Project Based Learning-Main Meal

Projects are used quite often in our 21st century classrooms. Projects can be used as a way for students to explore content material on their own and then they may be shared to the rest of the class through presentations.

As a pre-service educator I often sway away from projects. I honestly, do not like projects. I do not like competing projects myself, and I struggle with finding purpose in my student's completing projects as well. However, as I researched project based learning in our 21st century classroom, I found that I have a poor concept of how projects can be implemented into purposeful instruction today.

According to Larmer and Mergendoller's  '8 Essentials for Project Based Learning' projects in our classrooms should not only teach content material but they can also be a driving force for questions, inquiry, critical thinking skills, and student voice.

To ensure a project has purpose and meaning we must create a project that encompasses our important concepts and content standards that we are striving for our students to meet. I could create project after project but if my students are not meeting standards and gaining important knowledge it is meaningless to them as well as to my goal of teaching them information.

In order for the project to be specific and meaningful to learners it must focus on a specific driving question. A good driving question is one that captures the meaning of the project in clear concise language. This driving questions will lead the students to find purpose and meaning in their project. This will allow the students to capture the 'need to know benefit' of the project. The students will have a base for why this information is important for us to know.

According to Larmer and Mergendoller "The Main Course, Not Dessert", projects that answer a good driving question are ones that require students to think critically and apply a higher order of thinking. Questions should lead to more questions resulting in students engaging in inquiry. 

Also if students are informed that they must present their project findings to a panel of 'experts' (which could include other students, faculty, parents, etc.) they will be driven to complete their project to a high standard, knowing they have a purpose to convey good information.

I think, a reason why I stray away from projects is because I have not experienced a good implementation of Project Based Learning. For example, when I think of projects, I think of giving each of my students a beef cow breed and asking them to research the breed and then present the breed to the class. This is boring! This is not interesting to me or to other students. What are my students actually gaining from this experience?

After completing this research I have found that I could reconstruct the previous example to ask students to identify more important driving questions. What beef cow breed provide the most lean meat? Why? If I go to the local Steakhouse what type of beef will I be served? Answers to this 'main meal" question should be based on my location, common beef sold in the U.S., meat cut from specific breeds, and price of beef being sold. That one "main meal" question has so many other little questions that can be answered first. All the little questions are questions that may meet content standards as an additional bonus.

Projects in our classrooms can become the main meal of our content if purpose and meaning is given. If we incorporate good effective driving questions as our appetizers, we can lead to purposeful inquiry where students are led by critical thinking through the projects, and we can finish with a delicious dessert presentation of our knowledge to other students and administration.


~Ms. Timmons