My Views on Project-Based Learning

I have learnt that project- based learning is one of the best ways to teach and engage learners effectively in the learning process. I have also observed that with Project-based learning, the learners get to have a hands-on experience that will last their entire lifetime. They learn things by doing them, and each one of them is actively involved. There is sharing of ideas as they work out the solutions to the problems.  Learners are also more prepared  for higher levels which helps them to meet the more demanding standards. The learners learn well and are able to remember better what they have learnt. Their confidence is boosted together with their communication skills. And to top it all, they get to develop their creativity which later helps them to improve their communities. It also teaches them some important 21st century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, Collaboration and communication. It prepares them for the real world. It further equips them with higher order thinking skills such as analyzing, evaluating, creating and applying which are very essential.

One of the methods I have learnt, of Project-based learning is the use of a webquest. This is not an easy thing to create and if one is not patient enough to keep revisiting the first parts of the webquest, it is easy to entirely give up the idea of using it. It is taxing, challenging and also frustrating.  What constitutes a Webquest are things that one can falsely be led to believe are easy to deal with/create and these include; the welcome page, introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, conclusion and teacher page, the most demanding of which is the Process phase. However, all the phases should and must be structured well so as to link well with each other and also serve to satisfy the standards for which the webquest is created. This is the most challenging part I have had to deal with.

My teaching in the classroom has mostly been teacher-centered and learners have had little chance to direct their own learning or even experience what they are learning. This course has opened my eyes to new ways that learners can be fully engaged and put in control of their learning. It has shown me that learners need to be given a chance to experience what they are learning and to be able to apply them to the real world. That is the only way they would feel and value what they are learning if they know that it will be useful in the real world. Apart from the Literature texts that they have had chance to prepare for and take roles, and later on act out these parts, I have not tried out anything else related to the format of the webquest. I will try to use Project-based learning in areas of the curriculum where possible.

Assessment of Learners

I have learned that when designing a project I should keep in mind the standard that I need the learners to achieve and what they should know. This assessment should be a continuous process just to ensure that the learners are getting the content knowledge as well as the skills that they very much need in order to complete project.

There are two types of assessments that the teacher can do; Formative and Summative assessment. Formative assessment gives meaningful  feedback to students and specifies ways to improve. Formative assessment is practice while Summative is perfomance. A summative assessment is not necessary at this moment since most of what is supposed to be learnt has been learnt and nothing has been left out.
The demands of the project  should be assessed properly and to do so there is need to align them to the standards expected. Assessment helps the teacher to know whether the learners have mastered the given standards. Not all standard can be met in a single project but the assessment should target the most important goals at the time and target their indepth in order to ensure deep learning for  the learners. When designing a project, you as a teacher , have a mission. There are certain goals you want your learners to attain. And that is why you carry out an assessment in order to ensure the learners have met those standards.  There must be clear intent of what is truly to be assessed.
The teacher should also ensure that there are 21st century skills to be assessed and graded. Skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, technology literacy and maybe presentation.  

 

 

Supporting the Learning Process

Nothing comes easy, but with enough planning the learning process becomes easier for the learner.

The teacher needs to pre-research the sites for the learners. This in a way saves the learners the time they would have wasted looking for sites and probably using or focusing on non-credible sites.

Learners are guided on what to do otherwise the entire learning process is Student-centred and the teacher is there to only guides.

The learning process involves transformative learning.  The new information that the learners have acquired alters the learners understanding and gives them new perspective on things. In the end they develop a more sophisticated understanding.

The learners also develop expertise in the subject using the situated learning environment. As Stein, 1998 says;

           " Knowledge and skills are learned in the contexts that reflect how knowledge is

                         obtained and applied in everyday situations"

It gives learners chance to participate in different roles and hence providing them with different perspectives from which to view things.

Learners are in charge of their own learning. the teacher is there only to guide and give feed back.

I have not used the Webquest per se in my teaching, but I have on several occasions involved learners in taking up roles especially of characters from Literature texts. I would ask them to act the parts in groups or in class and after words they would have to discuss what they have seen, liked or not liked about a particular character. It is quite amazing what analysis they would make of that character. This method has always been effective in getting the learners to understand the character traits and actions.

 

 

The Gathering Phase

The pros and cons of pre-researching resources, and  using technology during the Gathering phase of a project

I believe pre-researching resources for your learners has its pros and cons. Some of the pros include;   

·         It saves time that would otherwise have been wasted if the learners were to look for the resources themselves.
·         It helps in identify the dependable resources from the quack ones since learners are inexperienced in this respect.
·         It helps in identifying the relevant ones from the ones that are not relevant for that very topic/task.

The cons include;

·         Some sites are unreliable and it takes time to evaluate and consider them good for the tasks.
·         Some have very limited information and lack in -depth
·         Some resources are not free and one has to subscribe first before they can access them.
·         For some sites, one has to first register in order to get to information and it becomes too much when you have to keep registering just to access those sites.
The gathering phase of the project should be in line with the roles given to each individual or group of individuals. It entails the teacher Pre- researching sites for the learners and making sure that the information and the data helps in starting the learners off on the thinking process. The resources must also have a meaningful and clear connection to the task given and the information required.

The advice I would give my learners is to be very careful with the resources online because not all of them are credible sources that can be relied upon, not all information on the NET is correct and anybody can post anything. It would be wise for them to check the credibility of such sites before using it as a source of reference

Role Play as an Effective Learning Strategy

Role-play is an effective and active learning strategy because it helps in encouraging the otherwise passive learners to participate and gives the learners the drive to do things and also to remember what they have learnt. It helps in ensuring success and also making learning enjoyable. It also helps the teacher to know the learner more. It helps the learner to appreciate the experience of the characters they are playing. The learners get to relate Education with experience and at the same time, it promotes collaboration.
When it comes to a project, the teacher has to ensure that the roles are well spelt out and that each member of the group understands the role they have to play and what is expected of them. Role playing is not a difficult thing to incorporate in a lesson because our learners only have to assume a character for that moment. They have already witnessed what people do in real life  and taking on role play should be an imitation of the real world, the very people they have met and are meeting in their lives. Taking them to carry out their own observation of the characters is another way in which they can learn about the characters they have to play.
For instance in a Literature lesson, it is easy to get the learners to take up roles of characters within the  play. When they take on these roles, it helps them to understand the texts more. They get conversant with the plot of the play and the characters as well. It also helps them to remember  the content.