An Introduction to Project-Based Learning Video Lecture | What is Project Based Learning (PBL)? - Professional Skills

>>Teacher: On March 24th you're going
to stand in front of your peers.
You're going to stand in
front of your parents.
You're going to stand in
front of a panel of engineers.
You will have data.
You will have graphs.
And you're going to knock
the socks off people.
>>Narrator: Seattle teacher, Scott
McComb is outlining a project
to his ninth grade physics class that
will have them creating, building,
and testing various wing structures
that they will design in teams.
McComb is part of a
growing group of educators
who believe project learning is
the most effective way to teach.
>>Man: Try right now.
So you know how to do it?
>>Linda: When you think
about project-based learning,
learning that results in
demonstrations of performance,
real tasks that have brought
challenges to students to solve,
you can see that it's in context
with the ways in which kids have
to be able to be functioning adults.
>>It's quite an improvement.
>>Remember our first wing
didn't even hold water?
>>Narrator: Project learning is a
hands-on student directed activity
in which students create something
that demonstrates what they have
learned whether it's a website,
a play.
>>Can you believe this arrogance?
They think they can stop us.
Nothing can stop us.
>>Narrator: Or a wing
design portfolio.
>>Seymour: First thing you have to do
is to give up the idea of curriculum,
curriculum meaning you have
to learn this on a given day.
Replace it by a system where you
learn this where you need it.
>>So that means you're going
to put kids in a position
where they're going to use
the knowledge that they get.
>>Narrator: Projects involve in-depth
investigations of subject matter
which are often guided by
professional experts who enrich
and supplement the
teacher's knowledge.
>>Teacher: We do this in the real
world too and it's very cool.
And that's- I'm hoping to
show you how cool it is.
>>Hayley: I like doing
hands-on projects more just
because I feel I learn better by
learning from my own experiences.
When we were doing the
wing project I learned
like our first wing was really bad
and then our third wing,
we did really well.
>>Oh I'm so proud of us!
>>Narrator: Current research shows
that project learning
can be more effective
than traditional instruction in
increasing academic achievement.
It is also effective in
helping students understand,
apply, and retain information.
Other benefits include building
skills like critical thinking,
communication, and collaboration.
Students who work on projects
show increased motivation
and engagement in their studies.
>>Our task was to create a
high-efficiency, low-weight wing
that when tested it would, you know,
it would show the values
you'd want for a real wing.
>>Mike: These kids the way
they present themselves,
they're articulate, they
know what they're about,
they know what they've learned.
They've obviously been able to work
together and in a situation like this
for ninth graders to
pull off something
like that is absolutely remarkable.
>>Student: And here's
our data for our wings.
This would be the first round
would be one, two and three,
then four and five and six.
>>For more information on what works
in public education
go to edutopia.org