Artifact Seven

What is Project-Based Learning (PBL)

& Analysis

The artifact chosen for ITL 522 is the essay: What is PBL (Project Based Learning). This reflection begins with restating the main parts of the essay. These included the definition of PBL as well as its connections to UDL and Common Core. This is followed by the assertion that the information in the essay would be useful to educators, administrators, parents, and students, each for different reasons.

Section 1 - What is PBL?

Project-based learning or (PBL) turns education into real world problem solving. PBL is unlike more traditional methods of teaching that use paper-based tests to assess rote memorization. Projects involve student collaboration to answer complex problems with real-world applications. Often, PBL ends with students presenting their findings to their peers. As a result, students hone their critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills. All this happens in the context of meaningful, authentic projects ("What is Project Based Learning", 2019). There are no common criteria for what constitutes an acceptable project. In Project-Based Learning, projects vary greatly in the depth of the questions explored, the clarity of the learning goals, and the guidance from the teacher....

This artifact shows evidence of grown from within because it helps me envision unique ways to teach classic content. A larger project that has the same goal as a smaller lesson might teach students something about the text that a paper and pencil analysis can’t. At the same time, the students’ unique approach to the problem, may teach me there are answers to questions that I might not have anticipated. And, watching the students grow independently through critical analysis might inspire me to teach lessons in ways I hadn’t envisioned yet. At the same time, it will inspire the students by pushing their idea of what education means onto a new level, with practical applications that help keep every student involved.

Section 2 - What are the benefits of PBL?

One of the major advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life. It gives students a chance to connect their school work with the world around them. Research has shown that students learn better using PBL than with traditional methods of instruction. It also shows that students remember what they have learned longer, and they are better able to internalize the information. PBL also gives students the skills they need in communication, goal setting, and critical thinking to apply what they learn inside the classroom to the situations they will encounter outside the class ("Student Voice: Experiencing Deeper Learning Through PBL", 2013)...

This artifact relates to TPEs 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.5, 3.6, 4.6, 4.7, 5.1, 5.2, and 6.7. However, it has the strongest connections to 1.4 and 1.5. This is because using PBL encourages the students to put education in real life contexts through critical and creative thinking. It connects strongly back to TPE 4.7 because PBL requires a wide range of communication strategies and activity modes to be successful. It relates to TPE 5.2 because it encourages the collection of data in many ways. Since PBL is so divorced from summative assessments, the assessments would come from the project itself and all the steps it took to make it. Finally, it connects back to TPE 6.7, because using PBL will make educators look critically at popular educational theories, not just in California, but nationwide.

Section 4 – Reflection on PBL 

I saw an example of project-based learning twenty years ago. This was before I began substitute teaching. I was working as a custodian at Roosevelt Elementary in Mesa, Arizona while attending Arizona State University. At the time, part of our job, at least once a year, was helping Mr. McMahon set up the space shuttle simulator. That simulator was a collection of wooden planks that students reconnected into the shape of the space shuttle each year. Inside that mock shuttle, the school placed computers, old Commodore 64s. The students from Mr. McMahon’s class would show up after school to board that shuttle, simulate take off, and solve the real-world problems of space flight throughout the night. It was a learning activity that bled from one day into the next. Despite the massive commitment it took to be a part of the yearly shuttle launch, nobody ever complained. Instead, there was a waiting list to be involved.

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Based on this Artifact my Continued Growth Plan

1. First, I must pay as much attention to how the content is packaged as the content itself. Related TPE 1.3: Connect subject matter to real-life contexts and provide active learning experiences to engage student interest, support student motivation, and allow students to extend their learning. 
2. Second, I need to learn to step back when students divide into groups, and simply encourage them to think creatively to problem solve. This doesn’t mean, I cannot offer support, it simply means I must be careful not to guide their experiments to the conclusion I expect. I need to guide them to find their own way there. Related TPE 4.7: Plan instruction that promotes a range of communication strategies and activity modes between teacher and student and among students that encourage student participation in learning.

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In Conclusion...

By connecting to so many TPEs, this narrative does exhibit evidence of professional growth as an inspired educator. While TPE 1.1 was not mentioned, one of the most critical steps of being an inspired educator is making the content engaging. Because PBL’s main goal is to place learning in a real-world context, that engagement is often built right in. This is the first, and most critical step in becoming an “Inspired Educator.” Likely, it’s also why TPE 1.1 comes first.