PBL: Intensive Workshop

Project-Based Learning (PBL) via
NAF Curriculum
Laura Fidler, Instructional Manager, NAF
laura@naf.org

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Today‟s Objectives
• Understand what Project Based Learning is
and what’s involved
– Essential elements
• Understand how PBL is integrated into NAF
Curriculum and how you can support it in
your academy
• Steps involved leading to successful project-
based learning

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What is Project Based Learning?

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Lets take a look, shall we?
• While watching video, consider the following
questions:
 What are the students working on?
 What role is the teacher playing?
 How is learning taking place?
 What skills and knowledge do students need to
know in order to do this project?
 What preparation is needed in order to
implement this project?

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Buck Institute approach to PBL

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Why is this important?

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1. students must
perceive it as
personally
meaningful, as a
task that matters
and that they want
to do well.
2. a meaningful project
fulfills an
educational
purpose.
Every Good Project Needs…2 main criteria

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Dessert vs. Main Course
DESSERT PROJECT* MAIN COURSE PBL
Assigned as an “extension” of the
unit or as a “hands-on activity”
within it
Does not teach central content
Lacks some Essential Elements
(often “In-Depth Inquiry”)
* Note: This may still be a good
teaching tool, but is not true PBL
The project = the unit
Creates a need to know & is used
to teach central content
Has all Essential Elements
© Buck Institute for Education
Doing a Project vs. Project based learning: what is the
difference?

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Project Based Learning differs from
traditional instruction in several ways:
Projects involve inquiry.
Projects involve independence.
In addition to learning content, skills like critical
thinking, collaboration, working in teams, solving
problems, being creative, and using technology are
all enforced.
Projects involve authentic learning. The work
students do resembles the work professionals do.
Students develop an in-depth understanding of the
problem they are working to solve.

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Math Example
DESSERT PROJECT MAIN COURSE PBL
Students pick a famous
mathematician from history to learn
about, then play the role of the
person in a “live interview”
describing his or her contribution to
the field, and make a poster about
the person.
Students determine the best design
for a theatre so it contains the
maximum number of seats in a
building of a given size, presenting
their drawings and recommendations
to a panel.

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Social Studies Example
After they have completed a unit on
the time period, students have a
“1960s Day” with costumes, protest
signs, speeches, and other activities.
Students answer the question, “Were
the 1960s good or bad for this
country?” and conduct a debate,
with their parents and members of
the community as an audience.

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Science Example
During a unit on microorganisms and
disease, students are asked to
research one disease and make a
PowerPoint presentation about it.
Students create public awareness
materials for their community (print
& multimedia) about stopping the
spread of infectious diseases.

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How is this embedded in
NAF Curriculum?
The NAF Learning Handbook: 2013
Project Based Learning (starts on page 7)
“The culminating project in each NAF course adheres to this
instructional approach”
• “The project work is central rather than peripheral to the
course; it engages students in the core concepts and
principles of a discipline. Students are given a problem to
solve that is either a real problem or a realistic scenario. It
creates the “need to know”.”

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How do the NAF culminating projects for each
course encourage collaboration across
disciplines?
Academy Theme Culminating project example
Academy of Finance Develop a proposal and analysis
to invest in a company
Academy of Information
Technology
Design a dream computer system
Academy of Hospitality &
Tourism
Plan an entertainment event for
the local community

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Buck Institute steps to creating a project

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8 essential elements
1. Significant content
a. Teachers should plan a project to focus on important knowledge and
concepts
derived from standards
2. A Need to Know
a. Launching a project with an “entry event” that engages student intere
initiates questioning.
3. A Driving Question
a. A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, com
language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge.
4. Student Voice and Choice
a. Make a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choic
better.

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8 essential
elements…cont’d
5. 21st Century Skills
a. Collaboration is key
a. Use role-playing and team-building activities, show students how
to use time and task organizers
6. Inquiry and Innovation
a. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own
questions, which leads to innovation
7. Feedback and Revision
a. Students need to learn that most people’s first attempts don’t
result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-
world work.
8. Publicly Presented Product
a. When students present their work to a real audience, they care
more about its quality.

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Lets try, shall we?
In groups, using the
templates in your
Buck Institute
workbooks, begin to either:
1. Support a NAF culminating
project
2. Brainstorm ways to create a
project based learning
environment in your
academy/classroom

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Spend adequate time planning and preparing
involve people outside the classroom in project work
Familiarize yourself with the driving question for the project.
Show students an example project. (if possible)
Share rubrics!
Teach students how to work in a team
Let students play a role in planning how they might approach
a task, identifying what resources they need, and deciding
how they can demonstrate what they learn
Project launch is important!
Resist the urge to pre-teach the content or to direct
students every step of the way. Start the project first and
generate the “need to know”
Conclude projects with reflection on both process and content
Don‟t forget to celebrate what you and your students
accomplish
Tips to ‘make it work’

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There is something about being a PBL
teacher that requires different work
• Collaborate with each other
• Give Power to Students
• Learning Environment
Designers
• Student-Centered
• Honor 21st Century Skills
• Really Plan, I mean
„REALLY‟ plan

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Research studies have demonstrated that PBL
can:
 be more effective than
traditional instruction in
increasing academic
achievement on annual
state-administered
assessment tests.
be more effective than
traditional instruction for
teaching mathematics,
economics, science,
social science, clinical
medical skills and for
careers in the allied
health occupations and
teaching.
wwww.bie.org
traditional instruction for long-
term retention, skill
development and satisfaction
of students and teachers
traditional instruction for
preparing students to integrate
and explain concepts.
 improve students‟ mastery of
21st-century skills.
 be especially effective with
lower-achieving students.
provide an effective model for
whole school reform.

#nafnextSource: Johnson, Laurence F.; Smith, Rachel S.; Smythe, J. Troy; Varon, Rachel K. (2009). Challenge-Based
Learning: An Approach for Our Time. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium, p. 23.

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What will be your next steps?

PBL: Intensive Workshop

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