PROJECT BASED LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT Charlie Reis Director

PROJECT BASED LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT Charlie Reis Director PGCert July 2020

Session Objectives Hopefully, this session will result in your: • Comfort and confidence in using project based learning (Pj. BL ); • Understanding how Pj. BL leads to better and deeper learning as well as a better student experience; • Knowledge of the features of Pj. BL; • Appreciation of the frequency and complexity of assessment types needed for excellence in facilitating Pj. BL. • Excitement about your learning project in how to teach using Pj. BL.

What is Project Based Learning? (Pj. BL) In the chat, please complete the following sentence stem at least twice: Project Based Learning is … Note that it will be difficult for me to read, respond and talk at the same time, so there may be so quiet time in the webinar.

What is Pj. BL? In Pj. BL “students pursue solutions to non-trivial problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans/and or experiments, collecting and analysing data, drawing conclusions, communicating their ideas and findings to others, asking new questions and creating artefacts. ” Blumenfeld, P. C. , Soloway, E. , Marx, R. W. , Krajcik, J. S. , Guzdial, M. & Palincsar, A. (1991) 'Motivating projectbased learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning'. Educational psychologist, 26 (3 -4). pp 369 -398. Does this sound like how you learned at university?

What is Pj. BL? In Pj. BL “students pursue solutions to non-trivial problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans/and or experiments, collecting and analysing data, drawing conclusions, communicating their ideas and findings to others, asking new questions and creating artefacts. ” Bold questions mean you comment in the chat. Blumenfeld, P. C. , Soloway, E. , Marx, R. W. , Krajcik, J. S. , Guzdial, M. & Palincsar, A. (1991) 'Motivating projectbased learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning'. Educational psychologist, 26 (3 -4). pp 369 -398. Does this sound like how you learned at university?

Authenticity and Motivation in Pj. BL

Authenticity and Motivation in Pj. BL PBL is the learning that results from the process of working towards the understanding and resolution of a problem (Barrows and Tamblyn, 1980) encouraging small groups of students to consider an unfamiliar situations or tasks in order to • Increase knowledge and understanding; • Develop critical reasoning powers; • Develop life long learning skills; • Facilitate team working skills (Barrows 1991); • It is student led and Biggs (2003) claims that PBL reflects the way people learn in real life. Hamdan, A. Kwan, C. Khan, A. Ghafar, M. & Siheble, A. (2014). Implementation of Problem Based Learning among Nursing Students [online] Available at: https: //files. eric. ed. gov/fulltext/EJ 1070425. pdf. International Education Studies; Vol. 7, No. 7; 2014 Accessed: 3 July, 2020. .


Advantages of Pj. BL • Comprehensive, engaging approach to classroom teaching and learning designed for investigation of authentic problems; • Students responsible for both the questions and the answers to such problems; • Promotes links among different disciplines and adaptable to different types of learners and situations. More? Blumenfeld, P. C. , Soloway, E. , Marx, R. W. , Krajcik, J. S. , Guzdial, M. & Palincsar, A. (1991) 'Motivating projectbased learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning'. Educational psychologist, 26 (3 -4). pp 369 -398.

Krajcik’s Features of Project-based Science (Sustained Inquiry) Driving Question Worthwhile, Feasible, Anchored in the Lives of Learners, Meaningful Investigation Ask/Refine Questions, Design, Carry-out Procedures, Interpret and Analyse Data, Share Findings. Collaboration Learning Communities--Listen, Share, Take Risks, Debate, Explain Artefacts Representation Student Understanding Technology Investigation, Artefact Development, Collaboration, Information Access, Planning Krajcik, J. S. (n. d. ) Features of Project-based Science (sustained Inquiry). [online] Available at: http: //wwwpersonal. umich. edu/~krajcik/PBSoh. html. Accessed: 3 July, 2020.


Steps to a Problem-Based Learning Approach Step 7: Review your performance. Often forgotten, this is a crucial step in improving your problem-solving skills. Students must evaluate their performance and plan improvements for the next problem. Why is this a good thing to also include in Pj. BL? Center for Teaching (n. d. ) Steps to a Problem-Based Learning Approach. [online] Available at: Accessed 2 July, 2020

Pj. BL Student Responsibilities Pj. BL is a student centered process with distinct roles that enable students to • Learn transferable skills; • Develop their own learning and aid the learning of the others in the group; • Develop research skills; • Reflect on their own on others experience, opinions and perceptions; More?

Assessment and Pj. BL

XJTLU and Assessment At XJTLU, we are responsible for assessing stated learning outcomes pre-approved by Uo. L and the Jiangsu Mo. E in order to give marks and rank students. Assessments are exactly opportunities for students to show well they meet learning outcomes. This concerns accreditation and quality assurance, but that is not the whole story on assessment.

Pj. BL and Assessment for Pj. BL is complicated because there are so many things happening in completing a project. Diagnostic Formative Summative High stakes Low stakes No stakes Self. Peer. Instructor – Hybrid – Assessment is a great tool for learning, for reflecting, and for motivating; however, constant quizzing does not do that. You want variety in most aspects of assessment.

Pj. BL and Assessment You might consider: • • • What is being assessed? The purpose of the assessment? What is the value of the assessment and to whom? The mode of assessment? When the assessment should occur in the course of learning and teaching? In the chat, please remark on the different types of assessments used in Pj. BL. What would you use for assessments in facilitating student projects?

Krajcik’s Features and Assessment Let’s look again at Krajcik’s features of Pj. BL and consider how assessments might fit into each part. Driving Question Worthwhile, Feasible, Anchored in the Lives of Learners, Meaningful Investigation Ask/Refine Questions, Design, Carry-out Procedures, Interpret and Analyse Data, Share Findings. Collaboration Learning Communities--Listen, Share, Take Risks, Debate, Explain Artefacts Representation, Student Understanding Technology Investigation, Artefact Development, Collaboration, Information Access, Planning

Driving Questions Worthwhile, Feasible, Anchored in the Lives of Learners, Meaningful What types of assessments should be related to the early stages of learning and teaching in Pj. BL and why?

Driving Questions Perhaps a self and then peer assessment using a checklist and leading to instructor review to check for: Self Checking for DQs ü Student interest ü Feasibility & focus ü Necessity of inquiry ü Open & debatable My DQ idea is: ________________________. I think my DQ is interesting because ________. On a scale of 1 being totally boring and 10 being so interesting I cannot stop thinking about it, I rate my DQ: ______. The opposite position is: ______. To answer my DQ, I will need to learn about ____________.

Driving Questions

Investigation Ask/Refine Questions, Design, Carry-out Procedures, Interpret and Analyse Data, Share Findings What types of assessments should be related to the investigation stages of Pj. BL and why? How would these very from driving question assessments?

Here is another rubric, this one a peer review for presentation of research and analysis standard for UG courses. How else could we assess investigation in Pj. BL? Image: https: //www. researchgate. net/figure/Checklist-used-tograde-the-Students-research-paper-presentation_fig 1_330286183

Collaboration Learning Communities--Listen, Share, Take Risks, Debate, Explain What types of assessments should be related to the collaboration stages of Pj. BL and why? Who should be the drivers of these assessments? How do we ask students to safely take risks?

Cooperative and collaborative learning should normally be assessed by peers, as they are the ones who know who is actually contributing. Including this in a summative course mark is a great way to motivate students to participate and collaborate. Other ideas?

Artefacts Representation, Student Understanding What types of assessments should be related to the artefact stages of Pj. BL and why? When do these assessment come in the learning process?

Technology Investigation, Artefact Development, Collaboration, Information Access, Planning What types of assessments should be related to the technology stages of Pj. BL and why? When do these assessment come in the learning process?

Review Hopefully, this session has given you some ideas about how to enact Pj. BL. Please use the chat to post one or two ideas you want to explore in your teaching or that impressed you.

WEB RESOURCES You can always email me at charlie. reis@xjtlu. edu. cn. We have also created a page for getting started thinking about online pedagogies for external audiences: https: //connect. xjtlu. edu. cn/view. php? t=ZSG 2 Hc 4 x. PKq. Y 0 my 3 Q 5 Bw.

THANK YOU VISIT US FOLLOW US WWW. XJTLU. EDU. CN @XJTLU
- Slides: 30