Our mission is to interview educators around the world and share their teaching tactics, education research or helpful tools (edtech). Amazing ideas for you to experiment in the classroom.
Dr. Jennifer (Jenny) Pieratt holds a Ph.D. in educational philosophy with emphasis in project based learning. She was also a founding teacher at High Tech High. In her career of teaching primary and secondary students, she has been applied project based learning in real classroom with lots of trials and errors. Jenny now is a well-known expert of integrating project based learning in the traditional classroom.
In 2016, she founded CraftED, a platform to assist teachers in designing project based learning. Today, she has been doing tons of coaching and consulting to administrators and teachers across the US and abroad
Book Review
Keep it Real with PBL provides teachers with clear steps to integrate project-based learning into the classroom. I like the fact that this is not a theoretical book but a very practical one. The book contains many tips, rich templates and forms so that everyone can easily follow steps by steps. There are two versions of Keep it Real with PBL for different grades: one for secondary and one for elementary. The following paragraphs gives you an overview of the book.
What is project-based learning?
Project base learning (a.k.a PBL) advocates providing students with an environment that combines real-world and autonomous learning experience. Students become active learners. Usually at the end of the project, they will have a group or individual final product. The product may be presented through multimedia or school public announcement.
Each educator may have different definitions of project-based learning. These are the essential elements from Jenny:
It must be grounded with standards.
It should be integrated with the real world experience. For example: discussing community issues with local residents.
Frequent feedback and reflection.
21st century skills development. For example: cooperation and oral expression skills.
The role of teachers in project-based learning
Because it emphasizes student-centered learning, the teacher has turned into a role as a facilitator and a model as a lifelong learner. For example, teachers may…
Use open-ended questions to lead students and facilitate meaningful discussions.
Explore current issues with nontraditional research methodologies.
Be comfortable with saying: I don’t know.
Allow for risk taking.
Give effective feedback.
Design Steps
In Keep it Real with PBL, there are clear stages for teachers to follow. The steps below are a high level skeleton for you to get a sense about how a design process looks like while the book includes much more great templates for you to experiment:
Brainstorming
The first step is to find some authentic issues that feel relevant to the students and aligned with standards. We can brainstorm different ideas with colleagues, and sometimes even collaborate with students. Most important question to ask: why do my students need to care about this content?
Backward planning
After identifying a issue and the standards, it is time to think about what you want your students to present as a final product. Is it a documentary, podcast or a poster?
Benchmarks
Like product managers in the industry, it is important that teachers need to cut the final product into smaller and edible learning milestones. For example,
Benchmarks
Student achievement display
Scientific background: how are sound waves formed?
Science Quiz
Prototype musical instruments
Draw different 3D instruments to show the scientific connection of shapes and sounds
Personal instrument design
Write down why this instrument was chosen and why it has the best shape
Learn how to present
Use google slide to present their ideas in class
Assessment
Based on the different stages of PBL, teachers are encouraged to use different testing tools. Three typical tools are checklists, rating scale and rubrics.
Establishing a solid rubric can significantly help you understand the student’s learning situation. Ask yourself: How many standards do I want to include in this topic? Example template:
21st century tips
Developing
Proficient
Expert
Understand the concept of sound waves
With some assistance, students can do sonic surveys step by step
Self-planned and investigated the evidence that vibrations of objects can produce sound
Students can apply the knowledge of sonic waves in other content.
Daily Plan
Finally, pace your project like using google doc and drawing a schedule for months. If you want to learn more, there are great examples in the book for reference.
Interested in Learning More?
If you are interested in these books, please go to the following links to purchase ( 30FOR30 can be used for 30% off before the end of August 2020):
For English version of this book review, please go to here.
作者簡介
珍妮佛 布瑞 (Jennifer Pieratt) 是一個研讀於教育哲學與專題學習的博士，她也曾經是美國知名實驗學校 High Tech High 創辦初期老師。她在教導中小學的職涯上，根基於自身的研究理論，不斷嘗試專題學習的課程設計，經年累月下，珍妮佛精通落實專題學習於傳統教室中。於2016年，她創辦了 CraftED，一個協助教師設計專題學習的平台。 如今，她已經領導許多美國學校老師和行政人員，結合專題學習於課堂上，破除大家對專題學習的迷思。
書籍介紹
Keep it Real with PBL 提供教師清晰的步驟去整合專題式學習於課堂上。這不是一個理論型的書，而是一般人可以吸收且實踐在教學中。書中涵括許多小技巧、豐富的模板和課程設計表格，讓每個人都可輕鬆地循序漸進。同一個主題，針對不同年級層，作者分別撰寫兩種版本，一本為中學，一本為小學。以下的分享是小學版的摘要，但是廣義上的脈絡是相似的。
什麼是專題式學習 ?
專題式學習 (Project base learning aka PBL) 主張提供學生一個結合真實世界的經驗與自主學習的環境。學生成為主動學習者，通常在專題學習後，學生會有一個團體或個人的最終產品，產品呈現方式可藉由多媒體或是學校公開發表會上。 每個教育學者對專題式學習會有不同的定義，以下是珍妮認為的必要元素:
Compass Teachers 