Edutopia - October/November 2008 - (Page 48)

whole-class instruction organized around texts, workbooks, and frequent tests in tracked classrooms. Instruction in the other school used open-ended projects in heterogeneous classrooms. The study found that although students had comparable learning gains on basic mathematics procedures, signi⇒cantly more projectlearning students passed the National Exam in year three than those in the traditional school. Although students in the traditional school “thought that mathematical success rested on being able to remember and use rules,” the project-learning students developed more ⇓exible and useful mathematical knowledge. 3. A third study, in 2000, on the impact of multi– media projects on student learning, showed similar gains. Students in the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project, in California’s Silicon Valley developed a brochure informing school of⇒cials about problems homeless students face. The students in the multimedia program earned higher scores than a comparison group on content mastery, sensitivity to audience, and coherent design. They performed equally well on standardized test scores of basic skills. Other short-term, comparative studies demonstrated bene⇒ts from project learning, such as increases in the ability to de⇒ne problems, reason with clear arguments, and plan projects. Additional research has documented improvements in motivation, attitude toward learning, and work habits. Interestingly, students who struggle in traditional instructional settings have often excelled when working on a project, which better matches their learning style or preference for collaboration. cal problem solving and performance. Use of problem-based cases in teacher education has helped student teachers apply theory and practical knowledge to school contexts and classroom dilemmas; these cases, for example, have enabled teachers to take alternative perspectives to better appreciate cultural diversity. Studies of problem-based learning suggest that it is comparable, though not always superior, to more traditional instruction in teaching facts and information. However, this approach has been found to be better in supporting ⇓exible problem solving, reasoning skills, and generating accurate hypotheses and coherent explanations. A growing body of research has shown the following: • Students learn more deeply when they can apply classroom-gathered knowledge to real-world problems, and when they to take part in projects that require sustained engagement and collaboration. • Active learning practices have a more signiﬁcant impact on student performance than any other variable, including student background and prior achievement. • Students are most successful when they are taught how to learn as well as what to learn. Learning Through Design Design-based instruction is based on the premise that children learn deeply when they create products that require understanding and application of knowledge. Design activity involves stages of revisions as students create, assess, and redesign their products. The work often requires collaboration and speci⇒c roles for individual students, enabling them to become experts in a particular area. Design-based approaches can be found across many disciplines, including science, technology, art, engineering, and architecture. Design competitions for students include the FIRST robotics competitions and Thinkquest, for which student teams design and build Web sites on topics including art, astronomy, computer programming, foster care, and mental health. Thinkquest teams are mentored by a teacher who gives general guidance throughout the design process, leaving the speci⇒c creative and technical work to the students. Teams offer and receive feedback during a peer review of the initial submissions and use this information to revise their work. To date, more than 30,000 students have created more than 7,000 Web sites through this competition. Few studies have used a control group to evaluate the impact of the learning-by-design model, but in a 2000 study by researchers C.E. Hmelo, D.L Holton, and J.L. Kolodner, sixthgrade students designed a set of arti⇒cial lungs and built a partially working model of the respiratory system. The learning-by-design students viewed the respiratory system more systemically and understood more about the structures and functions of the system than the control group. Hmelo and colleagues argued that design challenges need to be carefully planned, and they emphasized the importance of dynamic feedback. They also determined that teachers working on design projects must pay particular attention to ⇒nding a balance between students’ work on design activities and re⇓ection on what they are learning; that balence allows teachers to guide students’ progress, especially in recognizing irrelevant aspects of their research that may take them on unproductive tangents, and in remaining focused on the whole project rather than simply on its completion. Shifting Ideas, Shifting Roles A signi⇒cant challenge to implementing inquiry approaches is the capacity and skill of teachers to undertake this more complex form of teaching. Teachers may think of project learning or problem-based teaching as unstructured and may fail to provide students with proper support and assessment as projects unfold. When students have no prior experience with inquiry learning, they can have dif⇒culty generating meaningful driving questions and logical arguments and may lack background knowledge to make sense of the inquiry. Students can neglect to use informational resources unless explicitly prompted. They can ⇒nd it hard to work together, manage their time, and sustain motivation in the face of setbacks or confusion. One of the principal challenges for teachers, then, is to learn how to juggle a host of new responsibilities—from carving out the time needed for extended inquiry to developing new classroom-management techniques. They must also be able to illuminate key concepts, balance direct instruction with inquiry teaching, facilitate learning among groups, Students as Problem Solvers Problem-based-learning approaches are a close cousin of project learning, in which students use complex problems and cases to actively build their knowledge. Much of the research for this approach comes from medical education. Medical students are given a patient pro⇒le, history, and symptoms; groups of students generate a diagnosis, conduct research, and perform diagnostic tests to identify causes of the pain or illness. Meta-analyses of multiple studies have found that medical students in problem-based curricula score higher on clini- 48 EDUTOPIA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - October/November 2008

Edutopia - October/November 2008 Contents UpFront Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design: Lessons from the Mall The Bucks Start Here Go Global: Virgil Rocks Big Ideas: Powerful Learning Mapping Their Futures Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Suze Orman

Edutopia - October/November 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.