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| What is Project-Based Learning? |
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Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered teaching and learning strategy which enables students to acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planning and creating a product or performance. Students are required to work cooperatively on complex and open-ended tasks as well as follow specific steps of instruction. Real world connections are made through the application and integration of content from different subject areas during the production process.
At the Accelerated Learning Academy, we use the term Real World Learning (RWL) to include any number of instructional approaches; Project-based learning, problem-based learning, active & engaged learning, service learning, inquiry, real audience for work, community connections, etc. These approaches all contextualize high-value, standards-based content within the real world and the students’ lives.
The term 'Real World Learning' is meant to recognize that all these approaches have certain components in common:
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Learning by Doing
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Creating Products/Solving Problems
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Topics of Social & Personal Significance
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Student Voice & Choice
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Higher Order Thinking (Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create)
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Thematic/Interdisciplinary
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Attention to Learning Styles
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Modern Learning Tools (technology, etc.)
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Real World Connections
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Reflection & Processing
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| What Does Real World Learning Look Like? |
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Real world learning is an instructional strategy that organizes learning around complex activities built on multiple themes and academic disciplines, and which requires multiple steps and an extended duration of time to complete.
The separate subjects are still taught, just not as separate classes. Students learn important, standards-based content through the hands-on, project-based work that they do. Instead of test and quizzes, their work becomes the evidence of the learning. There is still lecture and reading, but only in support of learning by doing and working on the projects. Projects come first, then the occasional lecture, reading, or computer-based instruction, as needed to complete the project.
This approach is important because students who don't learn well in a traditional school setting often need to know why they are being asked to learn certain curricula or perform certain tasks. Therefore, engagement before instruction, meaning before content, and purpose before subject matter are necessary for students to make sense of what they are being asked to do and to learn. The program offers a new environment on the cutting edge of innovative practices and geared to assist all students in meeting high standards and transitioning seamlessly to a career and success in "life after school."
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| Real World Learning Activities |
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Several types of RWL activities may be employed, including:
Individual Research-Based Research Opportunities: These activities are aligned to core curriculum areas. They are application activities researched and presented by the student as part of a course requirement; they require inquiry, research, analysis and recommendations based on study.
Community-Linked Projects: These projects are completed by individual students. They showcase student skills and support community service. Students identify community issues which interest them and design their own projects. The final projects are presented in a community forum. These projects:
- Make strong correlations between classroom learning and the real world;
- Increase students' awareness of issues within their community;
- Enable student engagement with local, regional, and federal officials and experts in fields related to their projects;
- Enhance the development of the critical thinking, research, and presentation skills required to be active members of the community;
- Create an authentic "student voice" in the community.
Career-Related Projects: Students research and present on areas relating to their career interests. This type of project may include presentations based on the results of mentorship opportunities.
Group Projects: Students are not limited to doing individual projects, but will be able to collaborate with other Academy students.
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| The 6 A's of Quality Project-Based Learning |
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 uthenticity: Projects use a real-world context (e.g., community and workplace problems) to teach academic and professional disciplines.
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Does the project emanate from a problem or question that has meaning to the student?
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Is it a problem or question that might actually be tackled by an adult at work or in the community?
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Do students create or produce something that has personal and/or social value, beyond the school setting?
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cademic Rigor: Projects involve students in using methods of inquiry central to academic and professional disciplines, and require higher-order thinking skills.
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Does the project lead students to acquire and apply knowledge central to one or more discipline or content areas?
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Does it challenge students to use methods of inquiry central to one or more disciplines (e.g., to think like a scientist)?
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Do students develop higher-order thinking skills and habits of mind (e.g., searching for evidence, taking different perspectives)?
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pplied Learning: Projects engage students in solving semi-structured problems calling for competencies expected in high-performance work organizations.
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Are students solving a semi-structured problem (e.g., designing a product, improving a system, organizing an event) that is grounded in a context of life and work beyond the school walls?
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Does the project lead students to acquire and use competencies expected in high-performance work organizations (e.g., teamwork, problem-solving)?
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Does the work require students to develop organizational and self-management skills?
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ctive Exploration: Projects extend beyond the classroom and connect to work internships, field-based investigations, and community explorations.
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Do students spend significant amounts of time doing field-based work?
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Does the project require students to engage in real investigation, using a variety of methods, media, and sources?
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Are students expected to communicate what they are learning through presentations?
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dult Relationships: Projects provide students with adult mentors and coaches from the wider community.
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Do students meet and observe adults with relevant expertise and experience?
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Do students have an opportunity to work closely with at least one adult?
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Do adults collaborate on the design and assessment of student work?
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ssessment: Projects involve students in regular exhibitions and assessments of their work in light of personal,school, and real-world standards of performance.
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Do students reflect regularly on their learning, using clear project criteria that they have helped to set?
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Do adults from outside the classroom help students develop a sense of the real-world standards for this type of work?
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Will there be opportunities for regular assessment of student work through a range of methods, including exhibitions and portfolios?
Excerpted from Steinberg, Adria (1997). "Real Learning, Real Work"; available online at http://www.smallschoolsproject.org/index.asp?siteloc=tool§ion=sixa
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