PBL, 4 C's & 1 P

I am always one to welcome a new strategy into my teaching pedagogy, especially if it's something that I can collaborate with my colleagues on. I actually enjoy the journey in becoming a 'Jack of all trades' on instructional practices, with the hope of becoming a 'Master of one'. On the docket this school year is Project Based Learning, or PBL. If you follow my Twitter account you will probably already know this because of the bombardment of PBL-related tweets I've sent into the Twittersphere.

Nearing the end of the last school year a small group of my grade 9 colleagues and I were approached by our VP Julie Corcoran to discuss the potential inclusion of PBL at St. Joe's, using our grade 9 cohort as the starting point. So, as teachers often do, we held multiple meetings to plan the project outlines, identify proper success criteria, ensure that the entire plan met the new Ministerial Order, and extract the proper outcomes from each core subject to minimize any redundancies as PBL crosses curricular borders. It was a daunting task. Especially with regular workloads in an assessment-ridden end of a school year. However, big things require extra effort and a team that has an 'all-in' mentality (because honestly, anything new is always a gamble).

PBL doesn't quite dispel traditional learning and instructional practices, but does question the delivery methods of the curriculum and the effectiveness these methods have on equipping students with 21st century competencies; as basic knowledge and skills aren't cutting it in a workplace that will offer jobs yet to be thought of. PBL offers students an overarching complex question that guides student inquiry and learning as they collaborate with other students to find answers through a project that crosses curricular borders on an agreed upon timeline. Essentially, what I have been observing in our inaugural expedition is how well PBL has targeted 21st century competencies; the 4 C's and a P. Here is what my early observations have offered.

Collaboration

Early in the year I brainstormed with the 26 PBL embarking students on how to work effectively in group settings. Countless fun and non-scholastic activities were presented that put students in situations where they had to collaborate with peers that they were both comfortable and uncomfortable with (we have all worked with both in the real world). Students didn't foresee PBL in their future, but learned by trial and error who they worked well with and who repelled their efforts. Initially, the group formation process was to be faciliated by Nicole Tom-Huete and I, but students gravitated to those collaborative relationships they had made through these activities, leaving Nicole and I with little decisions to enforce.

The entire structure of PBL is collaborative-based. The students are in a collaborative state for the entire PBL process and are dependent upon each other's efforts. Of the 8 official PBL groups participating, only 1 group (under my observations only), have encountered difficulties working together. However, this group communicated these difficulties with me and asked for student-teacher collaboration to ensure that the group got back on track.

Creativity/Innovation

While this aspect is mostly dedicated to the Science curriculum under the watchful eye of Nicole Tom-Huete, creativity has increased or has allowed itself to be magnified through PBL. Nicole presented students with the "Driving Question" in Science;

How can we create or improve a marketable alternative energy prototype that will benefit society?

Students were then asked to brainstorm in their groups with the intent of creating a prototype that would answer this question and meet all required outcomes. With no parametres placed on student creativity the results were varied. Prototypes that are currently being worked on include the following;

• Smoke-stack factory filters that turn soot into reusable energy

• Wind powered traffic lights

• Solar BBQ

• Chicken meal powered vehicles

• Bluetooth pen

• Transparent solar panels

• Solar charging cell phone

Critical Thinking

Investing in an idea is one thing, ensuring that it is not an ideological pathology is another. Aside from creating a prototype that would be a suitable solution to the above driving question, students were asked to give merit to their ideas too. Is their prototype feasible? Realistic? Why? Why not? Could their prototype provide environmental security in a society that is buzzing green ideas? Answering these questions allowed students to tweak their ideas as the project evolved and add/subtract to their prototypes as new issues arose.

Communication

This particular competency is perhaps the skill that that I have been involved in most through my role. As the project and driving question transitioned from Science and Math, to the core Humaniities, communication of ideas became a focal point. As the teacher seeing over the Social Studies aspect of the project, students were to create a marketing campaign consisting of two consumer advertisments; one electronic and one tangible. Their goal is to communicate how their prototype could improve the quality of life/standard of living of society through marketing techniques that would capture common consumer attitudes. So far I have been blown away by some of the campaigns, which include mediums from radio commercials to iMovie commercials.

Aside from Social Studies, students have been crafting a meaningful 'pitch' for their products, similar to the those we see in the CBC's Dragons Den when entrepreneurs are seeking potential investment. This has been part of the Langauge Arts component overseen by Nicole McLay, and has focused on the student's ability to deliver an important message in front of an audience.

Problem Solving

The entire PBL process is constant problem solving. It presents itself not in the traditional sense, but rather in a realistic manner. Group mediation for disagreements, failed attempts at successful prototypes, the sudden disappearance of electronic files (which was quickly curbed with the suggestion of Google Apps), group member absences, prototype thefts, time constraints, role distribution and more have all fostered problems that students have had to overcome or find viable solutions to. Watching these students learn how to solve the issues that plague them through long-term projects on their own is perhaps one of the most rewarding byproducts as a teacher.

PBL has opened the door at St. Joe's for the fluid transition of the 4 C's and a P into the everyday activities of students. Student efficacy is evident, particulary in a sample group that perhaps has benefited from PBL the most and the removal of traditional practices. While PBL doesn't quite mask the integration of 21st century competencies, it does allow for all of these skills to be incorporated into an environment that is more life-orientated than copying from a Powerpoint or off of the whiteboard.

This project is in the final stages of completion and our 'team' is looking forward to reflecting on the pros and cons that both teachers and students have encountered. The success of the project won't be fully understood until all student and teacher self-assessments are completed and we understand what our 'next steps' are. Perhaps my next blog will discuss the value of PBL and the teacher workload.

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