Carolina High School Project-Based Learning Model Analysis

There are many factors that influence students’ participation in learning. Some examples of these factors include the learning atmosphere of the school, teaching strategies and the student’s capabilities (Groundwater-Smith, et al., 2015b; Nixon & Gould, 2005). In order for students to complete different tasks during lessons, it is important that teachers present clear and concise instructions. According to Porter (2014a), by providing clear instructions and high quality examples, teachers may help to increase a student’s academic performance. In addition, by removing classroom

2. My actual score had me ranging from high to low - Initiator (thirteen), Encourager (eight), Gatekeeper and Summarizer (seven), and Harmonizer (six).

Project Based Learning is a teaching method that allows students to gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. Through this approach students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Beautiful Stuff! is a book written by Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini that shares the journey of real teachers in a real school who were inspired by educators from Reggio Emilia, Italy. Cathy Topal spent two mornings a week in the preschool and kindergarten as a visual aid teacher. Lella Gandini consulted with teachers about aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach. The teachers in book Rite Harris and Debbie Grubbs observed and recorded what happens when the focus is on process rather than product in project- based learning. The book provides approaches on how to nurture the creativity of children, which is a key part in a child’s development. In my paper I will summarize the five chapters within the book, along with providing two researched based article on project based learning (PBL), and give insight into my beliefs of project work with children.

MEDA AB is an international specialty pharmaceutical organization with its headquarters set in Stockholm, Sweden. MEDA specializes is offering cost effective pharmaceuticals in areas such as respiratory, cardiology, dermatology, pain and inflammation, central nervous system (CNS), and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (MEDA AB, 2012, p. 18). MEDA’s vision is to “become a world-leading specialty pharma company with a focus on sustainable and profitable growth to provide value for our patients, shareholders and other stakeholders” (MEDA AB, 2014, para. 1). MEDA is currently present in

Additionally, Paula struggles staying focused and on-task during class instruction. Paula frequently gets lost and distracted with the material in front of her, but Paula makes up for it with her dedication to answer the question correctly. Frequently, Paula observes her peers respond during whole class discussions and also answers some of the questions asked during these discussions. The teacher uses these opportunities as a learning opportunity to highlight the correct answer or guide the students into saying the correct answer. It is great that Paula wants to participate in classroom discussions because she remains fully engaged and frequently offered the opportunity to state his own understandings about the concept or skill he is being taught. Drawing on this observation and the use of intervention work, the teacher can plan future opportunities to allow the students to not only communicate their understandings about the content they are being taught, but to also further drive in the content he is being

in-class teaching strategies that aim to build on individual strengths and interests, such as through project-based learning

Victoria Dickerson is a second year teacher at Carolina High School teaching in the Self-Contained special education classroom. Victoria’s expectations for her students are high and she often uses innovative techniques which include project-based learning strategies. Her students are always solving real world problems that will not only prepare them for work but provides them with the necessary life skills they need to be productive after high school. The students in the classroom range from being low-functioning intellectually disabled students to students how are on the middle school level in reading and are categorized as learning disabled. Even with the population she serves, she still challenges her students to be excellent. During

The teacher should aid discussion to focus students’ attention on key areas as well as prompting students by pointing out ideas from their “K” section and asking what more they would like to know about this. Each student must then write down 2 or 3 questions for “what I Want to know” (Appendix C) based on their own personal interests of the topic (Ogle, 1989). Asking their own questions encourages students to go beyond the lesson content to work out their own explanation rather than simple rote learning questions and answers from text books (McConachie et al., 2006). Both the class brainstorming activity and small group discussions encourage accountable talk, which aids students’ understanding as they must learn how to verbalise and rationalise their ideas (Michaels et al., 2010). This element of the activity also incorporates prediction. Students must decide “what I Want to know” based on what they predict the text is about from the pre-reading activity (Gibbons,

The article “Project-Based Instruction: A Great Match for Informational Texts” by Nell K. Duke, discusses the concept of implementing project based learning and how it can markedly improve student’s education. According to Duke, project based instruction involves “working over an extended time period for a purpose beyond satisfying a school requirement” (Duke 2016). This includes doing projects in order to “build something, to create something, to respond to a question [students] have, or to solve a real problem” (Duke 2016). The article maintains the benefits of this type of instruction and includes specific examples of how it can be implemented in the school curriculum and Common Core State Standards. Duke also emphasizes how the projects should serve a real- life purpose so students can feel more engaged knowing their work will be seen by

Teachers now give out projects to help us learn better. They also try and relate things to real life examples and make topics interesting. John Dewey played a part in this.

Multi-Discipline project-based learning ensures students understand why the content in their personal education plan is relevant, and how they can apply skills acquired to achieve their career objectives and enhance daily life beyond the classroom.

This is because with the the social inquiry process focuses on promoting concepts, critical thinking and reflective thinking. This process helps deepen students understanding by guiding through the different concepts. Furthermore, it also prompts and helps students to become critical thinker so that they are thinking outside the box, asking effective questions and reflecting on their research and findings. In other words, the inquiry process helps students deepen the questions that was initially proposed through reflections and evaluations. It also promotes students motivation to explore their ideas furthermore. As a teacher I would present a project similar to this assignment. They would be able to get a chance to work collaboratively in groups. They are then able to plan and conduct surveys finding answers to their project. Through the survey they will learn about the different views and perspective like how we did through this assignment. After all research and surveys have been collect. I would give them the chance where they could present their findings to the class. To end their project I would ask the students to reflect on what they have learnt about their topic, about himself working in a group, what they can improve on and what they could do better next time. However the level of complexity would be adjusted depending on the age and year

2. Cooperative learning directed towards focusing on students’ team work while doing their project assignments.

The most important learning experience of my life is attending Johnson College and learning about networking. Networking plays a vital role in the technology field. It helps one person to connect to anthers in the same state or in different countries which helps bring the world closer. Additionally, it will make offices and jobs easier by allowing work to be shared around the world. Networks are also used to protect system files, data, and documents.

Fostering student autonomy and responsibility for learning by allowing student input during the planning stages of class activities and assessment tasks