Learning Model Relevant Learning for the 21st Century Project-based Learning Model Relevant Learning for the 21st Century Developed By Developed for Funded by a Pacific Education Institute Association of Fish and Multistate Grant of the Margaret Tudor, Ph. Wildlife Agencies’ Sport Fish and Wildlife Lynne Ferguson North American Restoration Program Co-Executive Directors Conservation Education Strategy Written by Erica Baker, Breanna Trygg, Patricia Otto, Margaret Tudor, Ph. and Lynne Ferguson Pacific Education Institute 2011 Project-based Learning Model, Relevant Learning for the 21st Century, ©Pacific Education Institute, 2011, www.org Layout and Design: GoodCatnapping@gmail.com Acknowledgments The following organizations provided support for Project-based Learning Model, Relevant Learning for the 21st Century: Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) North American Conservation Education Strategy AFWA North American Conservation Education Committees K-12 Committee: Working Group: (*participating on K-12 and Working Group Committees) Gregg Losinski, Idaho Department of Fish and Carrie Morgan, Wisconsin DNR Game Leslie Burger, Mississippi State University Lucy Moreland (retired), Arkansas Game and Fish Lisa Flowers, Boone and Crockett Club Commission Mary Kay Salwey, Wisconsin DNR Judy Gillan, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Michelle Kelly, Minnesota DNR Commission Natalie Elkins, Michigan DNR Judy Stokes, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Theresa Alberici, Pennsylvania Game Commission Kevin Frailey, Michigan DNR Justin Marschell, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Cindy Etgen, Maryland DNR Barb Gigar*, Iowa DNR Jeff Rawlinson, Nebraska Game and Parks Kellie Tharp*, Arizona Game and Fish Commission Commission Judy Silverberg*, New Hampshire Fish and Game Warren Gartner, Indiana Division of Fish and Department Wildlife Suzie Gilley*, Virginia Department of Game and Thomas Baumeister, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Inland Fisheries Parks Margaret Tudor*, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pacific Education Institute Project-based Learning Model, Relevant Learning for the 21st Century was made possible by the Pacific Education Institute and University of Washington’s Dr. Catherine Taylor facilitating multiple stakeholders to develop Environmental Education Frameworks that describe the expected student performance through projects.
The integration of systems thinking was facilitated by the valuable insight of Nalani Linder. We would like to give a special thanks to all of the Washington State educators (formal and non-formal) and students who provided us the opportunity to refine this model through their hands on involvement with projects to improve their local environments. Visionaries at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, including Michael O’Malley, Watchable Wildlife Program Manager and Rocky Beach, Wildlife Diversity Program Manager. The Board of Directors of the Pacific Education Institute, consisting of leaders in the formal education sector and natural resource agencies and organizations, recognized the need to provide guidelines for field studies.
Their support was essential to making the Project-based Learning Model a reality. Margaret Tudor, Ph. Executive Director, Pacific Education Institute Table of Contents Acknowledgements. 1 Science and Engineering Practices.
2 Project-Based Learning Model Overview. 5 Documentation of Sources: The Annotated Bibliography. 6 Step 1: Describe the Ecosystem. 8 Step 2: Determine and define the Problem.
15 Step 3: Research the Problem. 19 Step 4: Stakeholder Description. 24 Step 5: Propose Possible Solutions. 28 Step 6: Develop a Plan: Identify, Plan and Reflect on Your Project.
35 Step 7: Implement the Plan. 39 Step 8: Summarize, Evaluate and Reflect. 45 Appendix A: Distinguishing Practices in Science from Those in Engineering: Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2011). 47 Appendix B: Preparing Students to Conduct Field Investigations.
49 Appendix C: What is a Problem. 60 Appendix D: Change Over Time Activity. 61 ii Project-based Learning Model: Relevant Learning for the 21st Century Introduction Introduction The Pacific Education Institute’s Project-Based Learning Model engages students in relevant learning that positively impacts their local communities and ecosystems. Teachers or mentors facilitate, rather than direct, students as they explore a system, ask questions, look at problems within that system, determine solutions, plan and ultimately implement a project.
Through the Pacific Education Institute’s Project-Based Learning Model, students take ownership for their learning, structure and organize an action project, and inform others about an environmental issue. In other words, students become empowered and educated citizens of the 21st century. The projects themselves can be pre-determined by an educator or can be completely determined by the students. For example, a teacher or mentor may have the funding and/or desire to work with students to design and install a rain garden on the school campus.
Or the educator may know he or she would like to conduct a project on the school campus, but does not know what project would have the greatest impact on the students and the environment. Either way, the teacher and students collaborate as they work through the Project-Based Learning Model process. The result is a student-guided service learning project that involves students in the technological design process while building and enhancing content knowledge, problem solving abilities, systems thinking and communication skills. PEI’s Project Based Learning Model aligns with the Framework for K-12 Science Education that emphasizes scientific and engineering practices using cross-cutting concepts (e.
patterns, stability and change, systems) to apply science to disciplinary core ideas. In the Project-based Learning Model, the disciplinary core ideas of focus are the macro-worlds of Life Sciences and Earth Sciences. In addition, the model provides a framework that facilitates curriculum integration, environment-oriented action projects, and opportunities for students to showcase their achievements. It encourages systems thinking skills—such as seeing the big picture, looking for interdependencies within a system, and considering both short- and long-term consequences of actions—all of which are critical for effectively dealing with the complex and interconnected issues in our environment today (Environmental Education Framework, 2001).
In order to explain some of the steps, we used the example of constructing a rain garden. When you see references to rain gardens, use as a guide to inform your project. Project-based Learning Model Science and Engineering Practices The Project-Based Learning Model applies science and engineering practices to address a problem of a human need or want. The Framework for K-12 Science Education describes the three human enterprises of science, technology and engineering in the following way: Technology is any modification of the natural world made to fulfill human needs or desires.
(NAS, 2011) Engineering is a systematic and often iterative approach to designing objects, processes, and systems to meet human needs and wants. (NAS, 2011) An application of science is any use of scientific knowledge for a specific purpose, whether to do more science: to design a product, process, or medical treatment, to develop a new technology; or to predict the impacts of human actions. (NAS, 2011) Students engaging in the science and engineering design process need to follow a set of engineering practices that engineers use as they design and build systems. The National Academy of Sciences uses the term “practices” instead of skills to emphasize that students need not only skill but also knowledge that is specific to each practice.
Students need to be engaged directly in these scientific and engineering practices in order to fully understand how to apply scientific knowledge to problems through engineering solutions. The science and engineering practices essential for K-12 science and engineering (see Appendix A for full description) are: (NAS, 2011) 1. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4.
Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking. Engaging in argument from evidence. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
The Project-based Learning Model provides a scaffold or structure for students to engage in each of these practices by taking the steps to develop and implement a project. Project-based Learning Model: Relevant Learning for the 21st Century Project-based Learning Model This structure provides students a process to follow to design investigations, helping them learn how to observe, design, determine variables to measure, plus record and evaluate data using appropriate tools and instruments. For example, in middle school, students can apply their scientific knowledge of ecology concepts to solve problems related to a school garden through engineering design (NRC, 2011 3017). In high school students can undertake more complex engineering design projects that address major local, national and global issues (NRC, 2011).
The Frameworks (NRC, 2011) expect students to write accounts of their work, using journals to record observations, thoughts, ideas and models. In addition, students in scientific investigation and applying science through engineering are encouraged to create diagrams, sketches and models and represent data and observations with plots and tables, plus written text, to communicate detailed plans in the journals. Students need access to complex texts, such as technical reports and scientific and technological/engineering literature on the Internet. Students developing engineering projects need to develop systems thinking and systems models, that support critical steps in developing, sharing, testing and refining design ideas.
Teachers can use the “Sustainable Tomorrow: A Teachers’ Guidebook for Applying Systems Thinking to Environmental Education Curricula for Grades 9-12” to develop the habits of systems thinking and model, through graphic representations of behavior over time, input and output flow, and causal loops showing negative and positive feedback, using mathematical thinking. PEI’s Project-based Learning Model The Pacific Education Institute’s Project-Based Learning Model Overview Through PEI’s Project-Based Learning Model, students: Role of Teachers Step 1: Describe the Ecosystem Describe the biological, geological, and physical properties of the local ecosystem and how it interacts with and connects to the larger system. Step 2: Define the Problem Identify a local problem that involves the system. Curriculum Integration Step 3: Research the Problem Gain deeper insight into the problem while establishing criteria for measuring a solution’s effectiveness in addressing the problem.
Step 4: Understand Stakeholders Identify the perspectives, interests and positions of the major groups and individuals that may influence or be impacted by the problem and/or potential solutions. Step 5: Determine Possible Solutions Determine and compare solutions in relation to possible impacts, stakeholder perspectives, limitations and feasibility. Step 6: Develop a Plan Work collaboratively to develop a plan to solve the problem - identify Action Projects & required resources and steps needed for implementation, and reflect Stewardship on the potential outcomes of the solution. Step 7: Implement the Plan Carry out the plan in collaboration with others, and keep records of the process and results.
Step 8: Summarize, Evaluate and Reflect Evaluate, reflect upon and communicate the plan’s results, including Showcase Project intended and unintended consequences, and its effectiveness based on the criteria for success. Project-based Learning Model: Relevant Learning for the 21st Century Project Journals Project Journals As each student works through his/her project, whether he/she is working with the class, a small group or individually, the Journal serves as a means of project organization. Any materials or resources used, as well as any hard-copy document produced, should be placed in this journal. Providing project guidelines, including the journal layout, helps students learn valuable organization skills, while ensuring all components of a project are completed.
Upon completion, the journal then becomes a student portfolio that communicates the progression and depth of a project, as well as a means for showcasing student work. Recommended Layout Work with students to obtain a 3-ring binder and create a title page for the project journal (including project name, student name, school, mentor name and affiliation, and dates). The contents of the journal can be organized into sections (dividers) using the steps of the Project Based Learning Model: Ecosystem Description The Problem* Stakeholders Possible Solutions Project Plan Plan Implementation Evaluation/Reflection Bibliography * The Problem section combines Step 2: Define the Problem and Step 3: Research the Problem. Documentation of Sources Documentation of Sources: The Annotated Bibliography In the professional world, documentation of resources for any published work is a necessity.
Ensuring that students record information in their own words has always been a challenge for teachers. With the advent of the Internet, the copy and paste means of gathering information is all too common. Frequently, students fail to note the source, much less check to see if the source is valid and reliable.