To forget or to not forget that is thine question. Lectures tend to go in one ear and out the other. Involving critical thinking and getting ones hands dirty helps to remember. The Guilds of The Renaissance always stand out to me when talking about project based learning. There is no better way than to do.
One post in our cohort mentioned project-based learning is slower without having an expert on the subject. That is true however, where is the struggle if you can just get the answer and it is through the struggle one learns or gets better at learning. Although, in our case, I feel like the museum was the expert. I may have never visited the museum if it wasn’t a part of our class. An artifact is worth a thousand words…
Two things about this class that I think are invaluable are the technological aspects and how to’s of project based learning. Haiku Deck, Google map making, iBooks, WordPress, etc all have uses beyond what we used them in class for. Furthermore, it will happen, for all of us in the cohort, one day we will have to teach and don’t know much about a subject or we are unprepared. Project-based learning is invaluable in that sense and it aids retention. Most of all, teaching students how to teach themselves is the most important lesson any teacher can give.
Tyson- I really like the concept of teaching students to teach themselves. Yes, project-based learning can be slower… but I think you’re right, overall it gives students the ability to gain critical thinking skills that will help them be successful in life.
And adding onto what Electra said,… it also forces students to work together and deal with group dynamics and work with different learning/leadership styles. A very valuable lesson!
Agree with these comments. You can plow through subject material by lecturing every day, but projects like these allow students to think critically and come away with deeper understanding.
Tyson, your post is awesome. Your last phrase really resonates with me. It reminds me of some words of wisdom my viola teacher said to me during every lesson, “I’m teaching you to be your own best teacher.” He was right — it was the best skill anyone could have ever taught me . . . how to teach myself. You are also absolutely right about struggle being the thing that causes people to learn better and more deeply. Through struggle, we have to grapple with a concept from all angles, and therefore we internalize that knowledge and learn it better.