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Making Standards Come Alive through Project-Based LearningKevin J. B. Anderson, Ph.D.CESA #2 STEM Education Consultant

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Who are we and what are our goalsfor the day?

Quick introductions and sharing of your goals

Agenda and objectives:• What is PBL and how does it connect to

standards?• Building PBL lessons – topics, learning

objectives, assessment and structures• Create a PBL activity

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What is Project-Based Learning?

Your ideas…

PBL

Definition – in your own words Facts/Characteristics

Examples Non-examples

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Project-Based Learning is not…

1) Lecture or textbook-driven2) An add-on activity3) Done alone4) Fact or one-right-answer based 5) Disconnected from life6) Disconnected from standards7) Isolated from today’s technology

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Is my project PBL? Checklist…

Consider a recent project and answer these Q’s…

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Why do Project-Based Learning?

Your ideas….

Research suggests:1) Increases long-term retention2) Better engages students and teachers3) Develops critical thinking skills

“Project-based learning increases long-term retention, improves problem-solving and collaboration skills, and improves students’ attitudes towards learning.”

– Strobel, 2009

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PBL builds 21st Century Skills!Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning

Ways of working. Communication and collaboration

Tools for working. Information and communications technology and information literacy

Skills for living in the world. Citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility

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How Do I Do PBL?

Going through an example – see template

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How Do I Do PBL?

Begin with the end in mind…

Understandings – what are the most important goals you have for student learning this year?

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Students will be able to…PBL allows for authentic connections among subject areas.

What are the important practice connections you see in these subjects?

What other connections would you add?

What does this suggest for your teaching?

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Students will know…

Section for content connections of the NGSS, CCSS and beyond• Nitty-gritty content ideas, unpacked from standards• NGSS = DCI’s• CCSS = content standards• Vocabulary• Could likely Google

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Foundations of Integration

1) Belief in the importance of doing it2) Flexibility and openness3) Plan out the goals for each subject and the

curriculum for the year, find the overlaps. Acknowledge that math might be the least flexible.

4) Build from current units - start small!

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Connections - Context

• CCSS 6.NS.7b - Write, interpret, and explain statements of order for rational numbers in real-world contexts. For example, write –3 oC > –7 oC to express the fact that –3 oC is warmer than –7 oC.

• CCSS 7.RP.2c - Represent proportional relationships by equations. (e.g. Force = ma, Speed = d/t)

• CCSS 8.EE.4 - Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems where both decimal and scientific notation are used.

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Relationships

• ELA• Culture, people, place

• Math• Unit rates• Linear or nonlinear• Quadratic

• Science• Direct vs. inverse• Strong vs. weak

• Growth rate of plants under different conditions (in class, outside)

• Color vs. temp of stars

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Connections – Modeling

• What is mathematical or scientific modeling? • You’re making sense of a question or problem. It’s

active, not passive. It’s predicting, not reporting.

• Examples:• WMC article• Elements of a story

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Connections – Notebooking

• How do you use student notebooks?• Structure:

• First 3 pages blank for your table of contents• Number every page (upper right or left corner) of the

notebook except your table of contents• Use pencil or colored pencil on both sides of page• Date each page at the start of a project• What do you know (claim) + how do you know that

(evidence) + why does your evidence support your claim (reasoning) = explanation

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Connections – Talk

• How often do your students talk about science, math, social studies, art, literature, etc. with each other?

• How often do they “argue with evidence” about an answer or an issue?

• How often do they verbally share their thinking and reasoning?

• Do they write research papers about ideas meaningful to them? (e.g. water resources, texting & driving accidents)

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Connecting CCSS and the NGSS

Connections – others?

• What other ways do you see the varying subjects you teach connecting together?

• What challenges are there in making these connections happen?

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Phenomena…What’s going on in the world around us now that could frame your unit? Or, what’s interesting?

• Wolf hunt, human cloning, diabetes epidemic, mental health, water monitoring data

• Element 118 (and 117), nuclear energy safety (CNN), football helmets, wind turbines, cell phones and cancer

• NEOs, alternative energy, climate change, typhoon/severe weather, mining or fracking, fossil fuels

• Elections, stock market growth, Affordable Care Act, internet hoaxes, “free speech” on Facebook, holiday changes through history, Olympics in Russia, new abortion legislation, drones, train engineer dozing

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What is a good Essential Question?

The best questions are provocative and challenging, accessible to students, open-ended with multiple possible answers, and linked to important content. Can we fix these? 1) What are the characteristics of healthy soil?2) How do architects use geometry? 3) How has technology affected world history? 4) How does the author use voice and perspective in The

House on Mango Street to reflect on his childhood and community?

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Essential questions can build from NGSS crosscutting concepts Examples of subquestions: 1) Is there a pattern in which ponds, streams, and lakes make people sick and which do not? 2) Why might we get sick (effect) if we go swimming in that pond (cause)? 3) What percentage of people get sick? What are the physical characteristics of the ponds and streams that people are getting sick in (in terms of flow rates and size)? What is the scale of the organisms within the water? 4) What are the important parts of this pond ecosystem and geological system? How could we model this pond? What would be the limitations and benefits of such a model? 5) Where does energy come from in this pond ecosystem and geological system?6) What are the characteristics of these organisms and people that lead to them making us sick? Consider their relevant body structures and our relevant body structures, along with the functions that they have. 7) How has this pond changed over time, such as from the spring to the fall, or in the past 40 years? Why do people sometimes get sick while swimming in it, but sometimes they do not?

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Essential Questions – How can you connect to your community?Take some time to share…

Taking a break, going on a walk - what PBL opportunities are there 1) Within the school?2) On the school grounds?3) In the community?4) In connection with community organizations

(government, community safety, non-profits, businesses, etc.)

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Work on your ideas….

• Share out…

• Would it be useful for me to walk through my thought process with planning a specific PBL project?

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Investigating a couple examples…

School garden at Northwestern Middle SchoolSoil superheroes at King Middle School

Which others can you find?

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Assessing Project-Based Learning1) What is the purpose of assessment? 2) What is your vision of a quality assessment? (in 30

seconds or less)3) Research – what’s most important in assessment? 4) Key questions –

a) How does the assessment impact student learning?b) What’s done with it afterward? c) How is the data used?

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Assessing Project-Based Learning

Who conducts and designs the assessment?1) Students involved in assessment creation and goal

setting2) Peer assessment tools:• http://

www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-replicatingPBL-21stCAcad-work-critique.pdf

• http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-replicatingPBL-21stCAcad-feedback-grid.pdf

• http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-manor-pbl-bestpractices-review.pdf

3) Getting experts and community involvedOpen House!

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Assessing Project-Based LearningAssessment for Understanding1) Performance assessment - presentations, do it, posters,

debates, reports, drama, build-test-redesign, revise!performanceassessment.org/performance/ http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-for-understanding-taking-deeper-look

2) Rubrics - examplesperformanceassessment.org/performance/prubrics.htmlhttp://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php http://www.edutopia.org/stw-project-based-learning-best-practices-resources-lesson-plans http://www.bie.org/tools/freebies Presentation rubric: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/toolkit/communication/docs/oral%20presentation%20rubric.doc

3) Portfolios (or notebooks) www.livebinders.com

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Assessing Project-Based Learning

Your time: 1) How will I assess the PBL?2) Who will be involved?3) Start creating it!

Consider: • How does it connect to the learning objectives? • How are the practices integrated? • How will students act on the feedback?• How will you act on their scores (specifics!)• Performance expectations (NGSS)

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Supporting Activities and Learning

What knowledge do students need to complete their projects? 1) Active learning: they’re searching for further information

so they can answer an engaging question. 2) Passive: they’re reading another section in a textbook

and answering Q’s at the end with no real connection to a phenomenon (no hook).

3) Teacher directed (field trips, labs, debates, particular sources) and student directed (online research, planning labs, interviews, collaboration sessions)

4) Brainstorm!

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Voice and Choice

In the final project, and in interim learning, what choices do students have in: 1) Their partner(s)?2) What the product will look like? 3) How they use their time? 4) What subjects they learn about? 5) Their goals?6) How they’re assessed?7) Dates for interim check-ins?

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PBL and Differentiation

Essential goal as teachers – meeting the needs of all students!1) Brainstorm: what are some things that you do now?

2) Explore a resource: Case Studies from the NGSS (appendix D)a) we’ll each briefly review one and share ideas

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How can you involve experts?

Consider your resources: 1) Parents! Presenting, evaluating…2) Community members – bring in your mayor or city

council! Local businesses, govt workers3) Non-profit organizations such as environmental groups,

historical groups, museums4) Universities – field trips, experts

http://experts.news.wisc.edu/ 5) Email and Skype (or Google handout)

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PBL – How do we make it happen?

Managing the process – keeping it organized1) Create a timeline for both your planning process as well

as project implementation –it will help you keep you focused

2) Refine the driving question - use other teachers and students use each other to make it the best it can be

3) Develop a resource list of materials – both what you have and what you need

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How do we avoid plagiarism?

Ensuring good research1) Don’t assume they understand2) Practice summarizing3) Librarian help4) Explicit teaching on reliable sources:

• http://www.newsliteracy.org/unit-11-news-on-the-internet/handouts/judgingreliabilityweb.doc

• http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/acrobat/lesson07.pdf

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Repeat: formative assessment is arguably the #1 key to learning!

Students miss out on enormous learning possibilities if they don’t revise and improve their work.

How will they demonstrate their understanding throughout the PBL unit?

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PBL – How do we make it happen?

Managing the process – have a student calendar1) They know the learning outcome2) They know the objective for each day and what the

deliverable for the day is3) They know when each part of the project is due4) Sample:

http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-manor-pbl-bestpractices-calendar-blankform.pdf

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PBL – How do we make it happen?

Finding time1) How does it fit in the schedule?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-percent-time-a-j-juliani 2) How can it fit in my already full curriculum?

Focus on big ideas and connections3) Planning it takes a long time

Yes, but then it lasts for weeks…

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PBL – How do we make it happen?Ensuring all students participate1) Consider a team contract

Example - http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-manor-pbl-bestpractices-groupcontract.pdf

2) Multiple intelligences and growth model3) Engagement through choice4) Team building skills, creating culture 5) Self-assess, group assess and teacher assess

collaboration6) Virtual collaboration - www.edmodo.com, Google docs,

wiki7) Other ideas?

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Guide students in self-reflectionSome possible strategies:1) Personal writing to reflect (on learning, on group work)

a) open-ended vs. set questionsb) Questions: http://

www.edutopia.org/pdfs/stw/edutopia-stw-replicatingPBL-21stCAcad-reflection-questions.pdf

2) Interview – portfolio, project, notebook review3) Peer review/interview

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PBL – How do we make it happen?

Finding support1) Other teachers!2) Online:

• Buck Institute for Education www.bie.org• Edutopia www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning • www.pbl-online.org • Competitions provide structure:

www.ecybermission.com or “student video contest” www.exploravision.org or science fairs

• Service learning!

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PBL – How do we make it happen?

Your work time• Finish going through the steps within the template• Caution: Don’t try to do it all on the first attempt and

don’t try to do it all by yourself!

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Final Questions?

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Reflection

Three reflection questions:1) What is one short term and one long term

plan for incorporating PBL? 2) What are your main takeaways from today?3) What questions do you still have? 4) Other comments?

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Thank you!

Feel free to email me with questions:kevin.anderson@cesa2.org

www.cesa2.org/programs/stem@CESA2STEM

wisconsinstem.blogspot.com