Engaging Students with Project-Based Learning

Posted On Tuesday May 14, 2019
Project based learning
Teachers Andres Ruberg and Jenn Cacaci and Principal Rachael Sdoutz from Sa-Hali Secondary

Principal Rachael Sdoutz, Art teacher Jenn Cacaci, and Digi-Pen teacher Andres Ruberg presented the positive impact project-based learning (PBL) is having on students from the Sa-Hali family of schools. With support from a Board-sponsored Innovation Grant, students and teachers develop engaging multi-grade and multi-disciplinary projects emphasizing critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. 

“With so many distractions in their lives, the key is finding ways to engage students in authentic learning opportunities that capture their interest,” said Cacaci. “It is important to give them choices and more responsibility for personal learning processes.”

The Family of Schools: K-16  blog showcases two dozen of these projects. The blog describes projects like ‘Big Business with Little Buddies’, ‘Food for Thought’, and ‘I am Malala’ and provides links to research and presentations. 

For example, ‘I am a Superhero’ and ‘Superheroes 2’, showcases projects completed by elementary and secondary students to first describe and then develop superheroes with special powers to help the world. They worked with ideas around the environment, endangered species and other global issues to create written descriptions and then visual representations and digitally animated heroes. 

"When students learn through a project, every skill they use has relevance, and every problem they encounter gives them a reason to develop new skills,” said Ruberg. “Project-based learning is authentic and meaningful; students understand that on a fundamental level and it gives meaning to what they accomplish."

PBL is a student-centred educational approach that organizes learning around projects. Students work independently, or in groups, to choose and then meet a specific goal by asking questions, debating ideas, making predictions, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and then communicating their ideas to an audience. 

The project helps students meet a challenge, develop and deliver an answer to a central question, and create a product or a performance. Projects include authentic, engaging content which helps students build 21stCentury skills including collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication. 

 

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