PBL And Our Process of Learning

Today, we're going to talk about Project-Based Learning. Think you know what it is? You might be surprised! 

Here's a challenge for you: before you read the rest of this blog post, I'd like you to make a mental image of what Project-Based Learning should look like. What does the classroom look like? What are the children and teacher doing? What does the process entail? 

Do you have that image in your mind? 

Today, we're going to focus on the process of PBL here at STEM...and why we feel it's foundational to the development of your child as a person and as a learner. 

First off, what we want you to know about project-based learning (or PBL) is that there is a spectrum that many schools are on, with very few of them looking the same. There is no one right way to be doing this process, but there is a philosophy that will drive how we implement PBL at our school. 

For instance, there's the belief that PBL should be student-driven (meaning students create their own driving question, sub question, product, etc.) or teacher-driven PBL (meaning teachers choose standards, create a driving question, sub questions, etc.)

At STEM, we have created a school that surrounds the concept student-driven projects. This doesn't mean that teachers don't create a framework for this process, it simply means that there are elements of freedom within this process that a student will make their own decisions on, using their own creativity and sets of skills that will help drive those processes that allow the project to be their own. 

That being said, let's get to the nuts and bolts of our beliefs regarding the project process here at STEM. 

First off, we have our Arcs that allow us as teachers to bring all students under the same essential question. For more info on this, please see the first blog post. 

The Arc allows our students to have a common entry event. This helps students become exposed to ideas, people, etc. that are meant to broaden their horizons, driving inquiry. 

Looking through student "wonders"
after the entry event

From there, students generate questions and ideas as a whole class, going through a process with each other that allows everyone to see everyone else's thinking. This usually helps generate even more ideas, wonders, and questions (This is the INQUIRY that schools usually don't build in well, but we try to encourage!) As a staff, we get together to map out all of our students wonders, ideas, and questions and place them into five solid categories so students can further organize their thinking.

Students then create their Driving Question. 
This is no small task, let me tell you! Creating a driving question is a process that many adults really struggle with. This is because we were not trained in schools to ask our own big questions. Think back to your social studies classes...When you were studying the Civil War, was your teacher trying to get you to ask big questions to create a project around? Probably not.


At STEM, we are trying to bring our students to a place of asking these questions...or writing down a problem that needs solving. These are not questions that can be answered with a "yes" or a "no."
They are not, as we call them, "Googleable." They are bigger and should be more comprehensive.

For instance, one would not create a driving question that asks: "Is the Fond du Lac River more polluted than it was 20 years ago?" That's a quick "yes" or "no" answer.  A quality driving question would ask: "How has the Fond du Lac River changed over the last 20 years?" This is a broader question that can easily focus in on pollution over time, as well as other areas. It would require the student to probably work with the DNR, research records taken over the years, as well as do their own testing on the river (we have some of that equipment to do this testing!).

Teachers working on students questions
after the entry event

It is really common for students to begin their project and realize that their driving question needs to be adapted to what they are working on. The important thing is that their development of the product, and the research that this requires, is consistently guiding them toward understanding more the the process.

This brings us to a concept that many students at our school have struggled with: their Product.
And there's good reason they struggle with it too!

One important aspect of STEM is that we have not been product-focused. We are "process-focused," meaning that we really want to emphasize the process that students go through to learn about a topic, standard, etc. It is very important, however, that students do begin the process of working on their product right away.

Example: 
I worked with a high school student recently that wanted to do a project with a local organization that makes bagged lunches for students who need food, but do not quite qualify for free/reduced lunch. In our discussion, she mentioned that her product would be the volunteering. I challenged her on this asking what she believed she would learn through this process. 

I then challenged her further asking if she wanted to pursue a product that meant she would bring an organization like this over to STEM to work with our students. "As part of a community Arc, can you think of ways that working with this organization might guide you in the process of bringing some positive change to your STEM community?" 

From there, we talked about the legal aspect of preparing food for students, the financials of it, the requirements surrounding commercial kitchens, etc. This is completely changed her project and now she is challenged with a whole new task that she will learn a lot through. Volunteering will still be a part of it, but it's to build the knowledge she will need to create something in her community. 

Do you see the difference? This student already knows how to volunteer. She would not be doing deep learning if she were only putting these lunches together. We want our students diving deeper so they are learning at high levels through the doing. 

From here, the students continue to move through their research and development process, documenting and taking notes from different sources to find the research they need to complete their products. They'll then take this information and turn it into two things:

1) A written paper concerning their project - focusing on standards they are working on in their ELA class.
2) A high-level presentation that involves an authentic audience.

Why a paper? Colleges are demanding that we teach better reading and writing skills to our students. It is also the main source of information we will have as teachers to grade the students on their content-knowledge.
Why the presentation? We believe it's a truly valuable skill that we want all students to have when they graduate from STEM. It builds so many excellent qualities and requires a skill base that we believe will help them in their lives.

Ultimately their project should be working to answer their driving question. The learning is done through the creation of their product, and students receive the real-world experience of answering a question/problem they developed around our Arc.

Had enough yet? There's actually even more to this process, but we'll stop there for now.

Now think back to your original thoughts about PBL. Have your ideas/thoughts/opinions changed at all about project-based learning? Do you feel more able to talk with your child with their projects? Feel free to add additional comments below.

Want to learn more about PBL? We would love for you to visit this resource: PBL Works. 

Check out the volunteers from a local mens group who came in to help us set up the equipment in our Fabrication Lab! Thanks guys! Want to volunteer at STEM? Give us a call and we'll set up a time for you to come in and work with our classes! 

And last, but not least, a little something that was shared out among the district earlier this week. I'd read this article and it has truly shifted my perception of this early winter we're having. I hope you enjoy it!