As a very hands on and visual learner I have always enjoyed lessons and projects in class that involve making, creating or designing models of concepts. This is also true for my teaching methods and while social distancing and remote learning has been new for many learners and educators the standards and requirements are still the same. We all have learned to adjust, modify and find new ways to promote learning for learners virtually. Being a very project based and hands on instructor I had a difficult time converting what I was suppose to teach into an online format.
Being a biomedical and biology teacher is a very rewarding and enjoyable position. I enjoy setting up laboratory experiments, performing real scientific investigative labs where students get hands on experience with real science lab technology. Rather it's sheep heart dissections, forensic bone analysis or bacterial plasmid transformation many of the activities are best learned when applied with real life applications. The joys of trying to convert these activities and keep the same level of engagement have been a task not many of us were prepared for until forced by the quarantine.
Designing a Project Based Learning Curriculum that is both hands on exclusive with virtual options has became a new passion of mine. In this new age of education I think it is important to create hands on learning curriculum that can be completed with virtual and in person learners that are equitable. Of course there are many virtual simulators and websites for dissections and and most of the activities I mentioned above but I would like to go beyond those and design programs that provide hands on learning for at distance and in person learners.
Here are some videos from YouTube that explain what Project based Learning is and how it works. Also some ideas for project based learning.
I was just talking about PBL last week with someone else! And I do agree that PBL is a really important way to ensure deep/immersive engagement. It is also an effective way to assure opportunity and equity in content area learning. Ladson-Billings in her classic book "The Dreamkeepers" views PBL as an important aspect for the successful teaching of African American and underserved students. PBL works recently published an article on how PBL provides important "equity levers" for learning.
I am a big fan of PBL having witnessed its successful applications first-hand in arts integration programs serving elementary/middle school students; in the Expeditionary Learning School (grades PreK-8) I am currently doing a project with; and of course with the Reggio Emilia approach for our youngest learners. I came across this great podcast in which 10 educational leaders from around the country are speaking on the benefits of project-based learning and the challenges to offering more high quality PBL at scale:
https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/02/getting-smart-podcast-10-leaders-on-high-quality-pbl-doing-it-well-at-scale/
I enjoyed watching the video on project based learning. Project based learning is pretty handy for helping students solve problems, and also helps them to apply critical thinking skills for innovations.
Thank you,
I have been doing project based learning styles for a a couple of years now. Being virtual was very challenging for my class because their is so many hands on activities and trying to find a virtual replacement option was difficult at first but I eventually began to appreciate this time and what educators and teams have been able to do in a short period of time.