Project Based Learning: to a more practice-oriented and effective way of teaching

Classes in school often include projects and group works to conduct lessons in a more innovative and interactive way. But most of the time, it just becomes tiring and stressful extra work for both the teachers and the students. How can we implement projects in a way that is fun and motivating for students, and at the same time efficient for the teachers? 

​The new edition of the course “Introducing Project Based Learning in the Classroom​” took place in Bologna from 01/08/2022 to 06/08/2022 and focused on this question. The participants came from several countries in  Europe, with Balázs from the Budapesti Gazdasági SZC Hunfalvy János Két Tanítási Nyelvű Közgazdasági Technikum in Hungary, Gabriela, Anna, Magdalena, Ewa and Katarzyna from the Szkoła dla Dziewcząt Płomień in Poland, Maria Rosalba from the CFA in France, and Britta from the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Germany. 

​At the beginning of the course, participants explored the main concepts related to Project Based Learning, drawing particular attention to the 5 key elements of PBL. These show that PBL is not like any regular project, but rather a defined teaching approach with specific rules and methods.

​​​From there, the course focused on the different aspects and phases of PBL:

1. Preparation of the class for Project Based Learning. Through self-reflection and discussions, the teachers understood the importance of equipping their students with the right skills and attitude to approach PBL, which are mainly curiosity, critical thinking, inquiring and mostly collaborating with one another. 

​2. Defining Learning Outcomes and “Backward Designing”. One of the critical aspects of PBL is that it should be rooted in the curriculum, and not simply be “extra work” to carry out at the end of the unit. Teachers had the opportunity to see how to teach the elements of the curriculum in a different and more interactive way.

​3. Creation of the Driving Question and project details. One of the central characteristics of PBL is the so-called “Driving Question”, that aims to motivate by being “ungoogleable” and real life based. In the attempt to find a solution to the problem posed in the driving question, students conduct research and debates that will lead them to encounter and learn the major key points of the disciplines involved.

​4. Establishing appropriate Assessment forms. One of the key issues for teachers is how to evaluate the student’s progress, especially in a context of group work. In this part of the training, they had the chance to learn about the distinction between formative and summative assessment, and how the first one is actually as and maybe even more useful and important than the second one when evaluating students’ progress and performance.

​5. ICT tools in support of Project Based Learning. In the development of a PBL project, new technologies have a central role. The group had the possibility to practice first-hand some of the tools that are essential in supporting the smooth and efficient implementation of PBL in the class.

​What made learning really effective for the participants was the possibility to start creating their own project during the week. After discovering new parts of PBL during the lessons, they had the possibility and dedicated times to design their own project targeted for their students. This was a good exercise not only to clarify any doubts, but also to set into practice the material learned during the week. This final outcome encouraged a great sense of achievement and the motivation to give the project a try when back in their classes!

Thank you for this great week, and ELA looks forward to welcoming you again! 

​Discover more about this course in:
www.erasmustrainingcourses.com/project-based-learning.html​