Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is an instructional approach built upon authentic learning activities that engages student interest and motivation. The projects are designed to answer questions, solve problems, or simulate the work that students may someday perform in their occupations.
According to Murphy et al (2006), students experiencing project-based instruction increase their level of reflection on the subject and gain a greater appreciation for the complexity of the real-world issues and events.
According to Wilhelm and Walters (2008), classroom environments rich in project work provide opportunities for students to:
- Engage in contextualized problem solving
- Make interdisciplinary connections
- Develop reasoning skills
- Accurately represent and communicate concepts (p. 220)
Meaningful, activity-based learning is more transferable to what students really need in their world beyond the classroom (King et al., 2009; Magee & Barman, 2009; Michael, 2006). Students who are actively engaged in projects use their higher-order thinking skills to analyze information, evaluate it, and create the final product or outcomes for which the project is designed. The key to project-based learning is that it must be authentic in nature, aligned with the instruction, and it must address student needs.
Project-based learning has been incorporated into many
school curricula as a means to achieving differentiated instruction
(Schlemmer & Schlemmer, 2008). In the next topic we will examine differentiated learning more closely.