Project-based learning is a particular learning application found in many schools today. Here, students work and learn via specified projects, alone or as part of a group working toward the same goal. What are some examples of project-based learning? Here are five that you may find familiar.
Individual Science Project
One of the most common examples of learning via the project can be seen in today’s science project. Often performed by a single student, science projects offer a wide array of learning benefits. Aside from specifically researching and working closely with a scientific concept, students learn valuable skills in time management, project management, presentation design, materials procurement, and much more.
Can plant materials conduct electricity? How much water weight can a paper towel hold? Do weight and shape affect the falling speeds of various objects? These are the types of questions the individual science project delves into.
Small Group Book Assignment
Small group book assignments are also fairly common in many language arts classes. Here, a small group of students collaborates towards the common goal as opposed to a single individual. The common goal is typically to group-read through a specific book and subsequently complete some sort of assignments based on that book. Students participating in this project-based application learn differences in reading styles and abilities, differences in material retention, and how to work together in best answering summarizing and detail-oriented questions alike.
Class Collaborative Project
As opposed to small groups or individual projects, some project-based applications involve the entire class working together as a collaborating group. One place this can most often be seen is in home economics or cooking classes. In a cooking class for example, the project may entail the entire class working together to create a complex meal. Some students prepare ingredients while others cook. Everyone here will have a part to play in the overall project’s fruition.
The Global Development Research Center provides us with a list of 44 benefits of collaborative learning. A class-wide, collaborative project such as discussed here can be so beneficial that it actually hits on nearly every one of these 44 student and teacher benefits. “Develops social interaction skills, builds self esteem in students, builds more positive, heterogeneous relationships” – these are just a few of the many, GDRC-listed benefits to such a classroom project.
Mixed Collaboration Project
In some other applications of learning through projects, there is a mix of individual and group work. Science classes are often seen employing such a mix of personal and group work. One example is that of the group going outside or on a field trip to collaboratively gather data on a matter of nature, astrology, animal science, or some other area. From here, the students will share notes and ideas before subsequently breaking off to work individually on an assignment involving the analysis and reporting of findings on the matter. This is a great method of learning collaboratively and then applying the collaborative element to the individual endeavor.
Individual Report
Finally, the individual report is yet another fairly common form of the project-based principle. Here, the individual student may be asked to read a book, attend an event, or even participate in some activity they have never experienced before. After the assigned experience has taken place, the student must analyze and then report on it. Without help from others, the student is the sole head of this project, an educational experience itself. Common examples of such an individual report include book reports, movie reports, computer program experience reports, and even experience reports on events such as plays or art exhibitions.
These five, project-based applications in learning each provide their own unique advantages and values in the classroom. Not only are such projects helpful in learning, but they are also usually enjoyed by students and teachers alike, providing a break from the typical work of the day-to-day classroom. These are the basics of project-based learning as well as some examples of the practice in action.
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