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ParraBLUNDERSTANDING PROJECT BASED LEARNING

motivated

lifelong learnerAre a reflective and self-directed learner

who can understand communicate effectively,

colloborateand think for themselves.

creativeJust what the 21st century is looking for!

Parramatta Marist PBL Students:

THE VISION

Equipping students with the necessary skills to become active members of the 21st century.

THE MISSION

To help all students to become lifelong learners. Providing a holistic education that focuses on the values of Marcellin Champagnat.

PresenceSimplicity

Family SpiritLove of Work

The Way of Mary

“To educate the children well, we must love them, and love them all equally.”-- Marcellin Chanpagnat

“We are attempting to educate and prepare students today so that they are ready to solve future problems, not yet identified, using technologies not yet invented, based on scientific knowledge not yet discovered.”

-- Professor Joseph Lagowski

The Principals Vision

Education is the midst of great change. Industrial age classrooms are failing to provide students with the necessary skills to be competitive and successful in the 21st century. Businesses and organisations require individuals who can demonstrate skills in critical thinking, creativity and problem solving. They must also be proficient at

working teams and display presentation skills and exhibit effective leadership qualities.

The following concepts are integral for the vision of the school:

Parramatta Marist will continue to be at the forefront for innovation and excellence in teaching and learning.

Students will be given unique opportunities to improve and nurture essential 21st century skills such as creativity, problem solving, collaboration and presentation skills.

Staff will be given extensive opportunities to enhance professional practices in terms of team teachings, PBL and the integration of ICT.

Schools are learning environments that provide students with authentic learning experiences. These experiences require the support of the local school community to create effective links between the classroom environment and the real world.

All students at Parramatta Marist High School will become lifelong learners.

Brother Patrick Howlett

UNDERSTANDING PROJECT BASED LEARNING 5

Rationale behind Project-Based Learning

The current focus of education encourages knowledge attainment but fails to provide students with the necessary skills to use knowledge effectively. Despite the fact that test scores are high, standardised assessments are often a poor indicator of future success. Currently, students are disengaged and unmotivated with the education process. They see education as a collection of facts that have no relevance or importance to the outside world.

“The problem is that in schools students are told what to learn not how to learn.”

Project Based Learning is a rigorous, relevant, and engaging education model that promotes self-directed learning and helps make learning relevant and useful to students by establishing connections to life outside the classroom, addressing real-world concerns, and developing real world skills.

The implementation of Project Based Learning redefines the classroom

environment as teachers are no longer distributors of knowledge, but they are participates in the learning process with the students. The focus of Project-Based Learning involves planting a seed in students and watching it grow as they retain what they learn rather than forget it as soon as they disgorge it for a test.


Benefits to Students

Students who participate in Project-Based Learning become lifelong learners. They gain increased motivation towards their own education because Project-Based Learning “provides opportunities for students to pursue their own interests and questions and make decisions about how they will find answers and solve problems.”

The ability to collaborate and work as a team is a skill that is imperative in any environment. Project-Based Learning creates an environment where students “learn how to collaborate, and their social skills improve. They are more confident talking to groups of

people, including adults”. Consequently, students who participate

in Project-Based Learning will develop collaborative skills that traditional instruction fails to provide.

“Education is not just about content coverage, but about the development of essential skills that will prepare our students for the post-school world.”


Underlying Principles of PBL

In order fully understand the unique educational opportunities offered at Parramatta Marist it is necessary to outline seven principles that make up the PBL model.

Principle 1 Focusing on soft skills

Principle 2 The role of technology

Principle 3 Externalising the enemy

Principle 4 Removing repetition

Principle 5 Changing the way we teach

Principle 6 Assessment for learning


Principle 1

Focusing on soft skills

Technology has changed the way the world works. As technology evolves, so must the skill sets of those who use it. In order to remain competitive tomorrow, today’s students need to develop techniques that readily adapt to changes as they occur. These skills are often difficult to identify and more importantly assess student achievement. However, that are becoming increasingly important to the 21st century student.

Focusing on the soft skills

Given the rapid rate of change, the vast amount of information to be managed, and the influence of technology on life in general,

students need to apply current skill sets, as well as develop new skill sets to cope and to thrive in this changing society. These new skills sets are called 21st century skills or soft skills. No longer is acquisition of knowledge enough for academic success. Students need to know how to use their knowledge and skills by thinking critically, applying knowledge to new situations, analyzing information, comprehending new ideas, communicating, collaborating, solving problems, and making decisions.

“We need to prepare students for THEIR future not OUR past”

PBL focuses on helping students gain experience and understanding in developing these new skills that will benefit students in the

completion of their HSC, university degree or acquire a position in their preferred profession.


In each project students will be assessed not only on acquisition of knowledge but also other skills. Difficult questions will be asked of the

students and feedback given on areas of improvement required. The list below include FOUR identified areas of focus:

1. Work Ethic and Organisation Does a student hand work on time? How do they organise themselves? Do they demonstrate initiative? Are they willing to support others?

2. Presentation Skills Can they communicate within small groups? Can they present in front of large audiences? How professional are student presentations? Are they able to answer questions appropriately?

3. Written Communication How effective can they communicate? Can they employ appropriate grammar and diction? Are they able to communicate via multiple forms?

4. Teamwork How effective are they in working in groups? Do they share ideas? Do they promote a positive group environment? Are they able to take on different roles?


Focusing on the soft skills

Principle 2

The role of technology

Recognising that technology is and will continue to be a important facet of the 21st century. The Internet has changed the way in which we acquire knowledge. We can now learn ‘anything, anytime, anywhere’.


Schools are becoming increasingly aware that today’s generation of learners are different. Disengaged with traditional methods they are withdrawing from their studies and longing for activities that are more engaging and interactive. Technology is an essential tool in connecting to so called “Digital Natives”.

“Technology is only technology to those who were born before it.”

The PBL model at Parramatta Marist uses technology as a major tool used to assist the delivery of the curriculum. It must be stressed that the technology is only a tool and PBL could be implemented without the technology. However, the way in which technology is used is what makes the Parramatta Marist model so unique.

A strong focus has been placed on the use of web2.0 tools in PBL classroom. Examples of these tools include:

Blogs

Wiki’s

Social Bookmarking

Social Network Sites

Discussion Forums

Through the use of these tools students are able to expand their learning potential. Students are able to discover through social bookmarking, collaborate using wiki’s, reflect on learning progress through social networking and present via their blog. The potential is endless.


Also, as well as the use of the web2.0 tools students also use an online learning management system. This organises the essential aspects of the project. Students can access this resource anytime and a variety of resources are at their disposal. These include:

Organisational toolbar

Online Calendar

Internal Messaging System

File Submission Application

Online Exams

Online Teaching Activities



Project SnapshotStudents are immersed in web2.0 tools that provide them with unique opportunities gather, analyse and present their findings. In social studies

students participated in a project titled “Greenup2145”. This was an authentic

project that required students to analyse their local Westmead area looking at environmental issues including air quality, land and water management and urban growth. From their finding students were asked to redesign the

Westmead area to make it more environmentally friendly.

During the course of the project students used a online social networking site called NING (Shown below) to share ideas, findings and relevant resources.

Each student was required to construct their own personal blog outlining the learning that was taking place during the project. This provide students with an appropriate forum to share and collaborate and then finally build their

own knowledge bases.

The end product for this project was a visual representation of their designs for Westmead featuring images, animations, text and audio. This was presented to the local member for Parramatta Ms Julie Owens MP.

Principle 3

Externalising the Enemy

By providing students with authentic learning experiences that are relevant to their lives and the real world increases their engagement, motivation and understanding regarding why learning is relevant.

Externalising the enermy

Students are given unique opportunities not offered in traditional instruction to present their projects to external entities. These entities are often experts in their field and provide relevant and informative

feedback to students. This gives teachers the opportunity to externalise themselves and facilitate the students in the completion of the project.

Throughout the course of the year we have had the following people in to assist in providing feedback for student presentations:

Julie Owens (Member for Parramatta) Bishop Kevin Manning

Darryl Melham (MP for Banks)


Project SnapshotThe prospect of presenting to someone else other than a teacher is often a very daunting prospect for most students. However, this opportunity often provides the platform for students to produce their best work. In CathTECH students participated in the ‘Images of Jesus’ project. This required students to submit an entry into the Blake Societies prize for religious art. Students were asked to study the various art periods significant to religious art and they included Byzantine,

baroque and renaissance. Students were also provided with opportunities to master the software program Adobe Photoshop.

Using their newly discovered knowledge and skills students were required to apply this and create their own image of Jesus. This reflected how they saw

Jesus in either contemporary society or in their life. Finally, students created a art caption which asked them to outline the reasons why they had created the image which is not often an easy task.

The end product for this project was an art exhibition of student work. Students presented their art works to a panel including Bishop Manning. The Bishop was most impressed by the students maturity and ability to discuss how their religious ideas have been shaped.

This project required high levels of creativity and critical thinking. The answers to project where not something that the students could google, they were their own ideas, thoughts and images and required a unique justification.

Principle 4

Removing repetition

Subjects alone often cover the same skills or educational outcomes over an academic year. This for students is a primary factor in disengagement and confusion. As students are asked to complete certain activities throughout multiple subjects.

Removing repetition

At Parramatta Marist High we have implemented subject integration as part of our PBL model. These subjects that have been integrated often share similar content or skills. Therefore, we have the following subject groups in PBL:

1. Social Studies

English has been linked with Human Society and its Environment (HSIE). Both subjects share similar skill sets and content can used from both to assess the required skills. Projects will assess outcomes from both disciplines primarily focusing on the content derived from HSIE and the skills required for English analysis.

2. CathTECH

Catholic Studies has been linked with Information Software Technology (IST). As with social studies the content within Catholic studies is integrated with the skills derived from within IST. This is a very unique partnership as traditional IST has been an elective and is now a compulsory subject which provides students with essential skills in the use of the technology.

3. Science

Science is a stand alone subject that allows students to participate in smaller classroom environments. Due the laboratory requirements this provides students with excellent opportunities to focus on inquiry based learning within the science curriculum.

“To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains.”


Principle 5

Changing the way we teach

Students need to know how to use their knowledge and skills-by thinking critically, applying knowledge to new situations, analyzing information, comprehending new ideas, communicating, collaborating, solving problems, and making decisions

Changing the way we teach

Know more than ever the is the teacher more critical to the development of the educational ability of a student. Unfortunately, we are unable to compete with the Internet regarding capacity of knowledge. However, a successful education requires the ability to find relevant information from multiple sources, checking the

information for validity, sharing that information with others and publishing the information in a new context.

Teaching is no longer about knowledge retention and rote learning. A teacher in the 21st century must be flexible able to

work in large groups, small groups and one to one with students asking a multitude of questions. Students must be pushed to be more creative, demonstrate higher levels of work ethic, present and share ideas more frequently and of higher quality. The student of the 21st century is able to solve complex problems by sharing knowledge gained, working with other students and breaking problems down into more manageable parts.

“Students don’t want to consume, they want to produce. We must move away the idea that the teacher is the “Sage on the Stage.”

The truth is teachers have had to change the way they teach. No longer are we doing our students justice by spoon feeding them the information, we must teach them to think. Acquiring knowl-edge for most students is the easy part, however knowing what it means or what to do with it is the difficult part.


Principle 6

Assessment for learning

A balance is needed in the environment of student assessment. This requires moving beyond standarised testing as the sole method of assessment and looking at the measurement of student skills. Also, the use of technology is necessary especially to give immediate feedback.


In PBL students are definitely assessed more than in traditional

classrooms. This provides both teachers and students with the necessary feedback required to achieve sound educational progress. In every project students are assessed regarding FOUR categories, these include:

Content This is 50% of the final grade for the project and for integrated

subjects it is 25% each.

Work Ethic and Organisation This is 20% of the final grade.

Presentation Skills OR Written Communication This is 20% of the final grade and only one is selected to be

assessed.

Teamwork This is 10% of the final grade which is a peer evaluation,

moderated by the teacher for consistency.

Students are given clear instructions in their assessment rubric on what is required to achieve each grade standard from A - E. Assessment items are broken up during the project to provide students with feedback during the project and to avoid large amounts of work being due at the same time.

Finally, assessment marks are uploaded online to provide parents with a thorough breakdown of student achievement. All marks will correlate with assessment breakdown outlined above. Parents are able to view the students gradebook anytime and it is located online.




Below is an example of the student gradebook:


“He is wise who knows the sources of knowledge - who knows who has written and where it is to be found.”

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