Chapter 3: Introduction and a PBL example
As a neophyte business teacher, I often felt frustrated that I was unable to locate teacher resources that covered teaching business in high school, including lesson plans and projects Then again, I believe that this challenge have made me into an innovative and creative teacher since I have to think “outside the box” everyday to stimulate and motivate my students to see the importance of business studies in their lives. I have to create projects that correlate with student’s lives or they would not be interested.
The first time that I assigned a project based learning assignment, my students had no interest or passion for completing the project, since it was teacher assigned…and in retrospect I must add unexciting! Having that experience, I created an international business project for students to explore business customs and culture when conducting business in a foreign country. I directed them to websites to explore business etiquette in different countries and then select a country that they may like to visit or explore for business purposes. The project was a total success since they had to take ownership of the project and teach the class about their country. They also had to compare the business etiquette from their researched country with doing business in North America. They enjoyed exploring the recommended websites and locating new ones and sharing information with their classmates. It was a learning experience for everyone involved, as Moursund (30) aptly stated “IT –assisted PBL lesson “is to create an environment in which the teacher will learn together with the students”.
As stated on page 31, I believe that Web Searched engines should be actively used to research scholarly projects. In my school, students Google everything as their primary source of information for any research. If teachers guide students to explore and evaluate different search engines for accuracy and scholarly information and stress why plagiarism is wrong, then students would be equipped with correct skills for future scholastic career. I was amazed how many of my students used information from the web without citing the source. If they do not cite resource/search engine for any IT-PBL in my class, they would be heavily penalized. I also use citation as part of my rubric for them to get used to it. I do not think that teachers in my school stress this too much, so as a business teacher, I talk about ethics and hope that the students will demonstrate the learning from my class to use as a model in other classes.
Chapter 4: The case for PBL.
According to Moursund, constructivism is when students create their own knowledge in the context of their own experience (35).My favorite teaching experience is when I serve as a facilitator or guide to my students in my business classes. I had the students choose, research and create a lesson on any credit card topic. They then had to teach it to the class using PP or any type of presentation format with guided questions for the class. I recalled that the students enjoyed the experience, were actively engaged and employed team collaboration to gain improved social and academic team skills. This can also be compared to cooperative learning as Moursund discussed. This type of learning works very well in my Business Finance class. Off course this does not work with students in my other classes since they resist being in a team and create all types of problems. One of my challenges as a teacher is to create lessons and projects that encourage students to use higher order thinking skills, since my classes consist of a varied student population with differentiated skills. I believe that using project based learning can address this problem since I could incorporate different learning strategies to meet each student’s skill set.
I can identify with Howard Gardner that people have a variety of different intelligences. In schools teachers have to create lessons that will address and stimulate these students that learn in different ways. This is a very challenging and exhausting task for me since my total class population for five classes’ total seventy five students. But this is a great way to pre evaluate students and also for students to get an insight on their strengths to assist them with future career goals. As for me, I fulfilled three of Gardner’s intelligences which direct me to teaching. I am relieved!
Since my students live in an urban environment and have a high level of “street smarts” pertaining to survival, I try to create PBL projects to hone this type of intelligence. I have observed ‘street smarts’ students actually doing well on projects that relate to their personal interests as Sternberg (43) suggested. This is a work in progress for me since I am still learning how to create the best PBL lessons to help these students develop in these areas and I am also learning about these students and their living environment. I give my students a lot of choices with projects so that they can utilize their skills and enjoy learning. I am really looking forward to using more IT-PBL projects in my lesson with all this new knowledge and strategies from Moursund.
Chandrowtie Susan Fermin
Project Based Learniing
Dr. Skeele/EDST 6306
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Journal Reflection Chpts.1 and 2
Chapter 1: Introduction and a PBL example
A s soon as I began reading Project Based Learning (PBL) by Moursund, I became intrigued. PBL’s goals that encourages higher order thinking and is learner centered resonates and supports curriculum standards for our district .Naturally I was very curious to see how Moursund would demonstrate these goals in a tangible and realistic manner. The lesson that he presented exceeded my expectations since it included effective team effort and differentiated instruction. Infusing PBL in lesson plans would truly create an awesome learning experience for all learners.
As a student in high school, I never had the benefit of using technology for projects. The teacher was in total control of the learning environment and as such most learners were passive, good listeners and great note takers. As a teacher, I agree that classrooms should be student centered to encourage high order thinking. In my years as a novice teacher, I usually tried to infuse technology in my lessons whether through the use of computer based projects or overheads etc. However, I must admit that I became more empowered as a teacher to confidently incorporate technology in my classes after taking classes at Seton Hall and also taking advantage of technology workshops. I use the Smart board every day and incorporate the use of technology in every lesson plan.
According to Moursund (6) “By doing a project, students often gain a high level of expertise within the specific area they are studying”. I think it is very important for teachers to empower students so that they assume responsibility for their learning. For example, my students had to choose and research the customs and business etiquette of a country and then prepare a power point or use movie maker to teach this lesson to their classmates. Since they each had to choose a different country, they became experts in their research and used all their technology skills to present a professional presentation. Even the students that were specially challenged created great power point presentations.
PBL is student centered. “Students have a significant voice in selecting the content areas and nature of the projects they do….and the method of assessment. (Moursund 7). Students are blatantly honest, and they will tell you if the topic you are teaching is boring! Sometimes as a teacher it is painful to hear the truth. I have learnt through the years and having observed bored faces to change the method of instruction in all my lessons. For example, when I taught consumer credit, I organized students into groups to choose and research any credit card topic and then teach it to the class using any type of presentation format. The class created the rubric and evaluated groups according to the rubric. They also had to prepare 3-4 questions on their topic to test for understanding. I then collected all the questions and included in their assessments. I must add they were tough evaluators. They all presented lesson using some type of technology format and really enjoyed the lesson.
Finally, in my district and my school to be specific, the older teachers are technologically challenged and as a result they use it as an excuse as Moursund correctly implies to avoid incorporating technology in their lessons. What I have experienced is that it is a learning process and my students have taught me how to create pamphlets and even assisted me with some power point effects. They really enjoyed being empowered.
Chapter 2: An overview of IT -assisted PBL
Since PBL focuses on doing something and is action oriented, students are always actively engaged since they have to produce or present a product. I enjoy listening to my students collaborate and solve team problems. My classroom is always arranged for students to sit in groups since I encourage and require team work for a lot of activities. An example of team work occurred when my marketing students had to create a 30 second pitch for a product they were marketing. After I modeled a pitch for them and reviewed the rubric, they organized themselves into groups, asked to practice in the hallway, did research on the computer and collaborated as a team to market their product. It was a resounding success, especially since they infused their pitch with creativity, great body language, and appropriate facial expressions in order to convince their investors (classmates) to invest in their product. Their classmates evaluated them based on the rubric and had to make comments and give suggestions for improvement if needed. Peer feedback provided a rich learning environment that assisted the students in their growth.
I have made a lot of errors as a teacher and as I noted earlier, teaching is a learning experience. I have learnt that my role as a facilitator challenges the students to their fullest potential and also encourages them to think “outside the box”. For example, we have a block reserved every week for “advisory”, where students can discuss any problems, concerns etc both academic and social that may be hindering them from realizing their academic and personal goals. I usually assign different students to conduct this session or encourage students to volunteer. They research, discuss, debate and conduct a rich discussion about the topics presented and generally take charge of the class. The topics (example tattoos, gangs, social network etc), all interest them and they usually have a lot of fun. They use the smart boards, chalk board etc to facilitate discussion and become more self sufficient learners.
I always try to relate my lessons to “real world tasks” (Moursund 15) to make it interesting, realistic and to engage them so that they can relate it to their own lives. For example, in my marketing class, I always use Newark as the city students have to market a product or establish a business. They can quickly share the demographics, target market, problems they may encounter to market their product and suggest solutions for various problems that may face an entrepreneur. Since they live in the environment, they provide a wealth of information that serves as a learning experience for me as well. I have also encouraged them to reflect and share their reasons why so many teenagers get tattoos on their bodies. We had a debate on this topic and the students were very passionate in their discussions since tattoos are part of this urban teenage culture. They learnt how to work well as part of a team, even though there were squabbles intermittently. They had a lot to share, had fun and it also helped me to understand their environment. There were a lot of “teachable moments” for me!
Chandrowtie Fermin
EDST 6306
A s soon as I began reading Project Based Learning (PBL) by Moursund, I became intrigued. PBL’s goals that encourages higher order thinking and is learner centered resonates and supports curriculum standards for our district .Naturally I was very curious to see how Moursund would demonstrate these goals in a tangible and realistic manner. The lesson that he presented exceeded my expectations since it included effective team effort and differentiated instruction. Infusing PBL in lesson plans would truly create an awesome learning experience for all learners.
As a student in high school, I never had the benefit of using technology for projects. The teacher was in total control of the learning environment and as such most learners were passive, good listeners and great note takers. As a teacher, I agree that classrooms should be student centered to encourage high order thinking. In my years as a novice teacher, I usually tried to infuse technology in my lessons whether through the use of computer based projects or overheads etc. However, I must admit that I became more empowered as a teacher to confidently incorporate technology in my classes after taking classes at Seton Hall and also taking advantage of technology workshops. I use the Smart board every day and incorporate the use of technology in every lesson plan.
According to Moursund (6) “By doing a project, students often gain a high level of expertise within the specific area they are studying”. I think it is very important for teachers to empower students so that they assume responsibility for their learning. For example, my students had to choose and research the customs and business etiquette of a country and then prepare a power point or use movie maker to teach this lesson to their classmates. Since they each had to choose a different country, they became experts in their research and used all their technology skills to present a professional presentation. Even the students that were specially challenged created great power point presentations.
PBL is student centered. “Students have a significant voice in selecting the content areas and nature of the projects they do….and the method of assessment. (Moursund 7). Students are blatantly honest, and they will tell you if the topic you are teaching is boring! Sometimes as a teacher it is painful to hear the truth. I have learnt through the years and having observed bored faces to change the method of instruction in all my lessons. For example, when I taught consumer credit, I organized students into groups to choose and research any credit card topic and then teach it to the class using any type of presentation format. The class created the rubric and evaluated groups according to the rubric. They also had to prepare 3-4 questions on their topic to test for understanding. I then collected all the questions and included in their assessments. I must add they were tough evaluators. They all presented lesson using some type of technology format and really enjoyed the lesson.
Finally, in my district and my school to be specific, the older teachers are technologically challenged and as a result they use it as an excuse as Moursund correctly implies to avoid incorporating technology in their lessons. What I have experienced is that it is a learning process and my students have taught me how to create pamphlets and even assisted me with some power point effects. They really enjoyed being empowered.
Chapter 2: An overview of IT -assisted PBL
Since PBL focuses on doing something and is action oriented, students are always actively engaged since they have to produce or present a product. I enjoy listening to my students collaborate and solve team problems. My classroom is always arranged for students to sit in groups since I encourage and require team work for a lot of activities. An example of team work occurred when my marketing students had to create a 30 second pitch for a product they were marketing. After I modeled a pitch for them and reviewed the rubric, they organized themselves into groups, asked to practice in the hallway, did research on the computer and collaborated as a team to market their product. It was a resounding success, especially since they infused their pitch with creativity, great body language, and appropriate facial expressions in order to convince their investors (classmates) to invest in their product. Their classmates evaluated them based on the rubric and had to make comments and give suggestions for improvement if needed. Peer feedback provided a rich learning environment that assisted the students in their growth.
I have made a lot of errors as a teacher and as I noted earlier, teaching is a learning experience. I have learnt that my role as a facilitator challenges the students to their fullest potential and also encourages them to think “outside the box”. For example, we have a block reserved every week for “advisory”, where students can discuss any problems, concerns etc both academic and social that may be hindering them from realizing their academic and personal goals. I usually assign different students to conduct this session or encourage students to volunteer. They research, discuss, debate and conduct a rich discussion about the topics presented and generally take charge of the class. The topics (example tattoos, gangs, social network etc), all interest them and they usually have a lot of fun. They use the smart boards, chalk board etc to facilitate discussion and become more self sufficient learners.
I always try to relate my lessons to “real world tasks” (Moursund 15) to make it interesting, realistic and to engage them so that they can relate it to their own lives. For example, in my marketing class, I always use Newark as the city students have to market a product or establish a business. They can quickly share the demographics, target market, problems they may encounter to market their product and suggest solutions for various problems that may face an entrepreneur. Since they live in the environment, they provide a wealth of information that serves as a learning experience for me as well. I have also encouraged them to reflect and share their reasons why so many teenagers get tattoos on their bodies. We had a debate on this topic and the students were very passionate in their discussions since tattoos are part of this urban teenage culture. They learnt how to work well as part of a team, even though there were squabbles intermittently. They had a lot to share, had fun and it also helped me to understand their environment. There were a lot of “teachable moments” for me!
Chandrowtie Fermin
EDST 6306
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