Dilemma 6
How can an authentic project be assessment?
How can an authentic project be assessment?
Projects have been around for a long time.
A Project is an interdisciplinary, long –term, focused, authentic model of social constructivist learning. They are fun, motivating, challenging and students play an active role.
The project is student centred and student directed. Students usually choose their own topics and parameters.
The content of the project is then meaningful for the student. It will be culturally relevant and respect student’s abilities and disabilities.
Projects are real-world about the student’s environment and thus meaningful for the student. This increases motivation and self-esteem. It also prepares people towards implementing their new learning in the workplace.
The project aims to connect academic life, work and home as well as the learning community.
A tangible product is produced that allows the student to use reflective practice, obtain expert feedback and develop higher order thinking, deeper appreciation with knowledge.
The project allows the student to increase problem solving skill, communication skills, social skills, cognitive skills, affective skills, Meta-cognitive skills and increase their technological literacy.
People can use their individual learning styles and diverse learning to best advantage.
However, projects can take more time than is allotted and not address all the curriculum needs. They require a large amount of time and work from teachers. Some teachers cannot cope with the technology and others are not used to the non-directive nature of project work. Some students may become too independent unless rules are established at the start. Often there is a lack of resources, administrative support, parental support.
A Project is an interdisciplinary, long –term, focused, authentic model of social constructivist learning. They are fun, motivating, challenging and students play an active role.
The project is student centred and student directed. Students usually choose their own topics and parameters.
The content of the project is then meaningful for the student. It will be culturally relevant and respect student’s abilities and disabilities.
Projects are real-world about the student’s environment and thus meaningful for the student. This increases motivation and self-esteem. It also prepares people towards implementing their new learning in the workplace.
The project aims to connect academic life, work and home as well as the learning community.
A tangible product is produced that allows the student to use reflective practice, obtain expert feedback and develop higher order thinking, deeper appreciation with knowledge.
The project allows the student to increase problem solving skill, communication skills, social skills, cognitive skills, affective skills, Meta-cognitive skills and increase their technological literacy.
People can use their individual learning styles and diverse learning to best advantage.
However, projects can take more time than is allotted and not address all the curriculum needs. They require a large amount of time and work from teachers. Some teachers cannot cope with the technology and others are not used to the non-directive nature of project work. Some students may become too independent unless rules are established at the start. Often there is a lack of resources, administrative support, parental support.
What projects have you done?
Share some of your teaching experiences with projects.
Some more reading:
Railsback, J. (2002) Project based instruction: creating excitement for learning US Department of education, ERIC retrieved 12/5/2007
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/27/e5/ac.pdf
Some more reading:
Railsback, J. (2002) Project based instruction: creating excitement for learning US Department of education, ERIC retrieved 12/5/2007
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/27/e5/ac.pdf
4 comments:
Several years ago, I taught introductory courses in the Microsoft office suite online. These types of courses lent themselves very well to project assessment. Students covered "X" chapters and then created a database, web page, desk top publishing project of their choice. I used a rubric to define the required elements that must be incorporated in the project. The project allowed them to use the tools in a way that was meaningful to them. Often they came up with solutions (thinking outside the box)that they may have otherwise have missed had they been given a 'set criteria' to follow.
This worked well for this type of content.
In my current course, while the assessment is not a project in quite this way, I set them a "research project" at the start of semester. Throughout the semester they complete a range of assessment activities related to the same issue/topic within the research project. At the end, the finalise a paper on the issue we have examined in depth across the semester.
As a learner, I completed a course last year, which was an independent study project. I found the course overall quite frustrating as the subject was too independent, and the teacher did not seem to have the resources (time and otherwise) to support the projects or the course as a complete learning experience. I think that this affected the motivation and the learning community that struggled to be established in the course.
Thanks for sharing this experience Judy. I think that your students were very lucky to have you teaching them.I think that a lot of teachers become anxious about moving outside the 'set criteria' especially about letting the boundaries slip and chaos rules. You achieved a shift of boundaries by including the rubric.
I think that this online conference is a good example of a project. Given plenty of freedom, lots of ideas but no 'directives' we have all achieved an incredible array of projects, papers and multi-modal, authentic projects.
Hi Cassandra,
I can relate to your frustration at too little scaffolding, feedback and help. Do you think that teachers need the feedback so they can modify their behaviour towards best practice?
Joyce
One of our MBA subjects (which I referred to in an earlier comment) requires students to select a business innovation they wish to develop, then prepare a business case and later a business plan for it. The business case requires them to submit a voice presentation plus four-page information document directed at a Board, and the business plan requires them to develop financials, marketing plan and a whole heap else.
Whilst they have the option of using a wonderful scenario if they don't currently have an innovation to develop, most do their own innovation. They frequently pour their heart and soul into the project and it shows in their results - and the person who is assessing them is an ex-corporate entrepreneur with exacting standards.
In the evaluations for this subject, many students say this is the hardest, most time-consuming, best and most rewarding subject in their MBA.
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