for fostering
entrepreneurial education. The idea behind this is to involve students and
teachers in setting up and running a “real” mini-company while being at school,
through an education programme based on a clear set of steps and learning
outcomes and mainly focused on learning-by-doing methodologies and practical
application of students’ basic skills. Take a look at this short video
explaining the mini-companies programme.
JA-YE Europe entrepreneurial activities cover all
levels of education ensuring progression
in entrepreneurship education from primary school to higher education.
Two factors
are key for the success of entrepreneurial education programmes:
·
First: the engagement of volunteer mentors from enterprises to
help students make the connection between what they are learning and the world
outside school.
·
Second: Teachers have to become “learning facilitators” and work in teams
with the business sector mentors.
Entrepreneurial
teachers require active, learner-centred pedagogies and learning activities
that use practical learning opportunities from the real world. This approach
involves significant changes in the way teachers themselves are educated.
Research carried out by the European Commission shows that the core skills and
values linked to entrepreneurship education are seldom a priority in teachers’
education programs.
In the XXI
century school, it is important for teachers to apply entrepreneurial learning
methods and tools in any subject areas and for any age group. JA-YE is working
a lot to support teachers to develop students’ entrepreneurial skills. One of
its main initiatives for teachers is The
Entrepreneurial School which aims to train teachers to teach in an
entrepreneurial way, regardless of the subject they teach. To help them with
this the project has developed a virtual guide for entrepreneurial learning.
The Guide is a practical and useful tool for teachers in primary, secondary and
vocational schools that want to mainstream entrepreneurial learning in teaching
methods and learning processes they set up in the classroom every day.
·
The first section of the
guide contains more than 100 tools and
methods to support teachers implement entrepreneurial teaching and
learning, including good practices and framework documents from 85 different schools in 10 countries. The
tool is user-friendly and allows you to search for resources according to age
level, subject area or country.
·
There is also a section
where you can find best practice schools
and case studies with examples of
visions, plans and activities to be used in your own school.
·
In the Guide you can also
find the most important strategy and policy documents on entrepreneurial
learning at European or national level.
·
On top of this the Guide
also provides you with relevant tools to assess
your entrepreneurial teaching and check
the quality of the entrepreneurial activities of your school.
The engine
behind the Entrepreneurial School Guide is the community of educators across
Europe working on entrepreneurial learning. Within the Virtual Guide, the tools
and methods are presented and
recommended by teachers for teachers. If you are a teacher and would
like to start an entrepreneurial project in your school you can join our
community and get your students equipped with the skills they will need to
succeed in the world of work. Remember that you can access further reading and
related resources to this session from our course library. We also encourage
you to visit the course forum where you can take part in an ongoing discussion
linked to this topic with fellow participants and instructors.
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