State Standards PBL

Here is what I think I know about facilitating pbl work based on state standards. First, I think that you have to be able to facilitate learning and that it is not necessary to be a content expert. What is important is to be able to guide students through the process. If there are enough check points along the way such as getting information from reliable resources, check ins with facilitators, expert review of work and constant revising of projects based on new information the students will learn the content.

The other thing that I think I know for sure is that students will retain information better if they are actively involved in finding it. The act of a teacher standing and delivering a lecture while students take notes is fairly passive in nature. Although the students are writing they are not required to think. If they have to find things and construct their knowledge it is an active way to learn.I think the retention will be much better.

The third thing that I think I know is that the learning is much more relevant and meaningful to the learner. When they get to create their own projects even within the constraints of covering state standards they have at least some level ownership that does not happen with traditional instruction.

The fourth and final thing that I think that I know for sure is that the more structured the PBL process the more work it will be to get the students to do high quality work. The trick of structure is that to the outside "eye in the sky" it looks good and makes sense. I mean who wouldn't want to see student check ins and structured points along the way that guarantee that the students are covering things? However, once the structure becomes the thing that is driving the process then it becomes a teacher centric project not a students centric process. Students need to understand the basic steps and process of PBL but they should not be pushed into a lock step process if true excitement and learning is to occur. The more structured the PBL is the more teacher directed it becomes and the closer it comes to the traditional lecture type classroom. It teaches students that they are not to be trusted to make judgements within their own learning. Students are taught to wait for the teacher/facilitator to tell the what to do. There is not meaning construction anymore but rather construction of an assignment that the teacher tells you to do.

Basically, what I know for sure is that I am willing to do this structured PBL process to meet the requirement of covering the state standards but I cannot wait for the freedom of allowing the students to choose what they learn about and how to learn it.