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Project-Based Learning: Engages Students, Garners Results

This document discusses project-based learning and its benefits for student engagement and skills development. It defines project-based learning as an instructional approach that engages students in extended inquiry and complex tasks. Project-based learning helps students retain information longer, motivates them by relating lessons to their interests, and develops 21st century skills. The document also outlines supports needed for schools and teachers to successfully implement project-based learning, such as understanding concepts, accountability, collaboration, and coordination with outside groups. An example project from a San Diego high school on issues across the US-Mexico border is provided.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
77 views8 pages

Project-Based Learning: Engages Students, Garners Results

This document discusses project-based learning and its benefits for student engagement and skills development. It defines project-based learning as an instructional approach that engages students in extended inquiry and complex tasks. Project-based learning helps students retain information longer, motivates them by relating lessons to their interests, and develops 21st century skills. The document also outlines supports needed for schools and teachers to successfully implement project-based learning, such as understanding concepts, accountability, collaboration, and coordination with outside groups. An example project from a San Diego high school on issues across the US-Mexico border is provided.

Uploaded by

Pannaga Nandan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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By Jennifer Nastu eS N Special Report

January 2009 eSCHOOL NEWS • 21

Project-based learning
engages students, garners results
S tudents in a South Texas classroom had taken on
the role of employees at CleanWater Tech, a fictional
U.S. company that produces water filtration technology,
Such a response is not at all unusual from students who
are engaged in project-based learning, says Kantrov. The
Education Development C enter is a global nonprofit
and were poring over the economic indicators of various organization that designs, delivers, and evaluates
unnamed countries, trying to decide into which nation the innovative instructional programs—and many of these
company should expand. embrace learning through inquiry-based projects.
When asked by Ilene Kantrov, director of the Center for The California-based Buck Institute for Education, an
Educational Resources and Outreach at the Education organization committed to the use of project-based
D evelopment C enter, what they would tell an learning worldwide, defines the concept as “a systematic
administrator who visited the classroom during their work teaching method that engages students in learning
on the project, one student piped up, “I’d tell them they knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process
should leave, because there’s learning going on and structured around complex, authentic questions and
they don’t want to get in the way.” carefully designed products and tasks.”
See Project-based learning , page 22
Jennifer Nastu is a freelance writer in Colorado This eSchool News Special Report is made possible with financial support from Sebit.
who writes frequently on education and technology. www.adaptivecurriculum.com 8 8 8.9 9 9.9319
eS N Special Report
22 • eSCHOOL NEWS January 2009

Project-based learning ... What’s more, project-based learning can help stu-
Helping project- continued from page 21
dents develop the same kinds of 21st-century skills—
such as problem solving, critical thinking, communi-
based learning Project-based learning is a successful approach to
instruction for a variety of reasons, its proponents say.
cation, collaboration, and creativity—that today’s
employers covet. Tackling long-term, student-led pro-

take hold For one thing, it helps students retain the information
they learn. Lecture approaches don’t lead to long-term
retention, says John Mergendoller, executive director
jects can help students build real-world skills and knowl-
edge.

The Buck Institute for Education, which focuses of the Buck Institute. “Kids learn it for a week, then for- Examples of project-based learning
on professional development and materials to sup- get it,” he says. At the High Tech High charter high school in San
port project-based learning, believes that, as with Another reason project-based learning is useful is Diego, a group of 10th-grade students collaborated on
most complex instructional approaches, there are because it engages students’ interest and motivates them a multidisciplinary project called Beyond the Border.
many conditions that need to be met for schools to to learn. One of the main reasons kids drop out of school Because one of the most-crossed borders in the world
embrace project-based learning. is because they’re bored. With project-based learning, is just 12 miles from the school, the students wanted to
First, says Executive Director John Mergendoller, students are encouraged to explore their own interests discover what was on the other side, and why condi-
teachers must fully understand the concepts they are and to make connections to the world beyond school. tions were so different there.
teaching. They also need to know they are not trying “I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, ‘Why They decided to look at several elements, including
to force learning on the students, but instead are en- am I learning this? This is a waste of time. What’s the medical care, water quality, immigration, and travel
couraging students to approach learning themselves.
Then, there needs to be an accountability system
that ensures students are staying on track. “You can’t
just turn kids loose on the project,” Mergendoller
says. “There has to be a defined set of benchmarks,
check-ins with the teacher.”
The fluidity of this approach to learning also can
discourage teachers from incorporating project-based
learning into their curriculum, because it can be hard
to ensure that all standards are being met—and tricky
to recycle lessons from one year to another.
With project-based learning, students are in
charge of their own learning. “So if they want to in-
vestigate the water in school to see if it contains lead,
that’s where you go,” says Peter Rollero, associate
professor of science education at Arizona State
University and a consultant for Adaptive Curriculum.
“Every year, the project could be different.”
Starting small, and letting teachers see the ex-
citement and learning that take place with a project,
can help them become willing to incorporate more
project-based learning into their instruction.
“Students go from class to class and say, ‘I’m in
Miss Jones’ class and we’re doing this really cool
thing,’ and then the other teachers go to Miss Jones
and say, ‘What are you doing with your class? The
kids are so excited….’” explains Donna Gilley, ca-
reer and technical education coordinator for the
Metro Nashville Public Schools.
It also helps when schools have an integrated cur-
riculum. “It’s good for a teacher to teach all the sub-
jects instead of having them compartmentalized, so
you can do one project and learn math, science, so-
cial studies, writing, [and] language arts,” Rollero
says.
For schools that don’t have an integrated cur- Advocates of project-based learning say it encourages higher-level thinking skills.
riculum, teachers from different subject areas can
team up on projects. point?’ Project-based learning gives you a way of an- across the border. Then, working in groups of two or
Of course, Gilley adds, the teachers can’t do it swering those questions,” says Kantrov. three, they created video clips about their findings and
alone. To make project-based learning the best it can Project-based learning also encourages a deeper lev- posted these on YouTube. They also presented their find-
be, schools should coordinate with outside organiza- el of thinking by involving students in answering ques- ings in an evening exhibition. Visitors could watch the
tions—with industry, with museums, and with other tions for themselves, making connections, and using an- students’ videos on a bank of laptops and headphones
places that will make projects come alive for students. alytical skills. arranged around a table.
Teachers also should not work in a vacuum; “When I’m doing project-based learning, I’m look- The project cut across several courses and disci-
school leaders should give them plenty of time to ing at taking the ‘whole’ apart and looking at the pieces. plines, including English, science, and social studies,
collaborate and plan projects. That’s problem-solving, the ability to analyze infor- while teaching students in a way that allowed for mul-
“We entrust teachers and encourage them to de- mation by putting it together in a new way to solve the tiple entry points into the core curriculum content.
sign the projects themselves,” explains Rob Riordan, problem,” explains Pat Walkington, vice president of “Our teachers, when they sit to plan their projects,
director of instructional support for High Tech High sales and marketing for Sebit LLC, which produces an think about the things they’re passionate about, things
in San Diego. “To support that, [the teachers] have online learning solution called Adaptive Curriculum. they think are important to cover in their discipline.
lots of contacts throughout the day and in the sum- Adaptive Curriculum is an interactive, web-based Then they think about state standards, and what they
mer, where teachers are talking to each other about software product that allows students to conduct scien- can cover in the projects they want to do,” says Rob
their work. Teachers also come in an hour before tific experiments, in realistically rendered surroundings, Riordan, so-called “emperor of rigor” for High Tech
the school day with kids begins. They spend that time that are substitutes for actual experiments when these High (basically, he’s the director of instructional sup-
working in teams, studying together, and talking might be dangerous in real life or when they require port). The teachers also consider the elements of their
about the curriculum, projects, school issues, and costly equipment. The virtual experiments help students discipline they will be unable to cover through the
students.” develop standards-based scientific inquiry skills. planned projects, and pinpoint the areas they’ll have to
Riordan concludes: “None of this could work “In project-based learning, instead of answers be- cover through other, perhaps more traditional, means.
without professional time for the teachers.” —J.N. ing provided to students, [students] have to do experi-
ments to come up with the solutions,” Walkington says. See Project-based learning, page 24

This eSchool News Special Report is made possible with financial support from Sebit.
www.adaptivecurriculum.com 8 8 8.9 9 9.9319
eS N Special Report
24 • eSCHOOL NEWS January 2009

Project-based learning ... sionals in a given field would do. As they work on in-

A sample continued from page 22


The most successful project-based learning takes
quiry-based tasks, students are learning important in-
formation-age skills (such as internet research, data col-
lection, and analysis) along with the core curriculum
project-planning place when the teachers let go of control, says Kantrov.
“The students say, ‘We’ll figure this out together.
content.
Gary Bitter, professor of educational technology at
form What do we want to find out?’ Teachers don’t need to
know every detail and every fact,” she explains. “Their
Arizona State University and founder of ASU’s
Technology Based Learning and Research, believes
skills have to be in understanding where students are technology is an integral part of project-based learning.
1. Begin with the end in mind. and helping them move from where they are to the next “In most cases, students will use technology to [ap-
step in the learning.” ply] some type of meaningful problem-solving ap-
Summarize the theme for the project. Why The Education Development Center, together with proach where they can experiment with numbers, say,
do this project? Identify the content standards the Ford Motor Company Fund, created the Ford in math, or experiment with … the simulation of an
that students will learn in this project. Identify Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS), a pro- activity,” says Bitter, who is in charge of mathematics
ject-based curriculum that helps students develop the content for Adaptive Curriculum.
key skills that students will learn in this project. content knowledge and skills necessary for future suc- Developed by Sebit in conjunction with Bitter and
Identify the habits of mind that students will cess in such areas as business, economics, engineering, other ASU educators, Adaptive Curriculum is intended
practice in this project. and technology. to make often-difficult math and science concepts easi-
Now in use in 26 states, the curriculum offers a se- er to teach and more enjoyable to learn. Math and sci-
ries of modules that link the learning of traditional ence “activity objects,” as they are called, are designed
2. Craft the driving question. academic subjects with the challenges students will face to teach concepts by having students consider a real-life
State the essential question or problem in post-secondary education and with the expectations problem, make a plan to solve the problem, carry out
statement for the project. The statement should of the workplace they will face as adults. the plan and check results, and draw a conclusion.
Community-wide, collaborative efforts and innov- “When kids are more in charge of their own learn-
encompass all project content and outcomes, ative partnerships link Ford PAS local high schools with ing, the information is retained a lot longer and you’re
and it should provide a central focus for stu- colleges, universities, and businesses. Through coordi- using higher-level thinking skills, engaging the learn-
dent inquiry. nated, real-world projects that start in the classroom, ers, and letting them take more responsibility for their
Ford PAS offers experiences to help students make de- own learning. The teacher’s role has changed, from one
cisions about their future education and careers. of having all the knowledge to encouraging kids to learn
3. Plan the assessment, part 1. “If you’re going to build skills like critical think- and get that information on their own,” Walkington says.
Define the products for the project. What ing, problem solving, teamwork, and communication, For example, one activity object on mutualism has
will you assess—early in the project, during the you actually have to engage students in processes where students watch a bird eating decaying food from the
they have to think critically, work in teams, and com- mouth of a crocodile. The students must form a hy-
project, and at the end of the project? municate with a variety of audiences,” says Kantrov. pothesis: If the bird didn’t perform that function, what
Kantrov describes such a project, one that focuses would happen? Would the bird be OK, but the croco-
4. Plan the assessment, part 2. on the economics principle of comparative advantage: dile would suffer? Would the crocodile be OK, but the
State the criteria for exemplary perfor- “The project has students working to publish a year- bird would suffer? Would they both suffer? The stu-
book. Each student might have a particularly strong dents look at a simulation of what would happen, then
mance of each product. skill: One is better at doing layout, another is better at go back to their hypothesis to see if they were right.
writing. The students were challenged to discover how Another activity object has students conduct virtual
5. Map the project, part 1. much time they should devote to different tasks to get experiments on photosynthesis, while a third activity
the yearbook done quickly. They learned what they object looks at how planets orbit each other and
What do students need to know and be able
needed to know about comparative advantage in order allows students to take one planet and orbit it around
to do to complete the tasks successfully? How to figure out the problem.” another.
and when will they learn the necessary knowl- Skills are taught within the context of solving the “They have to understand something about gravity
edge and skills? Look at one major product for problem, and professionals from the business world and how it works, the trajectory of the object in order
come in to model particular skills throughout the to maximize the orbit, the speed and mass of the object.
the project and analyze the tasks necessary to process. Community involvement is important, Kantrov In the experiment, they can manipulate all of this to see
produce a high-quality product. (List the knowl- says, because students don’t learn just in schools. They if they can get an orbit,” Walkington explains. “If the
edge and skills that students will need: already eventually head out into workplaces, labs, and com- variables aren’t correct, they see what happens—[such
munities to continue learning and to begin their pro- as] one planet crashing into the other.”
learned, taught before the project, and taught fessional life. The product is mapped to state standards for grades
during the project.) In the economics project the South Texas students 5-8. However, it’s a useful product for younger, gifted
were working on—a Ford PAS module called “The students as well, Walkington says. There are currently
6. Map the project, part 2. Wealth of Nations”—students look at several different 99 activity objects in math and 115 in science. The ac-
economic indicators (such as gross domestic product, tivity objects can be used as part of a larger project,
List key dates and important milestones for inflation rate, employment rate, literacy rate, and infant but they can also stand alone: Most of them run 40 min-
this project. What challenges or problems might mortality rate) for various countries to predict the pres- utes long—the average length of a class.
arise? ence of a skilled workforce in each country. The indi- Adaptive Curriculum gets the less-interested stu-
cators for each of the countries are posted around the dents motivated, says Bitter, who adds: “If you have a
room, and students work in teams to consider the im- student [who is] deficient in mathematics, teachers
7. Manage the process. plications of these indicators as they are revealed. can bring him up to a level to work with. They can as-
List the preparations necessary to address Students eventually get to see color photographs of sign an object to him, leave him on his own with the
needs for differentiated instruction for ESL families from these countries, taken from the book concept he’s not understanding, and get him adapted
The Material World, and they read a brief story about to the mainstream.”
students, special-needs students, or students each family. At the end of the activity, they learn the Key Curriculum Press is another company that of-
with diverse learning styles. Ask: How will names of the countries. “It’s a wonderful activity and fers technology to support project-based learning. The
you and your students reflect on and evalu- really impresses on kids the meaning and significance company’s Engineering the Future science course, de-
of the various economic indicators,” Kantrov says. veloped with the Museum of Science in Boston, in-
ate the project? (Class discussion, student- Later in the module, students come up with their own cludes a unit in which students are asked to build a pa-
facilitated formal debrief, teacher-led formal indicator of a country’s economic well-being, which per boat. By lighting a candle, setting it in the vessel,
debrief, individual evaluations, group evalu- they then apply—along with the traditional indicators— and directing its heat into the water, students learn about
to their decision about where CleanWater Tech should propulsion, thermodynamic properties, and other con-
ations, or other.) expand. cepts.
“What we find by engaging them in this hands-on
(Source: Buck Institute for Education, http://pbl- Where technology fits in activity is that those experiences, and therefore the con-
online.org/pathway2.html) Students can use technology as a tool for gathering
information and completing projects, just as profes- See Project-based learning, page 26

This eSchool News Special Report is made possible with financial support from Sebit.
www.adaptivecurriculum.com 8 8 8.9 9 9.9319
eS N Special Report
26 • eSCHOOL NEWS January 2009

Project-based learning ... School challenges—and successes “When you have 15 laptops going, you can’t go to
your desk to check eMail, you can’t step out into the
continued from page 24
The relatively new Adaptive Curriculum was used hall to have conversations with colleagues,” she says.
cepts they learn, stay with the students much longer with great success recently during a pilot program at “[Teachers were] walking around monitoring things
than if they had just been taught an algorithm [that] they the Isaac School District in Phoenix, Ariz. Kendra [and] answering questions. These were high-level con-
memorized and then applied,” says Jim Ryan, vice pres- Moreno, assistant principal at Isaac Middle School, met cepts.”
ident of marketing for Key Curriculum Press. with the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade teachers, as Moreno mentions the mutualism activity with the
Engineering the Future poses questions to students well as with the designers of the program and its ac- crocodile and bird as something that captivated students
at the beginning of projects. The students then discov- tivity objects, to discuss bringing Adaptive Curriculum in particular. “With middle school kids, keeping them in-
er the answers to these questions as they go along. into classrooms. terested in participating is a science,” she points out. “If
PASCO Scientific’s computer interfaces and sensors “We went through our state standards to see which I’m a seventh grader, I’m thinking, ‘This is so cool.’ It’s
(probes), bundled with computer-based activities for activity objects would best align. Then I had to promise much cooler to look at it on a screen than read about it.
chemistry, biology, physics, and general science, are teachers that they would not fall off their timeline. They Kids loved it.” Students were visibly excited on laptop
another way for schools to bring technology into a are reluctant to do things that would put them back. It day, she says, and English-language learners and students
project-based learning environment. had to be seamless [and] support their instruction,” who’d typically give teachers the hardest time were the
“More and more, we’re trying to give kids an idea Moreno says. Only after they started using the activity ones who were most excited and willing to learn.
of what real science is,” says Wayne Grant, chief edu- objects did teachers begin to see how the activities Teacher growth also was apparent. “They learned
cation officer for PASCO. “It’s about asking questions served as building blocks for understanding. their subject much better,” Moreno says. “They also
that have meaning to you and going out to answer those Moreno developed a calendar for the school’s lap- learned classroom-management techniques and looked
questions. It’s like detective work.” top cart; teachers got the cart, which contained one lap- at how their students learned. They asked themselves,
For example, he says, a project that took place in the top for every two students, every other week. ‘When Adaptive Curriculum and the laptops are gone,
Pacific Northwest had students examining the viabili- “About 80 percent of [our students] come from how am I going to keep students engaged?’”
ty of salmon spawning streams. They took water qual- homes where English is not the primary language, so The program’s assessment feature revealed how
ity measurements along the length of the river to de- we have huge numbers of second-language learners,” much students had learned, and it suggested to teach-
termine the deterioration of the environment and its she says. One of the things she likes about Adaptive ers where the lesson should go next. Teachers loved the
effects on salmon. Then, they looked for factors that Curriculum is its repetition of vocabulary words and curriculum’s support pages, which helped them navi-
were affecting the river. visuals; kids were using key content vocabulary from gate through the material and understand how much
One detrimental factor they discovered was logging; the lessons and having very academic discussions as time it would take to give students the requisite knowl-
however, logging is a major industry in that area. “So they completed the activities. “They hear the same edge they needed.
then science is not just about lab coats. It influences so- words over and over, and that’s important, because if The Metro Nashville Public Schools are using Ford
cial policy. The measurements you take are not just dis- you don’t ‘get’ the word, you’re not going to get the PAS. One of the projects Metro Nashville uses has stu-
connected measurements of things like pH,” explains concept,” she explains. dents create a business plan for an imaginary rock band
Grant. Another huge benefit of Adaptive Curriculum, that starts in a garage.
The students followed up by looking at the eco- Moreno says, is that she saw a significant increase not Students look at how to market the band and how to
nomics of logging. “It changes the perception of what only in students interacting with each other, but in teach-
science can be about,” Grant says. ers interacting with students. See Project-based learning, page 27

Another benefit of project-based learning is that it helps students learn to collaborate and solve problems in a team environment.

This eSchool News Special Report is made possible with financial support from Sebit.
www.adaptivecurriculum.com 8 8 8.9 9 9.9319
January 2009 eSCHOOL NEWS • 27

Project-based learning ... The epitome of project-based learning LINKS:

continued from page 24


High Tech High began in 2000 as a single charter high Adaptive Curriculum
hire personnel. They also write a business plan. Later, school launched by a coalition of San Diego business http://adaptivecurriculum.com
students must write a business plan for starting a small leaders and educators. It has since evolved into a school
community business like a barber shop, and they build development organization with a growing portfolio of
on the skills they learned in the first project. schools spanning grades K-12. High Tech High focuses Buck Institute for Education
Another project has ninth graders looking at a com- on a personalized, project-based learning environment http://www.bie.org
pany that is bringing Japanese food to the fast-food mar- in the hopes of combating the twin problems of student
ket. Students work on advertising and communication disengagement and low academic achievement.
models for the company, then write a business plan and “We want to closely connect what we do with what’s Education Development Center
present it to bankers from the community. Such pro- happening outside the school,” says High Tech High’s http://main.edc.org
jects tie in the elements of critical thinking, problem Riordan. “We try to develop a way of looking at cur-
solving, teamwork, and communication that form the riculum and language that cuts across courses and ap-
Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS)
basis of Ford PAS. plies to all courses and all kids.”
Students respond much better to the projects than Project-based learning facilitates interaction between http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-
teachers, says Donna Gilley, career and technical edu- adults and students. “With project-based learning, you research
cation coordinator and a Ford PAS trainer for the Metro have teachers designing the projects and putting them-
Nashville schools. Students are “resilient, they’re used selves in a position of co-inquirer. The students and teach- High Tech High
to change,” she explains. And “younger teachers re- ers are doing real work beside each other,” Riordan says.
spond better. It’s the more experienced teachers who Technology is an important feature of the school’s http://www.hightechhigh.org
are used to teaching from a book and giving a test on environment, but it is not the main subject of the school.
Friday” who are hardest to convince. Rather, students use a variety of technical and techno- Isaac Middle School
Getting buy-in from the teachers is not a cinch, at logical tools to design and create products in math, hu- http://www.isaacschools.org/ims/programs.htm
least initially. “It’s a cultural change, a shift for some manities, and science.
teachers,” Gilley says. To facilitate the shift, the district One ninth-grade physics project, called “So You Want
conducts three-day Ford PAS training sessions, with a to Be a Millionaire,” had pairs of students designing a Key Curriculum Press
goal of teaching broader strategies. “We’re not trying product that uses electricity. At the same time, students http://www.keypress.com
to train 400 Ford PAS teachers. We’re trying to train were studying 21st-century media and looking at adver-
our teachers to be more project-based, inquiry-based,” tising and public-relations campaigns. They used the
she explains. knowledge they were learning about media to create a Metro Nashville Public Schools
Over the course of three days during the summer, business plan with a target audience and a marketing plan http://www.mnps.org
the program brings teachers through the Ford PAS ac- for their product. Students then exhibited their prod-
tivities they will be teaching. Then, teachers are taken ucts, and five of them were chosen for presentation in
on industry visits. front of a panel of venture capitalists. One of those prod- PASC O Scientific
“We’ve gone to Dell and others, and I ask [industry ucts is now in production with a local company. http://www.pasco.com
executives] to talk to teachers about what it takes to “We don’t want our students to tell you that they had
get and keep a job in their industry. They always say math first period and chemistry second period,” says Project-Based Learning
team building, communication, critical thinking.... Riordan. “We want them to talk about a piece of work
That’s when teachers begin to believe what we say. It they’re doing that they’re invested in. We encourage http://pbl-online.org
has been the most successful part of the training,” Gilley kids to pursue their interests; we aspire to have kids ex-
says. “Teachers are just like kids: You tell them some- plore interests through projects as a way to make con- Technology Based Learning and Research at ASU
thing, and they don’t believe it, but bring in someone from nections to the world beyond school.” eSN
http://tblr.ed.asu.edu
the industry to say it, and they say, ‘Oh, it must be true.’”

‘This all sounds great … but does it work?’


That’s the question that John Mergendoller, executive director of the Adaptive Curriculum on sixth-grade students’ science knowledge.
Buck Institute, hears often. His response is a resounding “yes.” But mea- The study, which focused on 71 students who used Adaptive
suring project-based learning can be a challenge. If an English teacher Curriculum and 4 6 who did not, found that students in the Adaptive
and a math teacher both do a project, and one lasts a week while the Curriculum group had a 4 9.5-percent increase in their science assess-
other lasts a month, those projects will look very different, Mergendoller ment scores from pretest to post-test. (Students in the control group
points out. had negligible gains.)
Anecdotal evidence suggests that teachers believe project-based Another study, conducted in 19 97, showed that students at a project-
learning helps students develop higher-level thinking skills. Students based British secondary school performed better on math problems re-
also become more actively engaged in the learning process. quiring analytical or conceptual thought than students at a school that
“Because project-based learning focuses on real things, an aspect of used more traditional, direct instruction.
life that you can analyze, it’s motivating and it grabs students,” says Peter Technology, too, has been found to play a valuable role in project-
Rillero, associate professor of science education at Arizona State based learning. In a five-year study of students involved in the Challenge
University. Students learn and retain more knowledge, teachers say— 2000 Multimedia Project—which had students complete interdiscipli-
knowledge that is applicable to the real world. nary, multimedia projects that integrated real-world issues and prac-
Hard data also show that project-based learning can be effective. tices—students using technology to create presentations aimed at a par-
Research suggests that students who engage in hands-on activities at ticular audience outperformed their peers who did not use technology
least once a week score significantly higher on standardized tests of in areas such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving. —J.N.
science achievement than students who don’t. To apply this concept to
virtual experiences, Sebit LLC, developer of Adaptive Curriculum, exe- LINK:

cuted a pilot program to explore the effects of hands-on learning through Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edtechprograms/multimediaproject.html

This eSchool News Special Report is made possible with financial support from Sebit.
www.adaptivecurriculum.com 8 8 8.9 9 9.9319

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