Background: During the summer of 2009, we both attended the Project-Based Learning (PBL) workshop in Albuquerque, NM. Following this meeting, you really couldn’t get Amy to stop saying, “NEED TO KNOW.” What a powerful idea! Students learn when they need to learn. Some students need to learn to satisfy natural curiosity, to get an A, to get into college, to get driving privileges, etc, but other students need us to create a reason for them to learn. Enter PBI.
PBI is a way of doing projects in order to learn rather than as a product after the learning has occurred. Projects begin with an entry document that provide a role for the student, a task, and an end goal or product. The content learning for the unit is embedded and scaffolded; students define their own next steps, and participate in learning activities (from labs to lectures to worksheets) that further their cause: completing the project.
We created a project that goes beyond the scope of our lesson study. In the project, students become the owners of bungee jumping companies. They are being audited, and must provide a safe bungee experience for their auditor (an egg). They must also provide a brochure outlining the safety and science behind their operation. Part of this includes selecting the appropriate length and type of bungee cord, more consistent with objectives dealing with Hooke’s Law, elastic and gravitational PE, and conservation of energy. However, the project further requires students to determine the maximum velocity of the jumper, which does require them to satisfy our kinetic energy learning goal.
This project could be used at a variety of levels; however, it has the potential to take a significant amount of time, which may not be possible in an IB Physics 1 class. It is great for Active Physics or Physics 1, and we think it can be effectively abbreviated for an IB Physics 1 class.
This project also somewhat deemphasizes our original goal and gives priority to energy transfer/conservation. Is this ok? Did we lose sight of our goal? Is our goal not as important as we originally thought since the supporting skills should actually have been taught earlier? As we mentioned on another page, goals change. Lessons evolve. We hope this one’s getting better.
Lesson 3:Students are motivated by a NEED TO KNOW.
Creating a NEED TO KNOW
Background: During the summer of 2009, we both attended the Project-Based Learning (PBL) workshop in Albuquerque, NM. Following this meeting, you really couldn’t get Amy to stop saying, “NEED TO KNOW.” What a powerful idea! Students learn when they need to learn. Some students need to learn to satisfy natural curiosity, to get an A, to get into college, to get driving privileges, etc, but other students need us to create a reason for them to learn. Enter PBI.
PBI is a way of doing projects in order to learn rather than as a product after the learning has occurred. Projects begin with an entry document that provide a role for the student, a task, and an end goal or product. The content learning for the unit is embedded and scaffolded; students define their own next steps, and participate in learning activities (from labs to lectures to worksheets) that further their cause: completing the project.
We created a project that goes beyond the scope of our lesson study. In the project, students become the owners of bungee jumping companies. They are being audited, and must provide a safe bungee experience for their auditor (an egg). They must also provide a brochure outlining the safety and science behind their operation. Part of this includes selecting the appropriate length and type of bungee cord, more consistent with objectives dealing with Hooke’s Law, elastic and gravitational PE, and conservation of energy. However, the project further requires students to determine the maximum velocity of the jumper, which does require them to satisfy our kinetic energy learning goal.
This project could be used at a variety of levels; however, it has the potential to take a significant amount of time, which may not be possible in an IB Physics 1 class. It is great for Active Physics or Physics 1, and we think it can be effectively abbreviated for an IB Physics 1 class.
This project also somewhat deemphasizes our original goal and gives priority to energy transfer/conservation. Is this ok? Did we lose sight of our goal? Is our goal not as important as we originally thought since the supporting skills should actually have been taught earlier? As we mentioned on another page, goals change. Lessons evolve. We hope this one’s getting better.
Lesson 3: Students are motivated by a NEED TO KNOW.
Links to Evidence and Supporting Documents:
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