Download - Project based learning with ICT

Project Based Learning

with ICT

Assoc. Prof. Petya Asenova, PhD

Computer Science Department

New Bulgarian University

1.08.2014

Introduction

What is project based learning

Benefits/inappropriate sites

Roles in project based learning

Final delivery

Assessment

Challenges

Example

Topics

Introduction

This is the reason for the increased interest in learning activities in which students are actively involved. Such type of activity is learning through projects.

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• Students are active constructors of their knowledge • They apply them in practical activities

More effective acquiring knowledge

Introduction

Some history Confucius (6-5 c.BC): “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me,

and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand”. John Dewey supported "learning by doing“, the end of the

19th century This sentiment is also reflected in constructivism

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Educational research has advanced this idea of teaching and learning into a methodology known as "project-based learning - PBL."

What is project based learning (PBL)

PBL approach is a valid instructional strategy that promote active learning and engage the learners in higher-order thinking

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Opinion [Blumenfeld et al, 1991, in Educational Psychologist, 26(3&4)]: "Project-based learning is a comprehensive

perspective focused on teaching by engaging students in investigation. Within this framework, students pursue solutions to nontrivial problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans and/or experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, communicating their ideas and findings to others, asking new questions, and creating artifacts.”

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Opinion [Thomas, Mergendoller, Michaelson, 1999]:

Projects are complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems, that involve students in design, problem-solving, decision making, or investigative activities; give students the opportunity to work relatively autonomously over extended periods of time; culminate in realistic products or presentations.

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Opinion [ Greeno, J. G. (2006) in The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences]:

Project-based learning has been associated with the "situated learning“.

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Opinion [Stephanie Bell (2010), in Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas]: PBL is a student-driven, teacher-facilitated approach to learning. Learners pursue knowledge by asking questions that have piqued their natural curiosity. The genesis of a project is an inquiry. Students develop a question and are guided through research under the teacher’s supervision. PBL is not a supplementary activity to support learning. It is the basis of the curriculum.

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Opinion [Markham, T. (2011) in Teacher Librarian, 39(2)]:

PBL integrates knowing and doing. Students learn knowledge and elements of the core curriculum, but also apply what they know to solve authentic problems and produce results that matter. PBL students take advantage of digital tools to produce high quality, collaborative products. PBL refocuses education on the student, not the curriculum These cannot be taught out of a textbook, but must be activated through experience.

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Thomas, J. offered five criteria what must a project have in order to be considered PBL: centrality, driving question, constructive investigations, autonomy, and realism. [Thomas, J. (2000). A Review of the Research on Project-Based Learning]

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Kriterion 1: PBL projects are central, not peripheral to the curriculum. This means: PBL projects are the curriculum. In PBL, the project is

the central teaching strategy trough which students cover elements of the curriculum.

If the project provide illustrations, examples, additional practice, or practical applications for material taught already, it is not example of PBL. Project in which students learn things that are outside the curriculum ("enrichment" projects) it is not example of PBL.

Example?

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Kriterion 2: PBL projects are focused on questions or problems that "drive" students to meet the central concepts and principles of a discipline.

It means the project must provide such activities for students to learn new knowledge of a discipline/disciplines. This is done with a "driving question".

Example?

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Kriterion 3: Projects involve students in a constructive investigation. An investigation is a goaldirected process that involves inquiry and knowledge building. Investigations may be design, decision-making, problem-finding, problem-solving, discovery, or model-building processes. To be considered as a PBL project, the central activities must involve transformation and construction of knowledge.

If the project activities represent no difficulty to the student or provide application of already-learned information or skills, the project is an exercise, not a PBL project.

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Kriterion 3: Projects involve students in a constructive investigation.

Example: given a right triangle (the black one)

with sites a, b, c, where c is hypotenuse.

Prove that: a2 + b2 = c2 (Pythagoras theorem)

It is involved in the curriculum but students

have not learned it before. Have to discover.

After additional drawing given on the figure,

Using previous knowledge (S and S ) they can prove the new formulae a2 + b2 = c2

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Kriterion 4: Projects are student-driven to some significant degree

PBL project are supervised by the teacher. Doing students have autonomy, choice, unsupervised work time, and responsibility.

If laboratory exercises and instructional booklets are PBL projects?

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Kriterion 5: Projects are realistic, not school-like. It means:

Authenticity in everything: real topics and tasks, real roles that students play, real context of working, real collaboration, real product produced with potential to be implemented.

Assessment according to real criteria.

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Group activity:

You are teachers and have to create a PBL project around a “driving question”. Having in mind the curriculum, what students have learned and what have not, find out a driving question.



Collaboration is essential

Sharing information between members in the group. Each individual share what he or she has learned and how that information might impact on developing a solution.

Sharing products produced by individuals. These products are combined in a common product of the whole team.

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Using ICT is essential. It gives:

Tools (software, hardware) to develop project

Skills to use technology

Sources of information

Communication tools

Presentation tools

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Using ICT is essential. It gives:

Cognitive tools: • semantic organization tools (e.g., databases) • dynamic modeling tools (e.g., spreadsheets) • visualization tools (e.g., MathLab, Geometry Tutor) • knowledge construction tools (e.g., a multimedia

authoring tool) • socially shared cognitive tools (e.g., computer

conferencing, forums and computer-supported collaborative tools)

[Kim and Reeves (2007:226)]

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Benefits:

Students are more active doing project

Students are more responsible in their learning

Students have more autonomy to propose and find solutions

Students can use their previous experience

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Benefits:

Every student can participate according his/her learning style, according to his/her strong sites and will achieve better results

Students are more motivated to discover, more confident that can be useful

PBL stimulate cognitive development and critical thinking PBL helps students to develop a variety of social skills as

communication and collaboration, working in group, negotiation

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Benefits:

Accommodates different kinds of intelligence

Encourages the mastery of technological tools

PBL make students better prepared for the real life

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Inappropriate sites:

Heterogeneous group as level of knowledge and skills

Different quality of the products produced wich have to be assembled into one common product

The nonworking students could hide themselves behind the active students

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Inappropriate sites:

PBL request more time than traditional strategies

It is not easy to create appropriate projects of PBL

It is difficult to assess students working in a group

Very often only the product is assessed, not the process

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Roles in PBL

What students do:

Work in groups having autonomy

Choose a leader

Plan the activities, deadlines and responsibilities to achieve the aim

Search information, experiment, analyze, make hypotheses and conclusions, proves and interprete

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Roles in PBL

What students do:

Debate and choose resources, tools, solutions

Share information and products

Manage and control each step, results and deadlines

Present the result

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Roles in PBL

What teachers do:

Find out a “driving question” and create appropriate projects

instruct and coach rather than teach, provide expert guidance, feedback and suggestions for better

Looking for the communication between students in the group - if students shared information and products

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Roles in PBL

What teachers do :

Give students autonomy and freedom

Control each activity, deadlines and results and make corrections if needed

Resolve conflicts if needed

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Final Deliveries

Presentations

Project product

Reports

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Final Delivery

Presentation:

Present the plan and first project ideas

Present one mid-term report about the project progress (if the project needs a long time)

Final presentation - each student report his part

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Final Delivery

Project product:

Each group at the end demonstrates the final product – how the functionalities work

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Final Delivery

Project report:

Some projects require writing documentation.

Each group submit a final report to layout the structure of the project and to give detailed information.

Each group has to report about the contribution of each group member. It is difficult to find out the truth but it is easy for the lecturer to assess students.

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Assessment

Students need to be assessed on both – process and results

The process assessment: mid-term results, communication, deadlines

Final result assessment : knowledge/skills covered, product, report, presentation skills

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Assessment

Students could be assessed in a group or as individuals (example: group - 80% and individual - 20%)

Appropriate for group assessment: deliverables related to the development process, final product, report

Appropriate for individual assessment: individual tasks, communication, deadlines, presentation skills

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Assessment

Self- and peer-assessment could take place

The final grade of the members of the same group may vary.

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Challenges

Related to implementation:

To incorporate PBL in school curriculum

To find driving questions

To create appropriate projects

The real time needed for the project development could be longer than the planned time

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Challenges

Related to implementation:

To provide all needed resources for students by the school

Setting of common deliverables for disparate projects. Not all projects follow the same scheme, but students have to work in equality

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Challenges

Students challenges:

Managing their time and activities

Developing logical arguments to support their claims

Participating in the project based on personal preferences rather than questions needed

Collecting data needed – not always full data collection

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Challenges

Teacher challenges:

To find a driving question

To develop appropriate projects

To involve the PBL project in the curricula

To plan the assessment - define assessment criteria

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Challenges

Teacher challenges:

To assess students working in different projects (with different complexity) the same way

To find a balance between supervise students and to give them enough freedom they to work independence

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Example – school project

Subject: IT, grade 6, unit “Multimedia presentations”

Driving Question: How to add audio and video in power point presentation

Task definition: To create a multimedia book for young children on a chosen field (Geography, Literature, History, Music, etc) involving text, audio and video materials.

Time: 6 hours Team: 3 students (А, B и C)

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Activities planned by teacher leading to new knowledge:

- Investigating how to embed audio and video files in a Power Point presentation

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Example of working plan (students work):

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Activities Period 1 /hours

Period 2

…. Responsible person

1. Planning activities x A, B, C

2. Product design x x A, B, C

3. Creating/Collecting materials: - Text - Images - Audio - Video

x x x x

A A B C

……………………………………… ……. ….. …….


Resources (students work):

Information resources

Human resources

Software

Hardware

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Deliverables: Task definition, target group, team Working plan Product design – how text, images, audio, video

contribute the idea Final product Report: details how the project is done

technologically; list of contribution of each member; new knowledge (description); list of information sources used

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Assessment: Example – it is made by the teacher

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Individual Assessment – 25 %

Group Assessment – 75 %

Individual tasks – 10 % Mid-term deliverables - 15 %

Deadlines – 5 % Final product – 50 %

Communication – 5 % Report – 10 %

Presentation skills – 5 %


Group activity on your project:

Imagine you are teacher. Have to produce for the project “Multimedia book” the following components:

Working plan

Resources

Deliverables

Assessment

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