Revise and Refine
Our reflection this week is about the processes and procedures that will follow the conclusion of our PBL project. Although, I have not “run” a PBL project before, I suppose that – up to a point – I would handle it the same way I handle all the projects I do with my students… So, when the project concludes we celebrate and reflect!! We (my students and I) admire students’ products and personal growth and pat ourselves on the back for finally reaching the end! We enjoy what has been accomplished and reflect on how well or bad this project run. I usually discuss with my students asking questions, like
- What activities did you enjoy the most and why?
- What activities were the least enjoyable or hardest and why?
- What changes would you suggest to make the above activities more enjoyable/less hard?
- From all the things that you read and did during this project what was one thing that impressed you the most?
- Tell me something that you learnt from this project about yourself and your team members.
- What was the most challenging thing for you in this project and how did you overcome the challenge?
Then I will use their feedback to make this project better for the next time I will implement it. However, I will also reflect on the project considering
- if the students met the project’s objectives;
- if the students had problems with any of the activities, processes or procedures;
- how the rest of the school and the community reacted to the project; what were their comments, their feedback?
- what did the other teachers have to say about the project.
- the activities students enjoyed the most or the least.
Is this just a one-time assessment? Of course it’s not. I believe that every time you run a project you have the ability to (and you should) improve it. Furthermore, before you even begin, you should consider the knowledge and background of your students and adjust it to meet their needs.
Why Project-Based Learning Outperforms Traditional Instruction, Edutopia