Aristocratic, anthropomorphic, anonymous, amnesty, aloof, agrarian ...these are all great words, but they are not what we mean we talk about the 6 A’s of PBL Project Design. Today's video continues our 6 A’s of PBL Project Design Series and addresses Applied Learning.
According to the key findings from this study, It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success, the top five intellectual and practical skills that employers and hiring managers seek in candidates are oral communication, teamwork skills with diverse groups, written communication, critical thinking and analytic reasoning, and complex problem solving. This is the "Why" for Project Based Learning! Our content is a vehicle to help learners find their place in the world. Should learners understand how to write a compound sentence or how to use slope/intercept form? Yes, AND they should be applying their learning. When we apply our learning to a meaningful problem, we are much more likely to remember it.
When PBLers are asked, “What about standardized tests from the state?” they often remark that it is all the more important to have your standards wrapped into a meaningful PBL unit. If you are strategically looking at your test data, which you should, and strategically looking to change instruction to address areas of growth, which you should, we see a PBL unit in those areas of growth is a great way to raise the understanding of learners in those areas. Engaged learners applying their learning to a meaningful problem will perform better on standardized tests because they have already wrestled with the content and the understand why they should do well on the test. They have applied their learning in a more difficult environment than a standardized test. The test is actually easier than the PBL experience. More importantly, when we apply our learning to solving a meaningful problem, we are also much more likely to see the purpose for learning. Instilling a love of learning and practice with the tools of learning is the greatest gift we can give our learners.
One of my former learners did not see a purpose to school outside of a meal and a place to hang out with friends until we gave him PBL, which brought a why to his learning. When we learn the Punnett Square in order to help parents who just found out their child has a genetic disease, he said, “I’ll do that.” He would learn it just to brain dump on a test for a grade. That didn’t make sense to him, and it doesn’t make sense to me. But Skyler did learn the problem solving and oral communication skills needed to be successful. He learned how to learn, and it changed his life. He went from an apathetic teenager with now ambition to a freelance photographer. He is completely self taught and now travels the country doing what he loves and makes a living doing it. You can follow him on Instagram at @skylerwagoner or go to his website https://www.skylerwagoner.com/ to see his latest adventures. You’ll be one of his 40K+ followers. He’d tell you it’s not all perfect, but PBL set him on a trajectory of his choosing to chase after dreams he would not have thought possible.
Additional PBL Resources
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