How PBL's Can Impact Learning

Continuing the theme of the benefit of PBL's in the classroom, I recently read an article by Andrew Miller in Edutopia (Student Designed Learning) that offers insight into the benefits of adding these projects in such a way that students drive their own education with guidance and support from the teacher.  One of the most striking parts of the article is an idea we have already mentioned, the importance of  cross-curricular application.  Our current educational set-up is one that compartmentalizes so  much of what our students learn.  This gives them the very wrong impression that English is separate from Math, which is separate from History which is separate from Science.  They begin to see the world as finite, concrete chunks of information, when reality is exactly the opposite.  Innovation occurs as people look across the boundaries of learning and combine things in different ways.  Our hope in our own classroom is to break down the walls between disciplines, and allow students to see that the world is a wider, more connected place than they thought.

Another idea Mr. Miller discusses is allowing students to determine the standards being covered for themselves.  This too is an idea we have decided was worthy of implementation.  Standards are there to guide teachers so that they are covering the same material, ensuring that students from any school have been exposed to the same basic ideas, making movement between schools much easier.  I know that in our school, standards are the domain of the teacher.  Students may be aware that they exist and that they are important, but few know or care anything about them beyond that.  By putting students in charge of researching the standards and linking them to their PBL's, they take ownership of their knowledge.  As high schoolers', students are beginning to leave pedagogy (learning focused on children) and move towards andragogy (instruction geared towards adults).  A large difference between the two learning styles is the point where the REASON behind the request to learn is as important as the end result.  "Why" is a question that is frequently heard in the high school classroom, as students struggle with understanding how information is relevant to them.  Allowing students to research the standards, combined with real-world problems and situations gives them that reason.  A student may not see why they need to learn about genetics until it is linked to a real-life situation, where an understanding can lead to a real solution.

Although PBL's in the format suggested by Mr. Miller seem a difficult transition to make, the benefits toward student understanding is definitely there.  When students have buy-in, they are much more willing to not only learn the topics we ask, but often will go outside of the box and learn more than we hoped for.  As they link this information to real-life, it becomes relevant, and therefore a part of their knowledge base, not simply a list of terms and formulas and dates to remember for a test, and then forget.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/personalized-pbl-student-designed-learning-andrew-miller