Curriculum: A
Constructivist Approach
Project Based Learning
Thinking back on my experience as
a student, as well as our assessment assignments, it is evident that students
value a constructivist approach to learning in the classroom. Personally, I
loved doing independent studies and final projects in my high school classes.
Those assignments were the ones I enjoyed the most, I had the chance to be
creative and pick a research topic that I enjoyed or connected with. I found
that I learned the most through those projects; I was able to discover
knowledge at my own pace and it wasn’t simply memorizing and regurgitating
information on a test. I was interested
and passionate about what I was learning so the information and knowledge I
gained stayed with me. This kind of project-led, self guided, and hands-on
approach to learning is a constructivist approach to teaching.
Project based learning is a comprehensive approach to education where
students learn while doing (Drake et al., 2014). Students use a “driving
question” that sparks their interest to create the jumping point for a year
long project that incorporates 21st century skills such as research,
critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, organization and
communication (Drake et al., 2014).
Project based learning can be an individual or group activity that results in a
product, presentation, or performance/demonstration. This kind of learning
constructs meaning and stimulates engagement in students. These projects help
students demonstrate their intellectual capacities, their creativity, their
energy and willpower, as well as, certain social and moral qualities (such as
cooperation, team spirit, and honesty, etc.), which they will need in their
future education and/or careers.
Project based learning was just being introduced in my high school
during my post-secondary education. In my experience teachers combined
project-based learning with traditional learning (oral, written and practical tests) to give all students opportunities and
prepare them for their futures in post-secondary education or in the workforce.
I found this way of learning to be quite
effective as a student and I think it would be the best way to assess my
students as a teacher. I will have the choice of how I present the mandatory curriculum to my
students. Therefore, creating a balance between the two learning theories would
offer students possibilities to prove what they know (ie. a set of knowledge), as
well as what they can do (ie. a set of talents, skills, and abilities).
As a student
working toward becoming a teacher I know how important it is to get my students
engaged in what they are learning. When students are given an opportunity to
choose how or what they are learning, or when they have the chance to be
creative and experience hands on learning they are much more likely to be
engaged in the classroom and experience deep learning. By not only following
the traditional model of teaching, and by using a constructivist approach to
curriculum in my classroom, I hope to become a teacher that can share my
passion for languages and cultures with my students through project-based
learning. Hopefully my passion for my teachable subjects and my approach to
teaching will help my future students grow as learners and get them engaged and
interested in what they are learning.
References
Buck Institute for Education. (December 9, 2010). Project Based Learning: Explained. Video retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCZvGesRz8
Catapano,
S., & Gray, J. (2015). Saturday School: Implementing Project-Based Learning
in an Urban School. Penn GSE Perspectives On Urban Education, 12(1),
Drake, S.M., Reid, J.L., Kolohon, W. (2014).
Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the
21st-century learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Patton,
A. (February 2012). Work that Matters:
The teacher’s guide to project-based learning. Retrieved
from: http://www.innovationunit.org/sites/default/files/Teacher's%20Guide%20to%20Project-based%20Learning.pdf
Hey Madison! Here is my feedback for your blog this week. I like how you begin with a broad explanation of what constructivist teaching is and use personal experiences to discuss how it was an effective part of your learning as a student. This shows that you know constructivist-teaching approaches can be very beneficial, and since you have experience with them you know what works and what doesn’t. You make good use of hyperlinks to other websites as well as relevant visuals that relate to your topic. I would suggest giving your blog a quick read through for grammar errors in terms of sentence structure, as some sentences seem to be too concise. You could elaborate on some ideas and improve the flow of the blog itself. I know many people had difficulties with formatting as well, so the changing font size may have been out of your hands, but in terms of the overall look of the blog, of course this should be consistent. I would also suggest speaking from your experience as well as your further research about any cautions there may be around constructivist learning. You mention that using constructivist and traditional teaching hand in hand proved to be effective in your experiences as a student, but it might benefit you to explore what drawbacks there may be to relying solely on constructivist teaching methods. I think this would expand your knowledge and prove to be an interesting take on your topic. Overall I think you did a fantastic job of thoroughly researching your topic and supplementing that research with personal experience in order to give an interesting take on the subject! ☺
ReplyDeleteHey Madison, great blog this week! I found it really interesting to read about project-based learning and how it can be used in the classroom. What really helped me when I was reading was the fact that your pictures and video were very relevant to the topic. They helped to emphasize what you were writing about and made it easy to understand. Definitely make sure you continue to use pictures like that in the future! Your personal experience with project-based learning also helped to make what you were talking about to be more relatable. A possible improvement for your next blog would be to talk more about the ideas that were discussed in the articles that were linked in your blog. Consistent font sizes would also help your blog to be more aesthetically pleasing and easier for people to read, although I know lots of people struggled with those randomly changing for some reason. Overall it was a great first effort and I look forward to reading your next post!
ReplyDeleteHey Madison, interesting perspective on a subject that has surely been a big theme in my own academic experience in primary and junior years. You bring up an alternate side of a theory that is obviously dominant in our education system. Although I have a hard time taking a stance against this system, maybe because like you say it is “ingrained” in my thinking, or because I have not read enough on it. What this does make me think about is a theme in educational theory which is that educators will hold on to things for a long time, and often without justification. So I like that this post also makes us think about the ingrained knowledge that we hang on to out of tradition that must be constantly challenged to ensure we are at our best as teachers.
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