Reflection 4 (Allison Burt)

Allison Burt

Reflection 4
 

Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

1.       One potential pitfall stated in the text is long on activity, short on learning outcomes. You want to make a project worthwhile, rather than wasting time. The more learning outcomes the student can gain from the project the more effective it is. Another is technology layered over traditional practice.  Technology should be implemented into your project, but in a way that will help you grow in your learning through collaboration and accessing “rich” resources (p 61). Trivial thematic units can also be a potential pitfall. Using a theme for (PBL) can really help you integrate and make connections, although do not just use trivial themes.  The teacher has to provide a structure to incorporate other disciplines within one theme to have your students develop higher order of thinking skills. The last potential pitfall is overly scripted with many, many steps. The teacher should not overwhelm students with many steps, but allow them to make their own decisions regarding what aspects is important to the topic. It is exciting when you can see your students make informed decisions while working on their project. A teacher should give their students room to explore, rather than closing boundaries for exploring.

Discuss the features of a good project.

2.       A good project features (p 65): Some of the examples in text.

-          Are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths: This allows you to develop higher order thinking skills.

-          Are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines: Involving multiple disciplines allows you to get input from a variety of resources. It helps you to expand your scope and make connections.

-          Reach beyond school to involve others: If you are doing a project involving data, go out in the community and collect.

-          Have students learn by doing: Students need to be actively involved and do hands-on activities within their project.

-          Self-reflective: Students will be able to self-reflect throughout the process of the project. This is an important skill to do while trying to improve aspects of your project.

Discuss where project ideas come from.

3.       A teacher is constantly looking for more ideas and exciting projects they can add to their classrooms. They may do this simply by collaborating with other teachers within their school or through networking. Secondly, through current issues in the news. This can be implemented into a project. By knowing your students you can use projects based on their interests. Also a teacher can use google earth within their projects to integrate technology.

Discuss the steps to design a project.

4.       First step is to revisit the framework. Make sure you know what your goal is when designing your project. Make sure your objectives align with your goal and always be self-reflective.

The second step is to establish evidence of understanding. The purpose of designing a good project is having your students be able to take away information from doing the project.

 

Third, plan the “vehicle.” Make sure you are designing a project that will be interesting and keep students engaged. Also implement “true-to-life” connections to help them grow in their learning.

 

 Lastly, plan entrée into the project experience.  Be thinking about what your “attention getter” to draw students’ excitement for the project.
 

Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

5.       This chapter relates to our project staying healthy because we have good features. We  are incorporating multiple disciplines for our end celebration, the staying healthy workshop. We are inviting doctors, dieticians, and trainers. We are also using technology to spread the word about our workshop. This includes a blog, google earth, and podcast.