According to John Larmer and John Mergendoller, from the article Seven Essentials For Project Based Learning. They go into depth about what they think are the key necessities for developing a good project.
- A Need To Know
- A Driving Question
- Student Voice & Choice
- 21st Century Skills
- Inquiry and Innovation
- Feedback and Division
- A Publicly Presented Project
Within these seven essentials there is always one constant, you must get the kids to actually care about what you are trying to teach them. Each of these different tactics are all made to try and get the most performance out of the students as possible. Many students don't believe that they should pay attention because they don't see a reason they would ever need this knowledge later in life. Or maybe they genuinely do not care about receiving a good grade in the class. This is why Project Based Learning is such a good idea. It provides a challenge to the students that they would actually enjoy to accomplish. Creating a fun educational environment, to me, is the best way to really get students to learn.
In Tony Vincent's video, Project Based Learning is mainly the answering of a driving question. The question is something that will really get the students thinking. Then the students will create an end product to share with others. According to Tony Vincent, Project Based Learning teaches students valuable life long skills such as...
- Communication Skills
- Collaboration Skills
- Career and Life Skills
- Critical Thinking Skills
I have to agree with Tony Vincent when he said, " Maybe Einstein said it best." Einstein stated that, " I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."
Project-Based Learning and Physical Education was probably the most informative article I read, simply because I am currently on my way to becoming a PE Teacher/Coach myself. I never thought PBL could be used in PE until I read this article. The example they gave was brilliant. It required the students to get into groups and each create a different physical activity for the younger grades. They would have to perform their activity and present their reasoning behind it to a panel. While performing in front of each other they would be getting feedback from other groups. The payoff of using PBL's in physical education is student engagement! Which in that particular course, is the most important. " You must give up power to empower your students; empower them in physical education.
In the final video I watched, What Motivates Students. Each student is asked what motivates them. Each student had great answers for this question, here are some of their answers..
- When congratulated and given positive feedback, whether from the teacher or other students.
- Everyone wants to be proud of what they have done. It is our jobs as educators to ensure that we make our students feel this way and to remind them that if they try hard enough they can accomplish almost anything.
- Career and financial stability later in life.
- No one wants to worry about how safe their job is, or if they will have enough money to make ends meet this month. With a good education, you are basically ensuring that you have many choices and different chances in case something doesn't work out for you.
- To attain a specific profession.
- Most people know at sometime in their life what they want to be as an adult. A good education and college degree can certainly help with getting almost any profession.
- Fear of punishment or being banned from certain activities.
- All kids life to have fun. Parents know this and a good technique to ensure your kids do well in school in simply fear from being grounded or not allowed to watch T.V.
I can remember my biggest motivator growing up. My older sisters were always so smart and I always wanted to be better than they were. That and a fear of having to miss after school sports.
Positive rewards are also a very good technique to help your kids help themselves.
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