Many educators, faced with the demands placed on them by the NCLB, feel that projects are a luxury for which there is no time.  Some educators seem to think that project-based learning is just for younger children, and by the time you get to the middle schools and high schools projects have all but disappeared. Read what Pete Border, physics professor at University of Minnesota, has to say about project-based learning:

My department (physics at the U of MN) uses PBL for the students it really cares about, which is to say senior grad students working on their Ph.D.’s. Ph.D. candidates are the students the Department has decided to educate as well as possible regardless of cost, and the education they receive is entirely based on apprenticeships, designing and solving projects, long conversations, extended relationships and mentoring. Advisors guide and consult, suggesting new avenues of research and listening as much as talking. This is what the Department does when it has decided to ignore cost, and to go for the finest education possible.

 I find it very interesting that there are no tests, bubble-sheets, drills, skill-tests, lectures, worksheets or curriculum standards in the Ph.D. candidate program. Even my Department knows, at its heart, that the finest education comes from long, involved, projects, and this is the best way there is to educate people!

 It is true that Ph.D. candidates are an extremely unusual lot, and are many sigma into the tails of all distributions, but it is interesting that the project-apprentice-mentor-PBL model is used by all Ph.D. programs I’ve ever heard of, and that it always has been… Could it be because it’s the model that really works?  

Pete Border taught physics at the university level, and was involved with 4 PBL-based courses, three of which he     designed. One is a class on “Visualizing Physics” at MCAD (a local Art School) and the other three are classes in the UMN Physics Dept (Freshman Seminar on “Physics for Game Designers” , an online class on Game Design, and the labs for their Honors Physics sections).

Also see -  Peter M. Border, a physics instructor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota reported on an experimental physics class which taught elementary mechanics by having students design computer games. The students learned physics by programming agents to move, roll, and collide in a physically correct manner, which required them to understand the physics behind the motion. The students created approximately one videogame each week and even though students needed to learn the programming associated with making videogames, the instructor was able to cover the material of a typical first-year physics class. Student engagement and learning was reported to be very high.  (From NASA’s Advanced Technology Applications for Education Benchmark Study http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/benchmark/4.1.html )

A few examples: 

· A kindergarten class spends a year researching and creating a project benefiting the local hospital emergency room .

· A second-grade classroom researches cystic fibrosis (a classmate has CF) and raises $1,200 in funds for cystic  fibrosis  research.

· High school students create and publish documentaries related to important social issues— women’s rights, the environment, sweatshops, and more!

· At a high school for law enforcement and criminal justice an interdisciplinary team of teachers designs an integrated unit on the theme of Gunfight at the OK Corral.

Project-based learning is real-world, relevant, and integrates the curriculum. A growing number of teachers would like to implement project-based, interdisciplinary, thematic units in their classrooms - but are unsure of how to begin.   Knowing about some of the common misunderstandings regarding project-based learning can help. 

You and your students can exceed the standards, learn at higher levels and experience the joy of learning again by participating in the most 21st century project-based learning experience of all - a global, collaborative classrooms project.  There are many taking place, but we believe that this project will provide you with the highest levels of relevance, rigor and real-world connections as well as integrating vital 21st century skills and literacies - Food and Culture.  Take a look at it, and you will see where the content you teach fits in!

Attend our workshop, Designing the 21st Century Classroom or bring us to your campus or district so that your schools can design and deliver truly 21st century curriculum! 

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