Teaching for Meaningful Learning: Double Entry Journal #13

The dominant paradigm is the instructional model of the teacher and the textbook as the primary sources of knowledge, conveyed through lecturing, discussion, and reading, despite research overwhelmingly agreeing that it needs to be changed.

Project learning supports student learning better than traditional approaches because it has the students using information from many different sources and producing unique projects to present their knowledge. Academic approaches of small tasks of rote memorization or using drill and kill techniques will not evolve into developing students who effectively utilize higher order thinking skills (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999; Bransford & Donovan, 2005). Studies have shown that students learn more when they participate in lessons that require them to research a topic, construct and organize the information into a project that they will then present to an audience (Newmann, 1996). A study of more than 2,100 students in 23 schools found significantly higher achievement on intellectually challenging performance tasks for students who experienced this kind of “authentic pedagogy” (Newmann, Marks, & Gamoran, 1995).

Problem Based Learning students work in small groups to investigate meaningful problems, identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem, and generate strategies for solution (Barrows, 1996; Hmelo-Silver, 2004). Medical students who are enrolled in problem-based curricula score higher on clinical problem-solving measures and on actual ratings of clinical performance (Vernon & Blake, 1993; Albanese & Mitchell, 1993). Problem- or case-based approaches have been used in business, law, and teacher education to help students learn to analyze complex, multifaceted situations and to develop knowledge to guide decision making (see, e.g. Lundeberg, Levin, & Harrington, 1999; Savery & Duffy, 1996; Williams, 1992).

Design-based lessons support revisions and reflective activity as students work to create, assess, and redesign their work product (Newstetter, 2000). Design projects require students to set limits, generate ideas, create prototypes, and develop plans. Design-based approaches can be found across many content areas. Competitions, such as the FIRST robotics competitions (www.usfirst.org) or the ThinkQuest competition (www.thinkquest.org) also stress design using technological tools and collaborative project work. To date, more than 30,000 students have created more than 550 Web sites through this competition (www.thinkquest.org/library/).

I feel that project based learning, problem based learning and learning by design are all very similar in that they create a deeper understanding of the desired content because the students are working together to complete a task or solve a problem in which they do not already know the answer. The differences between these approaches is that in project based learning students are working together to complete a project. In problem based learning students are working together to solve a problem and learning by design the product or prototype is constantly being revised and changed.

References

Barrows, H. S. (1996). Problem-based learn¬ing in medicine and beyond: A brief overview. In New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 68 (pp. 3–11). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

Newmann, F. M. (1996). Authentic achieve¬ment: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Newmann, F. M., Marks, H. M., & Gamo¬ran, A. (1995). Authentic pedagogy: Stan¬dards that boost student performance. Is¬sues in Restructuring Schools, 8, 1–4.

Newstetter, W. (2000). Bringing design knowledge and learning together. In C. East¬man, W. Newstetter, & M. McCracken (Eds.), Design Knowing and Learning: Cognition in Design Education. New York: Elsevier Sci¬ence Press.

Vernon, D. T., & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work? A meta-analysis of evaluative research. Academic Medicine, 68(7) 550–563.