Reading Reflection 4

1.Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

·         It is all too easy to go online and look up fun and creative lesson plans. Although collaboration is great, teachers should need to be strategic when looking for the right lesson plan for their students. A fun project does not always mean a beneficial project. There are many potential pitfalls of project design.

1.       Long on activity, short on learning outcomes- A project should cover several learning objectives if it is going to take several days to complete. If the project lasts a week and does not provide a large outcome, chances are, it is not worth the teacher’s or the student’s time and could be learned through other means.

2.       Technology layered over traditional practice- We have all been fallen victim to this project pitfall. I know I have asked my students to research a topic and decided to “make the learning experience more beneficial” by having my students put the information into a PowerPoint format. Incorporating technologies into a project is only beneficial if students are using them to connect with others, provide more resources for information or provides some other unique, high-quality learning experience.  Asking students to type their information into a Powerpoint does not take their learning to a higher-level, it is simply at the level of recall and understanding.

3.       Trivial thematic units- One important thing for teachers to understand is that a thematic unity does not necessarily mean project-based learning. It is important that if one decides to incorporate a theme into the unit they do so strategically. The theme should extend over several different subject areas in ways that take student thinking to a higher level of inquiry and evaluation.

4.       Overly scripted with many, many steps- Some lessons will involve many complicated steps to reach a product that may not be worth the hassle. However, some projects will produce a final product that is unique and a great learning experience for students. It is important that when looking at projects, teachers first look at the learning objectives for the lesson. This will help guide evaluate which lessons are right for your students.

2.Discuss the features of a good project.

·         Good projects are authentic and relate to real-world situations. Students should never have to ask “when will I ever use this in real-life?” because good projects should show students the relevancy of the material being covered. Good projects are also loosely designed so that there is room for creativity and change. Projects should be student directed-meaning that projects should let students’ interests and curiosity be the driving force behind them. This will capture the student and increase motivation.

3.Discuss where project ideas come from.

·         Project ideas can come from many places. There are great ideas on the Internet, however, it is important for teachers to use precaution when choosing these lesson plans. It is important that the objectives are right for your teaching purpose and your students. Project ideas can also come directly from your students. Teachers should use their students’ interests to inspire creative new project ideas. Projects are most beneficial for students when they are authentic to students’ interests.

4.Discuss the steps to design a project.

·         There are four steps to design a project:

1.       Revisit the framework by reviewing your learning objectives.

2.       Establish evidence of understanding by thinking about how you will evaluate students to see if the learning objectives were met.

3.       Plan the project theme or challenge. Teachers should plan activities that incorporate both lower and higher-level skills.

4.       Plan what will get students’ attention. Teachers should plan on what will motivate their students to learn about the subject material.

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

·         This chapter helped me re-think what kind of activities and assignments will be most beneficial for my students to do in my group’s project on exercise. Before reading this chapter, I thought that incorporating a Powerpoint into the project would be beneficial, however I have learned that it is only beneficial if the Powerpoint is providing a high-quality learning experience.