Project-Based Learning at Clear View Charter Elementary School (Learn and Live) Video Lecture | What is Project Based Learning (PBL)? - Professional Skills

that's incredible acid valve senior
fourth and fifth-graders a clear view
charter school in Chula Vista California
work over a two-way interactive video
connection with scientists at a local
university together they study insects
under an electron microscope
okay introduce yourself girls getting
closer Tammy this project provides a
hands-on understanding of insects far
beyond what is possible with traditional
classroom resources today students in
gyms Eichmann's class collect more
insects to examine under the electron
microscope with this insect project that
we're doing somebody could just tell us
the parts of an insect but we go in
depth to see closer and learn by
ourselves instead of somebody else
telling us oh this project that we've
been working on with insects is really
an effort to teach students what is the
life of a scientists really about what
is the scientific process as well and
that's what we're attempting to do we're
study right now their mouthparts and see
if the ick
if the difference of what they eat in
their mouth works is it cool bruh like a
beetle it eats like stuff that has to
crunch so the mouth part is it's like a
little cruncher like this its mandibles
are different than ours they're on the
side of their mouth from here and they
chew this way not this way
did you like this not like this we have
schools because we hope that someday
when children have left schools that
they will still be able to use what it
is that they've learned and there is now
a massive amount of evidence from all
realms of science that unless
individuals take a very active role in
what it is that they're studying unless
they learn to ask questions to do things
hands-on to essentially recreate things
in their own mind and transform them as
is needed
the ideas just disappear Charles and
Albert collected several specimens but
the wasp they want so much still eludes
them and the class has only two days
before a scheduled online link up with
the electron microscope they're doing
the collection they're doing the
preparation they're doing research in
order to try to find out what they can
about this insect and then trying to
pose some kinds of questions that could
be answered through direct observation
with this powerful tool that we have
that's the electron microscope itself if
you look at atom just with the little
magnifiers you know I see about 15 max
but with electron microscopy you can go
as high as 700 and something to to see
him and it's kind of interesting that
you can see all the hairs on it and you
never thought you had like little hairs
so in one sense you're essentially
asking the student to be a researcher
whereas before you might have thought
the faculty is doing research the
students are learning now in effect
you're saying to the students go out and
do the research which is not bounded
which is really limitless and keep
generating the questions because as you
find more and more information out there
you'll find that it doesn't necessarily
coincide with your first idea you have
to change your idea then you'll have to
look for more information to get that
into some kind of sync with what you've
been thinking a second of all it becomes
very collaborative and that can be not
just among students it can be between
you and your teacher or it can be with
people in the outside world so once
again you're functioning almost the way
a faculty member or an adult in any
field functions as a researcher all
right I can see most people are just
continue
there that's good jumping around
sometimes wheelchair you see the
students working around they're pretty
much self-motivated and self-directed so
that it's not all teacher supervised
teacher directed they take the
responsibility and I think that's really
what becomes a real value of this
particular kind of learning it isn't
enough to just wait for it to trickle
down through scholars that use here and
write textbooks it's important to get
these resources directly in the hands of
young learners who wouldn't be able to
use the Reading Room's of the Library of
Congress but can use this material if we
make it more accessible and
user-friendly as we're trying to do all
the time to share their research Albert
and Charles prepare a multimedia report
mouths hi Alan and Charles next to the
next page these interactive multimedia
technologies give students a new way to
express their ideas and demonstrate what
they've learned using multimedia it's
just a tremendous amount of
decision-making that has to be done by
the students when they just simply look
at the the quantity of resources that
are available for them to make this
particular report then they have to
become very discriminating as to what
pieces they need in order to impart
their particular message content is
extremely important to me and that's the
area where I push on that's what I do as
a teacher to push the students into
finding more information to synthesizing
that information to putting in a
presentable form that's understandable
to them and to the ultimate user and the
components include looking at the
insects themselves in the traditional
ways that we mined through text and
pictures as well as other images of the
insects that they might find on CDs or
find via the internet and download that
way I try Alta Vista doubting my
suggestion - oh ok
4,000 okay you got 4,000 oh what's this
Wow howdy there what's that what to do
with that it might be useful for you to
just save that piece to read offline
okay because there's awful lot there
then you can just take it off and read
it later on maybe there's one or two
important points there about controlling
wasps that would be important to you
okay how to catch one that might be it
if we were back in the 1500 1600 and we
were Gutenberg inventing this printing
press we'd be so delighted that we'd be
able to take knowledge and distribute it
and also preserve it for different
generations imagine though we're
standing at that same point now where
we're not limited to just type on a page
we can preserve ideas we can represent
ideas in a full component of ways we
have images available we have sound
available we have two-way communication
available and that's where we're
standing right now in terms of the
capabilities how we're going to use
those is the challenge at the moment
all right between now very many
educators are seeking better ways to
evaluate student achievement so that the
assessment furthers the learning process
the rubric for the Jim Dyckman helps the
students create their own standards or
rubrics for assessing the quality of
their projects a good multimedia project
what would be the best multimedia
presentation on insects what would it
contain
thinking about content and also thinking
about technique the way in which it's
put together
you take one person who's going to
record the information it is more
difficult to assess the learning that
occurs through this kind of
project-based experience that it is not
going to be accessible through filling
the bubble kinds of tests that they're
going to have to be much richer forms of
assessment that can really capture how
much more the students actually know
make buttons that can jump to other
pages colleagues in the multimedia
project after the students have actually
done a little work with it and done some
of their research and started to
actually construct the project itself
then we sit down and we discuss what is
it that would make the best multimedia
presentation that then is placed in the
students hands so they know what they're
working towards it's not like the
teacher is going to give me an A B or C
but I don't know what I have to do to
get a B or C so they have all of that up
front and I like to have the students
help me develop those particular rubrics
because the other ones that are doing
the work how about some of the other
tables sharing some information that's
to be an M word in your own words o
check your own words just read good
punctuation with rubrics that have been
developed by the students they're able
to look at what they've done self
evaluate and get peer feedback and
teacher feedback
and what I find is that then they're
internalizing their desire to improve
their work do we require for for that a
person have a self drawn picture for
animation that's the question
when expectations are clear to both
students and teachers students develop
the ability to assess their own progress
a skill essential for lifelong learning
okay I think we've just left out one
important part of multimedia we think of
multi media would think of text graphics
and Amanda's got it behind you maybe
there sounds aha yes sound guys down one
last time
graphics sounds we should assess to say
alright here's what you can do here's
what you haven't done how can we help
you improve how does this information
how does this feedback help you know and
help us know what you might do to be
better it is not the skill level that
changes everybody comes out with the
same skill level it's the time it takes
that changes and some people take two
and a half times as long to learn as
other people that's that's the way
people are that's the way we are in
certain areas so when a school finally
figures out that that the the each
student must learn each step before they
go to the next and everybody will be
competent in each step and everybody
will make an A then we'll change our
view of tests wait a minute
Daniel you're not answering my question
just jamming for somewhere okay I don't
see the paper in your hand I don't see
it checked off I haven't seen the
discussion that you've had with your
partners okay we don't just go and get
going without some planning
thank you but one just keep it like this
and well this is to be like dad you want
to change the clothes in the inside we
do these projects in the multimedia
usually with at least groups of two
sometimes three
so in those groups there's a great deal
of cooperation as to what are we going
to include great deal of discussion and
that's learning in itself cooperative
learning is a natural living laboratory
gives children the chance to master and
practice a set of essential skills for
life their skills you could call
emotional intelligence they're how you
handle your own emotions and work things
out with people how you deal with other
other kids other people in your life
things like a managing your temper
you're not going to be able to blow up
and work with a group that's pressure on
you to learn how to do that
cooperative learning project-based
learning and alternatives to grades to
assess what's been learned this doesn't
sound like the school's most of us went
to as these innovations are introduced
schools must keep parents better
informed and encourage greater
involvement in their children's
education when children see their
parents and teachers working together it
sends a clear and consistent message
about the value of learning a clear view
charter parents meet regularly with
teachers and staff to discuss the school
program in an open forum it's an
opportunity for teachers to explain
their approaches to learning to both
parents and students you might be asking
yourself the question well how do we go
about figuring out trying to assess
whether or not students are doing any
real learning while they're going
through this process of Education of our
parents is as important as the education
of our children we're out here trying to
let parents know what we're doing and
why we're doing it that way we're not
giving up on multiplication and addition
and spelling we're doing all those
things we're just doing it in the
context of using technology to improve
those particular skills how is it
different than learning without
multimedia and without computer what I
have seen in
in the last couple of years who have now
had the exposure to technology and not
only a computer but video tape
technology laserdisc technology they
have a very high comfort level with that
technology but it also provides them a
feeling of accomplishment that I have
not seen in say traditional forms of
education I mean I've seen such
improvement in Albert's academic work
reading comprehension computers the
technology of computers has really
opened up a lot for Albert and I see him
wanting to come to school uh right early
and leave late you know always calling
me can I stay a little later I need to
finish up a project or you know and
that's I'm like wow yeah sure
the involvement in the of the parents
and learning of the child makes a big
difference it is the interaction between
the child and the parent that makes the
learning meaningful children are almost
programmed to please adults and their
first appreciation of themselves comes
from the feedback from the important
people around them and the most
important people of the parents
well it's helped me tomorrow so help
tomorrow when you're actually directing
the scheme on the microscope let's take
a look it's the day before Jim died
kmenez class goes on line with a
scientist using the electron microscope
but after numerous efforts Albert and
Charles still have not caught a wasp
what
where it was I just found it on a leaf I
don't know if they had even with
cutting-edge technology learning still
has setbacks and frustrations now you
did not collect a wasp yep
did you okay where is that still in your
garage flying around right okay it's not
gonna do it that much good but right but
what you want from the microscope you
want something that looks like a wasp
okay so you didn't collect a beetle
really doesn't look like wasps but some
of the other things we have we have be
okay yeah but that's not it
all right Lita I know I know
right that's exactly you got the picture
okay so the representative insect
collected would be a beat understand
that way you get a chance to see what
the mouth parts look like on an animal
an insect that looks similar to the one
that you had for your project so do you
think this will give us additional
information or not probably so Albert
could you get up here hey you're kind of
hiding down there what
not a what your well you had the
opportunity well it's a little late if
we're going on saw if we're going online
tomorrow and it's still flying his
flying around his garage okay I'm not
gonna you know I'm not gonna try to
force you to do anything here Albert but
I think if you'll sit down and think
about it you'll probably come up with
some kind of a conclusion about what's
gonna be best here teachers need to be
able to elicit students thinking they
also need to be able to interpret what
they hear students saying in terms of
their learning what does it mean about
students progress when they portray a
problem in a certain way or get stuck on
a particular concept and finally they
need to be able to continually elicit
understandings about how kids are
thinking about their work
not just whether they have the right
answer so this requires a lot of new
tools for teachers an assasin bond in a
San Diego State University laboratory
entomologist dr. Kathy Williams and dr.
Steve Barlow prepare for a live
fiber-optic link into Jim Diamonds
classroom miles away after them is e8 e8
is that you Roderigo Amanda she does
right now with an electron microscope
they'll examine and discuss the insect
specimens gathered and prepared by
Albert Charles and their classmates all
right Steve I think we're ready to go
introduce yourselves boys hi I'm Charles
hi I'm Albert and my name is Patrick
okay so we'll start with yours first
sample now yeah okay
all right so this is the head of it now
we wanted last week we were talking
about looking at mouth parts correct
yeah okay so here you can see the two
eyes and in the center he's kind of this
long looks like a nose and then down at
the very end of the nose if we increase
the magnification here what is that what
does it look like teeth teeth what's a
lot like teeth what do you think they
use it for probably to catch food well
that's a good start that's a good idea
it's really tiny though if you think
about it so what kind of food would they
get with that with little tiny teeth
like that yes
okay gnats tiny flies okay maybe tiny
flies do you know of the Sanji did do
the mouth parts look look like a bee or
a wasp well what do you think do you
have any ideas about that I think they
are because they're related that's right
the bees and the wasps have a lot of
similarities in their mouth parts you're
getting to be good entomologist there
cuz what me and Charles are doing a
project on wasp uh-huh
but we haven't found a wasp so he just
did this envy and we look at the
contribution of dr. Williams it was
incredible because she was giving
information she was engaging the
students in conversation she was asking
the students questions thereby they had
to formulate their thinking to respond
and that is what's important because we
can look at things all day but if we
don't formulate some kind of response to
what we see
we're just taking in information we're
not synthesizing it in any way so that's
what I feel the value of the experts in
the interaction is what gives the
students the impetus to internalize some
of the learning I think that the changes
we see happening today in these
technology in which too
irons are very important for two reasons
first of all what you find is that these
environments are encouraging kids to
engage constantly in active search and
then taking what they're finding
combining it with what other kids have
found and working kind of
collaboratively on constructing
something with what they find so they're
learning how to search how to challenge
what they find and then how to combine
what they find with others and if
there's anything we learn in kind of
corporate America today is the absolute
importance of teamwork it's so ironic to
me that in the schools we focus almost
exclusively in the past on the
performance of the individual often at
the cost of other individuals whereas
when you get into the workplace it's
really the ability to productively work
with others that really matters