A unit of study to introduce in-service teachers to Constructivist teaching methods. Teachers will look at a particular manifestation of the theory, Constructionism, or more specifically, Project-based Learning.
This unit explores Performance Expectations MS- LS2-4, LS2-5 by having students collect local ecosystems data with a variety of computational tools: pH sensors, turbidity, oxygen levels and temperature – and to develop a presentation to communicate how and why their stream is a healthy habitat, or not!
Using ordinary household materials, student “biomedical engineering” teams design prototype models that demonstrate semipermeability under the hypothetical scenario that they are creating a teaching tool for medical students. Working within material constraints, each model consists of two layers of a medium separated by material acting as the membrane. The competing groups must each demonstrate how water (or another substance) passes through the first layer of the medium, through the membrane, and into the second layer of the medium. After a few test/evaluate/redesign cycles, teams present their best prototypes to the rest of the class. Then student teams collaborate as a class to create one optimal design that reflects what they learned from the group design successes and failures. A pre/post-quiz, worksheet and rubric are provided.
KICTCFT: Teachers can plan and are aware of the practicality of designing Project Based Learning opportunities. Specific Objectives: On completion of this unit you should be to, 1] Identify and describe ICT tools that support Project Based Learning, and 2] Describe how to structure real-world problems into a project design.
Project-based learning (PBL) actively engages learners in authentic tasks designed to create products that answer a given question or solve a problem. When educators act as facilitators and promote projects that are relevant to students as a part of the curriculum, students have agency over their learning, promoting self-efficacy and Motivation through this experiential learning. Working collaboratively on multimodal or cross-disciplinary projects as leaders and team-members can provide opportunities to build on individuals' experiences and strengths. It also can develop learners' collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills while fostering a Sense of Belonging. Educators should recognize that not all students have had previous experience with student-driven learning and may need additional support, including opportunities to participate successfully, and ample time to review materials and make decisions.
Students make their own design decisions about controlling the LEDs in a light-up, e-textile circuit, plush toy project that they make using LilyPad ProtoSnap components and conductive thread. They follow step-by-step instructions to assemble a product while applying their own creativity to customize it. They first learn about the switches—an on/off switch and a button—exploring these two ways of controlling the flow of electric current to LEDs and showing them the difference between closed and open circuits. Then they craft their creative light-up plush pals made from sewn and stuffed felt pieces (template provided) that include sewn electric circuits. Through this sewable electronics project, students gain a familiarity with microcontrollers, circuits, switches and LEDs—everyday items in today’s world and the components used in so many engineered devices.
This Project has been completed as part of a standard 10 weeks Calculus 3 asynhronous online course with optional office hours during Summer 2022 semester at MassBay Community College, Wellesley Hills, MA.
In the 2021-2022 school year, I decided to try a new approach to my Book Talk Project by hosting a Literary Food Truck Festival with my students. For specifics on this school year's project, explore the attached lesson.
What is inside a video game controller? Students learn about simple circuits and switches as they build arcade controllers using a cardboard box and a MaKey MaKey—an electronic tool and toy that enables users to connect everyday objects to computer programs. Each group uses a joystick and two big push button arcade buttons to make the controller. They follow provided schematics to wire, test and use their controllers—exploring the functionality of the controllers by playing simple computer games like Tetris and Pac-Man. Many instructional photos, a cutting diagram and a wiring schematic are included.
"Models of Excellence is a curated, open-source collection of exemplary high-quality PreK-12 student work, along with resources to support the use of student work models to inspire and elevate teaching and learning. The purpose of this site is to catalyze the use of models to help build student skills and dispositions for success in college, careers and life."
This is a Project Based Learning activity. Students will take on the role of a principal of a school and make rules and changes to deal with bullying.
Presentation slides at the 2021 Northeast OER Summit
This document provides a template for students to design and execute a three phase project as an alternative to a default 3 phase project. Its original usage was in art, design, and game classes that devided a class quarter into 4 projects, each taking roughly two to three weeks and broken into three default phases (preproduction, revisions, and final.) Students should start by creating a copy of the example three phase project template and replacing sections with their own project-specific content. This framework pursued educational concepts such as choice-based arts education, teaching for artistic behavior, project-based learning, differentiated instruction and constructivism as natural complements to the process of open pedagogy and non-disposable assignments.
This Project has been completed as part of a Precalculus course with corequisite section during the Fall 2023 semester at MassBay Community College, Wellesley Hills, MA.
PBL submission
Students begin this unit by discussing their relationship with art, and the extent to which they believe art drives resistance movements. Students then participate in a Gallery Walk that highlights how members of the Puerto Rico community in the Young Lords used art to advance their ideas and preserve their culture. Students center the activism of Indigenous peoples in Puerto Rico by studying bomba music and murals. This helps them understand the roots of art—both visual and performance—as activism, and respond to the question: How can understanding Latinidad through art help us confront social and political injustices? Throughout this unit, students work in teams to create a poster series that inspires civic engagement and action on issues of social and political injustice.
Igor Baryakhtar's Presentation at NEMATYC 2022 Conference, 4/09/2022.The presentation is a comparison of three types of learning materials• paper and pencil• word processor document, Microsoft Word etc.• web page. Outline • Introduction: types of learning materials• How to present formulas? Tools available• Student project implementations.
The aim of this unit is that upon completion, teachers will be able to manage the learners' project-based (PBL) activities in a technology-enhanced environment to support collaboration.
Project-based learning in a technology rich environment can be effective in K-12 classrooms
allowing students to negotiate understanding and construct knowledge in social situations.
Benefits include connecting students in communities in and outside of their cultures, and meeting
learning goals in non-institutional fashion, while educators share practices and resources using
technology tools. When projects endure over time, characteristics of communities of practice
begin to emerge in which shared content grows and is amended by participants, generating
historical artifacts. Once instantiated, the project philosophy provides an ongoing basis for
immersive learning, using wikis, blogs, and other social networking applications. A projectbased
classroom philosophy sets an engaging, attractive environment for students by meeting
their needs to be socially involved, as opposed to being passive receivers. An example long term
Internet learning event called the Monster Project is examined in this paper. Widespread use of
project-based learning has been curtailed by a strong focus on traditional instruction to meet
testing goals. Research shows that active participation in project-based education results in
students being more intrinsically motivated, more likely to show conceptual understanding, and
more well adjusted than students in traditional education modes. These characteristics are those
of a community of practice, where members are informally connected by their accomplishments
and by what they learn together. The range of academic content that can be integrated into
project-based learning as the main approach in a classroom is bounded only by a teacher’s
energy and creativity.
A GNG collaborative project is a project-based learning activity that challenges students to work together to develop solutions to real-world problems. Within and across classrooms, students collaborate to identify a challenge in their local or global communities and develop a project that addresses the issue by promoting positive change and community engagement.