Department of Education, University of the People

EDUC 5272: ADVANCED PRACTICES FOR TEACHING THE STEM

Dr. Christine McLaughlin

November 30, 2022.

The Project Based Learning Approach Analysis

As 21st century learners, it is imperative that students are provided with opportunities to engage

in active learning as well as be engaged in the learning process. This can be done by using

Project-based Learning (PBL) which is a method of teaching in which students actively

participates in real-world and personally meaningful projects. (PBL Works, n.d.). PBL promotes

critical thinking, creativity, innovation, peer collaboration, and communication as students are

engaged in addressing real-world scientific problems using engineering and technology. The

objective of this assignment is to identify a subject in a STEM content area, explore how

successful is the current strategy, and then suggestt ways in which they can make improvements

using a project-based approach.

Curriculum Topic: Animal Habitats

Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to:

● Conduct research of an animal.

● Design a habitat for the animal so that it can survive.

● Explain how the habitat meets the need of the animal.

Skills: Researching, Collaboaring, Designing, Communicating

I am currently teaching a topic on how to help animals who cannot help themselves survive using

the engineering design process. This process highlights open-ended problem solving and

promotes learning from failure. Students are able to design innovative solutions for challenges in

different subject areas. (Teach Engineering, n.d.). It is essential that students have extensive

knowledge of the engineering design process so that they will be better prepared to solve

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problems and design solutions. They also need to develop essential skills that are required for

21st-century learning such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.

Current Approach

I am a Grade 2 Teacher at an international school. My current approach to teaching this topic is

to allow students to research an animal of their choice and design a diorama of an animal habitat.

The habitat must be designed so that their animal will be able to move in and out of their shelter

independently. They will collaborate with each other in various groups to identify a problem,

create possible solutions, and then choose the most ideal solution to solve the problem. They

then have to design and test the prototype of their solution. This approach is very effective as it

enables students to observe the engineering design process in action. It also enables them to work

on a real-world problem as well as to develop essential skills such ascollaboration,

communication, and critical thinking.

The Project-Based Approach

Students will use the project-based approach. This is a model of teaching and learning where

students access content knowledge and skills so that they can respond to a driving question that

is based on an real problem, challenge, need, or concern. Students have to work collaboratively

in groups and use different employability skills such as critical thinking, communication, and

creativity. Student’s voice and choice as well as inquiry are incorporated. It also involves an

ongoing process of feedback and reflection and revision. (Magnify Learning, 2022).

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There are many reasons to incorporate project-based learning activities into schools as outlined

by Edutopia (2007):

● It provides multiple means of assessment.

● While working independently, students are able to demonstrate their capabilities.

● It demonstrates students’ abilities to apply skills such as engaging in research.

● It promotes collaboration and builds teamwork and group skills.

● It enables the teacher to learn more about students as individuals.

● It enables teacher to communicate in meaningful ways with students on a range of

issues.

● When PBL is integrated with technology students, teachers, and administrators will

be able to go beyond the school building.

● Students will be more engaged and build new knowledge and become active, lifelong

learners.

● Students will be able to take control of their learning, which leads to lifelong learners.

Although there are many benefits of using PBL, there can also be challenges as outlined by

McCarthy, (2019):

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 ● Problems may occur as not all students may get a chance to participate as some students

may be fearful that they will get lower grades if they allow students who are weak to

assist with tasks.

● Students who are strong may get low grades due to lack of participation from some

students and weak students may get a high grade without participating. This may result in

the teacher not being able to acquire accurate data to help students overcome challenges

which may create future struggles due to lack of foundational knowledge.

● If projects are treated like traditional units and students feel that their work is not being

valued, they may not be engaged.

● Students may not be accustomed to active learning.

● Sometimes it may be hard to find a problem from the real world that is appropriate for

students.

● Some students may deviate from the task at hand.

Teachers can overcome some of the challenges faced with PBL by employing the following

strategies as outlined by McCarthy (2019):

● Ensure that guidelines are established for roles and responsibilities.

● Ensure that students are provided with a checklist for each role.

● Ensure that students are trained on how to collaborate with each other.

● Make students’ work public by inviting experts to inform them of the importance of

what they are doing.

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 ● Provide students with a voice in the decision-making process such as a criteria for

assessment, protocols for leading and norms for behaviors.

It is also essential to identify a challenge that is just right for the pupils, neither too challenging

nor too simple. A strategy should also be designed for keeping students on track in order to

prevent them from straying off course or becoming disoriented. Therefore, students should be

provided with clear instructions and guidelines. This can be accomplished by assigning due

dates, distributing checklists, and conducting regular check-ins.

Conclusion

In concluding, students can greatly benefit from learning about the engineering design process

through the use of project-based learning. They are able to witness the process in action and to

work on a problem that is relevant to the real world. They will also be able to develop the

essential skills that are required for 21st century learners. Project-based learning is not without

obstacles, however, there are ways to overcome them through the application of different

methodologies.

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References

Edutopia, (2007). Why Is Project-Based Learning Important? https://www.edutopia.org/project-

McCarthy, J. (2019). 3 Common PBL Problems—and Solutions.

Magnify Learning, (2022). WHAT IS PROJECT BASED

PBL Works, (n.d.). What is PBL? https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl

Teach Engineering, (n.d.). Engineering Design Process.

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