Are PBL's Beneficial or Just Time-Consuming?

Problem or Project Based Learning a strategy that has been around for awhile. Many schools are implementing them more and more. What makes a PBL a PBL? Cross-curriculum is definitely a component. Having students create, write, showcase their open-ended topic. It is an active way for students to be the leaders of their own learning, to be participants and not observers, to be immersed in real world relevant activities. It is an opportunity for students to collaborate with their peers, understand the content more deeply, and apply their knowledge to new situations. Thus PBL is an engaging way for students to be part of something bigger, to contribute to the big picture, to identify with circumstances around them and help to improve the world around them.

In the 21st century workplace collaboration, application of new skills and problem-solving are the requirements to be successful in many careers. Not only do you need to be able to problem-solve and anticipate the need for change and how to bring about improvements but also to have the confidence to work in a team. The ultimate goal of any project or professional development is not to merely learn the information but to be able to communicate your findings with others. To learn and grow from the contributions of other leaders in the field. PBL is an effective way to help learn these sets of skills. They can be time-consuming because you must provide ample class time for collaboration to occur. Teams must be able to complete the assignment in class. But the reward outweighs the length of time.

Not only does PBL provide opportunities for the use of technology, conducting research, gathering data, and correlation and interpretation of results it also allows for connection with experts and collaboration with peers. PBL allow students to become the experts in their topic by empowering them to solve problems, addressing real issues, and make a difference. Not just talk about it but actually implement their solutions into local, regional or even national levels. This year my students have completed one PBL: A Cells Story, a children's book on cells that they illustrated and wrote themselves and then donated to our local elementary school. They also got to walk over one afternoon and share the books with the 1st grade classes and add to their classroom libraries. It was an awesome day.

The upcoming PBL my GT students are doing is a collaboration with the GT ELA classes. It is a persuasive paper and public service announcement about topics about adaptations and genetics. The topics range from the disappearance of bee's to GMO's to human cloning and stem cells. Students will research the topic and take a persuasive argument that they must support. Then they will (in groups) either create an animated film, stop-motion video or even a live action video where they must use the elements of persuasion and speech techniques. Together with ELA my GT students will choose their own topic and research it collecting valid evidence, review their evidence for reliability and relevance and finally develop a well-designed argument on the topic using the evidence. Finally, the paper will be written and the paper will be graded by ELA and the video, based on the science and evidence collected will be grade by me. I am looking forward to kicking it off. PBL is a great way to collaborate across the curriculum and put students in the drivers seat, where they should be.