|
Project-Based Learning: A Glimpse at the Future
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Home > Alumni > Annual Report > Project-Based Learning: A Glimpse at the Future >
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Project-Based Learning at Brewster Academy: A Glimpse at the Future
|
|
By Marilyn Shea, Academic Dean
 For more than 35 years now, I have been at the challenge of finding the perfect cure for the educational malaise that has plagued American classrooms for decades. To anyone who has been similarly immersed in understanding learning as a science, the past 20 years of education research, and the reform efforts that have sprung from that fountain, mark a truly new era in which the dialogue has become global, and the professionalism behind reform has raised the bar for students. Like so many of my colleagues here at Brewster, and in schools all over the world, I have found myself fueled anew with each passing year as the research reveals better approaches to teaching. Nothing in what I do has been condemned to a dull and static repetition of the ineffective. Each year has offered exciting new possibilities for answering the continuing question that must be a teacher’s first focus: “How can I help my students love to learn?”
Since 1993, when Brewster began its fully organized effort at education reform, I doubt a day has passed in which I have not felt some measure of gratitude to be working in a school that is so completely committed to both the art and the science of teaching. If ever I start to take for granted the opportunities I have enjoyed at Brewster, I am quickly reminded of my good fortune whenever I hear from faculty who have moved on when they write or call to share how much they miss the luxury of teaching in a place that truly places student success at the front and truly supports faculty in delivering on that mission. Like my colleagues here, past and present, I have experienced the sheer joy of watching a classroom transform itself when well-planned curriculum grabs the attention of students and they are able – sometimes for the first time – to meet with success.
A Natural Next Step
 Having noted the many benefits of collaborative learning, one of Brewster’s best practices, the cross-over into project-based learning (PBL) has been a natural and logical next step. This is not to say the integration of PBL into our curriculum has been easy. As with any quality effort to improve program, this has called for faculty training, an evolution in our technology platform, and months of department collaboration to move us to the point where we were ready to write a new sophomore curriculum. Complete this past summer, that curriculum has electrified classrooms and initiated in students a heightened sense of excitement about learning. The two pieces below offer wonderful examples of how PBL has changed the classroom experience for teacher and student alike.
Appreciating theses examples of PBL calls for a good understanding of what makes PBL different from other teaching methods, and the research points to documented benefits of this approach. PBL is a method that puts focus on inquisition, problem solving, and higher level thinking skills by engaging students in investigations of compelling questions and problems that culminate in authentic projects. The projects forge a stronger learning experience for the student because nothing in them can be satisfied through simple rote memory. Students must think and do. The result is they learn more, they take on greater amounts of personal responsibility for their own learning, and they experience the satisfaction that comes with real learning, not just good grades.
What does that look like? Imagine the difference between telling students the stages of cell development and having them prepare for a quiz in which they explain the stages. Compare this to what would happen if a student asked, “What causes cancer cells to metastasize?” Can you see how the fact that the student chose the topic and question would immediately heighten interest? And can you envision how pursuit of the answer would unfold a series of questions that want to be answered? Now the student is completely engaged in the learning – knowing has become real.
Learning That Extends Beyond the Classroom
Studies have documented several advantages for students that come with a PBL approach to learning. They point to measureable growth in self-reliance and social skills for cooperation, improved attitudes toward learning, and, not surprisingly, increased attendance. Studies consistently show gains in learning. Students find meaningful appeal in the authenticity of PBL learning. Whether they are working together to plan and make a video about the effects of acid rain on soil, making a travel brochure about historical highlights in their community, or designing and making a multi-media presentation on an energy efficient housing design that would meet the cultural uniqueness of a family in Ecuador, students take on roles and responsibilities of those working in particular disciplines, and their learning extends far beyond the classroom.
For teachers involved in project based learning curriculums studies reveal evidence of greater professionalism, increased collaboration, and increased opportunities to develop relations with students. Teachers appreciate the expanse of solutions to meeting diverse student needs in the classroom and find the satisfaction of increases in learning and success for a greater number of their students. What I found in my own experience, and in visiting various Brewster classrooms, is that PBL approaches unleash the teacher’s creativity and infuse teaching with excitement. It is contagious. One teacher’s excitement sparks another colleague to pick up the challenge, and students draw tremendous energy from an inspired teacher.
Making it Real With an Internship
Looking to the future of PBL and Brewster’s commitment to the thoughtful use of innovation in the classroom, we will continue with summer curriculum writing efforts, tackling one grade level each summer so that by the summer of 2012 we will have completed the revisions of all curriculum. Each teacher at Brewster is independently bringing this practice into the classroom so that all our students are enjoying the intellectual stimulation and the excitement of learning.
 The ways in which the Brewster classroom is changing, as PBL defines more effective approaches, is leading us to create better means for students to access opportunities for testing their learning in real life experiences. We are currently looking to pilot an internship experience for one of our seniors and working to bring a fully developed program on board in the near future. The possibilities seem endless and the prospect, deliciously tantalizing.
While many schools have ventured to establish a variety of efforts at offering project opportunities outside the school walls, such experiences lack the organization, structure, and adult follow-through that is requisite for real student learning. Students, eager to have a change of pace, are left to call on friends of family to set something up, and insufficient definition for the project leads to chaos. Students either do little or nothing, or they end up running errands that are not particularly instructive. I see in Brewster’s near future a serious and highly defined internship program that addresses those disappointing gaps, and a program that truly launches the student into an experience of testing and applying knowledge and learning by doing.
The key to a successful internship has as much to do with the way we organize the sponsor as it has to do with how we define expectations for the student. Being the sponsor for an internship can be an exciting experience for the employer/sponsor and it can offer very real benefits. Internship programs tend to stimulate the sponsor and add to employee motivation and productivity. Effectively done, they can turn interns into very effective public relations ambassadors for the sponsoring company. As well, internships can often help fill gaps created as companies are transitioning to a new phase and thus reduce the need to make an unnecessary or premature hire. Maybe the most significant benefit for the sponsor, however, is the experience of touching a life, and seeing how time and effort translate into shaping positively the choices the intern will make for his or her future.
The added benefits to students of a well-organized internship come in the way anticipation can naturally help students set goals and raise the bar when eligibility for an internship is linked to academic and good citizenship standards. The internship becomes a slice of the real world slipped into the life of the classroom and thus brings more meaning to academics. Now there is very real value in understanding and meeting expectations. Now there is obvious merit in successfully working with others and bringing a spirit of cooperation to the table. Now there is a reason beyond a number on a grade report to become good at something.
I think when you read about the experiences of our two faculty members, and hear about how their students are responding, you will get a flavor of what is happening to transform classrooms at Brewster. The excitement these teachers share is very real and shared by their colleagues. Similarly, the students who talk about their experiences represent well the ways students are finding a passion for learning and maturing in self-direction. Come visit us, if you can. We would love to have you see for yourself what is happening in Brewster Academy’s classrooms.•
|
|
|
|
|