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By: Andrew Larson, High School PBL Facilitator
Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School
Columbus, IN
We face a big challenge in the fall as we return to the classroom squarely in the middle of a pandemic. Project Based Learning environments have extra challenges. As more teachers group students in pods to promote collaboration and grow culture, rows of desks spaced six feet apart, while not ideal, may still be doable for a traditional classroom forced to do social distancing.
PBL facilitators can’t imagine organizing a room this way, for good reason. In fact, I tell my kids that if they want to show me that they are working collaboratively, they should lean in close to one another, and better yet, get their screens out of the way. So, yeah. It’s going to be quite different as we find ways to comply with the guidelines from our state and district.
Our principal at Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School has converted us into a “task force” of sorts to generate ideas and therefore, I thought I would use this piece to flesh out a concept in my mind. I know that all of us are taking the summer to figure out how we might make it work without compromising all that we promote and value about PBL. No matter what, things will likely never look and feel the same way they felt before. Part of me is sad about that but another part-- a larger part-- is excited about the transformation we might create.
The last quarter of the 2019- 2020 school year was an exhibition match, and as such, it felt like nothing really counted during that time. Certainly there were kids that lost out because they needed more from us than we could provide. So, too, were the kids that thrived when given the opportunity to work at their own pace and on their own terms. They checked in when they needed to, accessed the resources we provided, and earned higher grades than they would normally.
With these thoughts in mind, I propose that The Flipped Classroom is an idea worth considering for doing PBL in the time of COVID- 19. I offer my thoughts below, with the disclaimer that I have never had a flipped classroom before; the closest I have ever had to such a structure was what I experienced during the stay- at- home measures. There is no question that the model that we try as a staff (or that I try on my own) will be tailored to the PBL environment. Below are some thoughts on why a flipped classroom might just work for PBL.
Social Distancing. As mentioned above, there is no way that we can go from collaborative seating and work to rows of tables or desks. Our kids would revolt. What we can do, though, is spread the tables out widely through the space that we have, creating specialized areas for independent work on content or project ideation, reteaching in small groups, assessment, and more. Organizing our room in this way would not allow for large group instruction in any real way, so we would either need to move our instruction online or move our classes to a large, dedicated large group area that could be spaced out according to the guidelines.
My experience launching projects with videos viewed asynchronously makes me think that project launches, entry events, know/ need to know lists, and problem statements need to be done together, at least partially. I had some kids that totally “missed the boat” with project launches done via video, even though the video and other project launch materials were posted in the normal place and in the normal way that kids were used to. This will necessitate some considerations for large group space or alternative approaches (about which I am all ears.)
2. Standards Based Assessment/ Mastery Learning. I have been using a version of SBA for many years and there are many aspects of it that I love. One is greater precision in content assessment; students work in progression from “surface” level learning to “deep,” and eventually, “transfer” level knowledge. Not only does SBA allow the instructor to see how far a student’s depth of knowledge can go, it also reveals particular concepts that seem troublesome either to individual students or the group as a whole.
I would suspect that flipped classrooms and SBA are mutually exclusive, strictly speaking, but it would also seem sensible to use these practices in tandem. As students work independently towards content mastery, they need a road map. The proficiency scales that we use in the SBA approach provide that road map. Towards the end of the stay- at- home period I started converting my scales, which were strictly static documents, into something more interactive with links to the learning resources and assessments. Moving forward, this is how I will provide my students with their road map.
3.Universal Design for Learning. My intuition is that flipped classrooms provide a greater level of options for students and how they interact with content. Students that need less support will use the “standard” resources that are provided online and demonstrate their content mastery as quickly as they wish. Students that need more support will have full access to small group workshops provided live.
Flipped classroom or not, I cannot envision a class (especially a science course) that doesn’t have a large laboratory aspect. There is no digital substitute for hands- on exploration of scientific phenomena and I am grappling with the purity of the flipped classroom approach; that is, if students do not need to complete a lab in order to demonstrate mastery of a concept, should they be made to do the lab? My gut says that they should. This feels like an opportunity. While labs may not need to be performed in order to master science content, they are required to demonstrate mastery of the Science and Engineering Process Standards (still relatively new in Indiana and a piece that I have struggled to intentionally incorporate into my projects.) So, my thought is to make sure that all lab activities have outcomes that are tied to the SEPS rubrics as opposed to the content- specific standards.
4. Accordion- Style Collaboration. This type of work is, in my humble opinion, the way good work always gets done. We come together to make sure we understand the mission, project, or task, and then split up to learn, experiment, or complete assigned tasks. Then we come back together. Those among us that are introverts (including me) can’t wait for the meeting to end so they can go off and do work in their very best learning environment (namely, alone.)
I see this working on two different levels in the upcoming school year: first, within a class period (which for us will be 87 minutes.) Teams can come together for brief intervals and thus limit the contact and shared air. They can go off, individually or in pairs, and come back together in whatever interval of time seems appropriate for the circumstance. This type of work might occur at any phase of a project, be it in the generation of know/ need to know lists, generating solution criteria, developing possible solutions or prototypes, testing and refining solutions, and analyzing outcomes. Without putting too many strict non- negotiables on use of time in a flipped classroom environment, it may be that certain days or chunks of class periods are designated for project process work, while others are strictly allocated for work on content mastery.
The other level in which we might work as accordions is together when we can be (while respecting social distancing) and collaborating remotely when we cannot. Conversely, we could be more separated and work independently at school and assign collaborative tasks as homework to be done remotely. All of us got very good at remote communication during the stay- at- home period, so I feel confident that students are ready to make this a larger part of their PBL work next year.
5. Self direction. Finally, and maybe most importantly, advocates of flipped classrooms, see self direction as a fundamental skill required for success in this environment. I will gladly admit that in the past couple of years, I had students that seemingly had no idea what to do next at any given time. With practice and support, I know that we could help students grow their capacity for self direction. Referring back to item 2, I feel strongly that Standards- Based Assessments and the proficiency scales associated with SBA can act as the guide for students in this mode of learning.
Teachers that do flipped classrooms are transparent about the amount of up- front work that the method requires. PBL facilitators can relate to this struggle. The thought of being new at PBL and also at flipped classrooms seems incredibly daunting and I cannot say that it would be prudent to try implementing them both at the same time, but I’ve been wrong about the capacity of teachers to change before. No matter what, we are all in for a tough year. Teachers are nothing if not nimble, adaptive, and insatiable when it comes to making things work for their kids. Let’s figure this out together.
Andrew Larson is a science facilitator at the Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School and an experienced Magnify Learning workshop facilitator. He writes for our regularly updated blog about Project Based Learning. When he’s not doing awesome PBL work, you can find him mountain biking, spending time with his family, or digging around in the garden.
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