How can we facilitate students understanding subject matter content through investigation and higher-order thinking?
Project-Based Learning
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10 Possible Steps to Use for Student-Owned Development of Project-Based Learning Experiences
1. Introduce your topic to the learners.
2. Distribute a pre-assessment.
3. Hook the students!
4. Listen to student opinions.
4. Use the Affinity Process to brainstorm and categorize questions about the topic.
5. Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to select the essential question they want to explore.
6. Ask groups to design a an action plan.
7. Groups should share their proposals with one another for feedback.
8. Give them enough time and resources to do the work they need to do. Watch the excitement of students immersed in the topic.
- Frame your conversation around the unpacked standards.
2. Distribute a pre-assessment.
- This can be done through Google Forms, Socrative, Padlet, or any other technological or paper-based tool to gather quick feedback.
- Have students discuss their prior knowledge in small groups and then, have them share one thing they learned about the topic after meeting with their partner or small group.
3. Hook the students!
- Use some type of engaging presentation about the topic, either a personal narrative, a song, a video, a guest speaker, etc.
4. Listen to student opinions.
- Discuss with students ways you have taught this topic previously.
- Encourage them to help you redesign the way you teach the concept.
- Inform them that you want them to have a choice in designing how they learn, in the environment, and the role in which you will play as their learning facilitator.
4. Use the Affinity Process to brainstorm and categorize questions about the topic.
- These will be the guiding questions students will need to answer.
5. Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to select the essential question they want to explore.
- Students can choose a group based on the question they want to investigate.
6. Ask groups to design a an action plan.
- Require a step-by-step action plan for how the project will proceed. Encourage them to explore multiple solutions to the problem as well as demonstrate their understandings.
- They will also need to explore sub-questions to narrow their focus.
- Require students to compose a proposal outlining their procedures, resources, and final product they will develop for the project.
- Also encourage the development of their own rubric and calendar for meeting group deadlines. This rubric will need to assess teamwork and collaboration, research, and the final showcase.
7. Groups should share their proposals with one another for feedback.
- You give small tips but the point is to guide students towards being their own critics.
8. Give them enough time and resources to do the work they need to do. Watch the excitement of students immersed in the topic.
Project-Based Learning Resources
**Please note you will see two versions of the files: one you can download; the other can be viewed online through a web-based storage program called Scribd. Scribd can not be accessed through CCSD, but you can access it at home.**
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