Abstract.
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Background of Project-Based Learning
The idea of project-based learning is not new, and it has been around for centuries and dates to Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE). When students are compelled to showcase their knowledge by completing a task that has no one correct answer, students are obliged to apply what they have learned to create a comprehensive project (Boss, 2011). There is no forced regurgitation of memorized material.
What is PBL?
In short, “[project-based learning] is the ongoing act of learning about different subjects simultaneously. This is achieved by guiding students to identify, through research, a real-world problem (local to global) developing its solution using evidence to support the claim and presenting the solution through a multimedia approach based in a set of 21st-century tools. Kids show what they learn as they journey through the unit, interact with its lessons, collaborate with each other, and assess themselves and each other. They don't just take a test or produce a product at the end to show their learning… because PBL is awesome when it is implemented by teachers who buy into its methods. It is exciting to teach using PBL, and your excitement, in turn, causes excitement in your clients, the students (Wolpert-Gawron, 2015).”
My PBL Goal
My goal as a teacher is to give my students the tools they need to take what they have learned in my course and apply it to their everyday lives. I want my students to remember what they have learned in my classroom years after they have graduated. Project-based learning is the perfect vessel for making that happen. Through research and my own experience, project-based assessments have provided those opportunities. Project-based learning has benefits to all students regardless of age, grade level, English proficiency, or subject matter. Evidence shows that project-based learning has increased student mastery in subjects and has provided benefits for students outside the classroom.
Tambrie N. Aiken NCSU Graduate Program NLGL Showcase Spring 2019