Last year I jumped feet first into
participating in global projects with my class.
My students participated in four different projects throughout the year,
and they were extremely engaged. This
year, I am again participating in many projects and so I wanted to know, does
the research show that this way of learning is any more effective than
traditional seat work? What about when
we add the element of connecting with other classes?
It
Started with a Roar: My Own Experience
If you come into my class almost any afternoon in October, you are in for a big surprise. At first glance it may seem like mass chaos, students working in various places around the room, material and paper strewn about. There is the hum of multiple conversations, peppered with “Ms. Nairn, what am I going to use for bat ears?” or “How do I make something look smelly?”. A small group of students hurry to a table filled with beads, containers, pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks, fabric and enough bobbles to compete with any craft store. They look and then touch several pieces of material discussing which one will best represent chapped lips. By the end of the month, there will be a 12 foot monster stapled to our wall, a part of a set of monsters inhabiting classrooms around the world all a little different, but with marked resemblances.
The first project that I ever joined was the Global Monster Project organized by Terry Smith, a professor of Education at the Western Illinois University. The concept is that individual classes come up with create criteria for one portion of the monster, criteria that every class participating would follow when building that particular part. Each class then worked independently to create their own interpretation of the monster. The first time I mentioned to my students that we would be building a giant monster, they were hooked. They came up with creative and descriptive words to describe the monsters feet, such as hairy, smelly, grotesque and scarred. After touching on those language arts outcomes, students worked through the design process: planning, problem solving, critically thinking. They worked in small groups, collaborating and sharing the decision making and creation. As we explored the other classes that were participating, we pulled out maps and had discussions about where they were located and what life might be like, and on a few occasions we were lucky enough to Skype with a class and actually ask them.
If you come into my class almost any afternoon in October, you are in for a big surprise. At first glance it may seem like mass chaos, students working in various places around the room, material and paper strewn about. There is the hum of multiple conversations, peppered with “Ms. Nairn, what am I going to use for bat ears?” or “How do I make something look smelly?”. A small group of students hurry to a table filled with beads, containers, pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks, fabric and enough bobbles to compete with any craft store. They look and then touch several pieces of material discussing which one will best represent chapped lips. By the end of the month, there will be a 12 foot monster stapled to our wall, a part of a set of monsters inhabiting classrooms around the world all a little different, but with marked resemblances.
The first project that I ever joined was the Global Monster Project organized by Terry Smith, a professor of Education at the Western Illinois University. The concept is that individual classes come up with create criteria for one portion of the monster, criteria that every class participating would follow when building that particular part. Each class then worked independently to create their own interpretation of the monster. The first time I mentioned to my students that we would be building a giant monster, they were hooked. They came up with creative and descriptive words to describe the monsters feet, such as hairy, smelly, grotesque and scarred. After touching on those language arts outcomes, students worked through the design process: planning, problem solving, critically thinking. They worked in small groups, collaborating and sharing the decision making and creation. As we explored the other classes that were participating, we pulled out maps and had discussions about where they were located and what life might be like, and on a few occasions we were lucky enough to Skype with a class and actually ask them.
This single project allowed students to explore outcomes in Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Visual Art. Much like they are in the real world, this subjects areas came together to provide the pieces needed to make our monster successful. Students were working on other skills as well, including collaborating both with classmates and global partners to create the monster, working in small groups and balancing their ideas with those of the group and problem solving. Everything seemed to be coming together to benefit my students, but is this what others were finding as well? I needed to look at this idea a little more carefully.
Project Based Learning – The Foundation for Many Global Projects
Many of the projects that I have
discovered are based on the idea of project based learning, so that was the
first topic I wanted to investigate. The
Buck Institute for Education
defines project based learning as a process where “…students go through an
extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or
challenge. While allowing for some degree of student "voice and
choice," rigorous projects are carefully planned, managed, and assessed to
help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century Skills (such as
collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality,
authentic products & presentations.” (2012)
This definition bring to mind the Manitoba Education’s Literacy with ICT document. They define the Developmental Continuum for Literacy with ICT as a “matrix of descriptors that portray how students demonstrate their literacy with ICT. The following concepts, processes, and methodologies are embedded in the continuum and have become supporting principles for the implementation of Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum:
This definition bring to mind the Manitoba Education’s Literacy with ICT document. They define the Developmental Continuum for Literacy with ICT as a “matrix of descriptors that portray how students demonstrate their literacy with ICT. The following concepts, processes, and methodologies are embedded in the continuum and have become supporting principles for the implementation of Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum:
- inquiry
- constructivist learning
- higher-level critical and creative thinking
- reaching deeper understanding
- gradual release of responsiblity
- digital citizenship
- multiple literacies for the 21st century “ (Manitoba Education, 2006)
So if nothing else I know that if I am doing project based learning, I know that I will be touching on some of the curricular outcomes that my provinces expects my class to meet.
The Buck Institute has also come up
with a video discussing project based learning:
The video emphasizes the importance of
critical thinking, collaboration and communication in project based learning,
all “21st Century Skills”.
In regards to what project-based learning may look like in a classroom, Terry Smith notes that “students engaged in project-based learning can be observed doing the following:
In regards to what project-based learning may look like in a classroom, Terry Smith notes that “students engaged in project-based learning can be observed doing the following:
1. Considering
a motivating question about a real-world problem or situation.
2.
Investigating concepts, manipulating knowledge or thinking in a variety of
ways.
3. Using
tools to shape their thinking: paint, scissors, paper, audio, video, computers,
etc.
4. Negotiating,
collaborating, evaluating, socializing in a project context.” (2009)
What Does the Research About Project Based Learning?
Based Learning has been around as a
process for over 40 years and there is some quantitative research in this
area. In 1996, Schneide,
Krajcik, Marx, and Soloway did a study to look at how high school students
in classrooms that focused on project based learning performed on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress(NAEP) and found that these “students
performed as well or better on almost all of the items used to make comparisons
with similar White and middle-class students nationally”. So at least we know that project based
learning doesn’t negatively affect students.
This became a reoccurring theme in research into PBL. The Buck Institute for Education complied an overview of 40 years of
research in PBL, and many of the studies started with can, rather than
does. Specific mentions are made to
being especially effective with low achieving students, which may be because
PBL tends to be more hands on than traditional methods. In an overview of research put together by
Vanessa Vega for Edutopia the
potential for meeting learning outcomes was describe thusly:
“Studies comparing learning outcomes for students taught via project-based
learning versus traditional instruction show that when implemented well, PBL
increases long-term retention of content, helps students perform as well as or
better than traditional learners in high-stakes tests, improves problem-solving
and collaboration skills, and improves students' attitudes towards learning
(Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009; Walker & Leary, 2009).” (Vegas, 2012)
Again the term “as well or better” comes into play. From what I read my own conclusion is as with a variety of teaching methods PBL can enhance and improve learning in some students without being detrimental to other student’s styles of learning.
Below is a video on one school’s shift to a PBL model for their entire school and the success they have had. They have had great success not only on test scores, but in graduate rates and university enrollment. It shows the real life success that can come from project based learning.
Does What Does Making These Projects Global Add?
All the information I could find on
the benefits of Global Projects was anecdotal, teachers giving their opinions
of what they have observed. The major
benefit observed was that students who shared their projects with a global
audience were provided an authentic audience, real people who were coming to
see what they had done, a very important aspect of motivating the quality of
students work. In Challenging the Whole Child: Reflections on
Best Practices in Learning, Teaching , and Leadership Ed Gragert, director of iEARN-USA provides a real life
example of the benefits of collaborating with global partners “They get
feedback from an authentic audience of their peers who are commenting on [their
work]. That sort of student-to-student dialogue [doesn’t always happen in a
traditional classroom]. Sometimes they
don’t even realize they’re learning…”(Sloan p. 291)
“The modern web - namely web2.0 or the read/write web allows any user to
create and share content with the world. Harnessing the power of this audience
is certainly not limited to the secondary classroom - infact there are a huge
number of highly successful primary school blogs, wikis and podcasts that attract
audiences from around the world.
The fact that students can undertake a project and present their findings or final
product to a relevant audience for the purpose of informing or gaining feedback
is incredibly powerful.” (Twiss, 2009).
Kathy Cassidy, a grade 1 teacher in Moose Jaw, Saskatewan also commented on the difference she saw in her students’ writing when they had a global audience:
“Having these "big" blogging
buddies has already impacted the writing of the
children. As we headed off to the computer lab the other day, instead of
reminding the children about what good writers do, I asked them what kinds
of things their blogging buddies would be looking for in their writing. Because
I provided the U of R students with grade one end of year expectations and
they have been using these to make comments on my students’ blogs (which
I have been reading aloud so that all of the children benefit), the children easily
told me. “A period at the end.” “Starting with a capital letter.” “Spaces
between words.” “Sounding out the words.”
The remarkable thing was that as they wrote on their blogs that day, they obviously
thought about their blogging buddy audience. Not only did some of them address their
writing directly to their buddy, (for example, “I like your name and i oslu like you.”)
but there were more periods, capital letters and spaces in evidence than I had ever
seen in their writing before. An authentic audience is a powerful thing. “ (Cassidy, 2008)
children. As we headed off to the computer lab the other day, instead of
reminding the children about what good writers do, I asked them what kinds
of things their blogging buddies would be looking for in their writing. Because
I provided the U of R students with grade one end of year expectations and
they have been using these to make comments on my students’ blogs (which
I have been reading aloud so that all of the children benefit), the children easily
told me. “A period at the end.” “Starting with a capital letter.” “Spaces
between words.” “Sounding out the words.”
The remarkable thing was that as they wrote on their blogs that day, they obviously
thought about their blogging buddy audience. Not only did some of them address their
writing directly to their buddy, (for example, “I like your name and i oslu like you.”)
but there were more periods, capital letters and spaces in evidence than I had ever
seen in their writing before. An authentic audience is a powerful thing. “ (Cassidy, 2008)
Technology and Global Project Based Learning:
Global project based learning lends itself
to the use of technology, both for student use during projects and for teachers
looking for ideas and connections. Sylvia Chard, a professor at the department of Education at
the University of Alberta and author of several books on project based learning
sees the use of technology for students as two fold:
" There are two aspects of technology that are important for project work: One is in the
investigation of a topic or an interest. Children can not only use Internet sites to acquire
information but they can evaluate sites and look at the authenticity of the people who are
claiming some knowledge of some aspect of the topic they're interested in.
The other aspect of technology is communication. Children can prepare presentations to
help other children, help the rest of the class understand something which they have
researched, which the others may not have researched. So that part of project work is
sharing the information that you're acquiring as you engage in individual, small-group
research. So technology offers many opportunities to prepare video or still photography
or mix it with text and prepare a way to present your work to other children. (Chard, 2001)
There are tons ways students can use
technology to research and show their learning.
Maggie
Hos-McGrane breaks down PBL into different strands such as create and
communicate, Investigate and organized.
She lists online tools that can be used to enhance each of these areas
such as Voicethread for collaboration and
Voki for communication.
There are also websites that can be
useful for connecting with others or getting ideas for creating your own global
project based learning experience. Stacey Matsumoto, a colleague
of mine, and I created a global projects wiki
with links to both websites that connect teachers and facilitate projects and
tools that can be used when collaborating.
The West
Virginia Department of Education, also offers examples of project based
learning clusters for students from grades four to twelve. This can be searched by grade level and
subject material, and can be a great starting point for teachers who want to
start off on a smaller scale.
My Final Thoughts on Global Projects
In closing I wanted to share a video
entitled Caine’s Arcade 2. It is the
follow up to a video that went viral on Youtube earlier this year about one
child doing something amazing at his father’s shop. It reminds me that all students have that
ability to create and collaborate. By
making this boy’s story a global one it has inspired others. It is project based learning at its best,
because it was started by a child and his interest.
To watch the original video go here.
References
Blog
Posts
Twiss, Toni. "The Power of An
Authentic Audience." Web log post. Mobilising Education. N.p., 24
Aug.
2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
Cassidy, Kathy. "More
Yacking." Web log post. Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. N.p., 24
Jan. 2008.
Web. 20 Nov. 2012
Web. 20 Nov. 2012
Books
Scherer, Marge. Challenging the
Whole Child: Reflections on Best Practices in Learning, Teaching
and Leadership. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
2009. Print.
and Leadership. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
2009. Print.
Online Journals
Canada. Manitoba Educatio. A Continuum Model for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum.
Winnipeg: n.p., 2006. Literacy with ICT. Manitoba Education. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
Schneider, Rebecca M., Joseph Krajcik, Ronald W. Marx, and Elliot Soloway. "Performance of Students in
Canada. Manitoba Educatio. A Continuum Model for Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum.
Winnipeg: n.p., 2006. Literacy with ICT. Manitoba Education. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
Schneider, Rebecca M., Joseph Krajcik, Ronald W. Marx, and Elliot Soloway. "Performance of Students in
Project-based
Science Classrooms on a National Measure of Science Achievement." Journal
of Research in Science Teaching 39.5 (2002): 410-22. Wiley Online
Library. John Wiley & Sons Inc. Web. 29 Nov. 2012.
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.10029/citedby>.
Smith, Terry K. "Project-Based Learning: Changing the Face of Traditional Education." Lecture. Irish
Educational
Technology Users’ Conference, EdTech 2009. National College of Ireland, Dublin.
21 May 2009. Open Educational Resources. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.oercommons.org/community/changing-the-face-of-traditional-education-project-based-learning/view>.
Online Articles
"Buck Institute for
Education." What Is PBL? N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.bie.org/about/what_is_pbl/>
Edutopia Staff. "Sylvia Chard:
Project Learning." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational
Foundation, 10
Jan. 2001.
Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.edutopia.org/chard.html#graph8>.
Video:
Caine's Arcade. Dir.
Nirvan Mullick. Caine's Arcade. Interconnected, 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 04
Dec.
2012.Caine's
Arcade 2: The Global Cardboard Challenge & Imagination Foundation. Dir.
Nirvan Mullick.
Caine's Arcade 2: The Global Cardboard Challenge & Imagination Foundation. ImaginationFndn, 13
Sept.2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2012.
Project Based Learning: Explained. Dir.
BIEPBL. Project Based Learning: Explained. Buck Institiute
for Education, 09 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
for Education, 09 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
Project-Based Learning: Success Start
to Finish. Dir. Edutopia. Project-Based Learning: Success
Start to Finish. Edutopia, 23 May 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.
Start to Finish. Edutopia, 23 May 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.
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