Gathering Research - Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning 

Problem Based LearningGenius Hour20% TimeInquiry Based Learning

As part of an assignment for Mindlab - Post Grad Paper on Applied Practice - Digital and Collaborative Learning we are currently gathering and reading research on Project Based Learning. We are still working on formulating a research question - finding that there is a lot of reading and talking to do as we close in on one question to focus the inquiry. One of our hunches is that Project Based Learning is a great context or vehicle to teach 21st Century skills to our students.

21st Century skills are becoming more and more important for our students to acquire and it is our job, our core business to provide the students the contexts in which to acquire and practice these skills and to cause learning (love this term that I heard at Neill O'Reilly's seminar at Waitakiri School this afternoon) - It is our job to cause learning!

21st Century Skills

Self regulation
Creativity
Communication
Collaboration
Critical thinking
Problem Solving

The Envision blog lists several more for us to consider.

What is Project Based Learning? This definition is from the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) site

Themes from the Research
There are some themes emerging as we read more widely around the topic:

- engagement and motivation
- student agency
- student centred vs teacher directed
- barriers to implementation
- the use of technology in implementation of PBL

More about this after we have read more and talked more...


Other questions for me to ponder while gathering the research...

How does Project based learning differ from Genius Hour, 20% time, Inquiry based learning? Does it differ from Genius Hour, 20% time, Inquiry based learning?