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PBL and the 4-C's of 21st Century Learning
During a PBL workshop, I heard one of our instructors say, "PBL is the ultimate tool for teaching the 4 C's," and I wholeheartedly agree. PBL, if done even to it's bare minimum has the ability to engage students far beyond a typical direct instruction lesson and students end up learning skills in addition to reading comprehension, note taking, and writing skills.
One day, after numerous weeks of PBL, my 9th grade geography students started complaining about PBL and were clamoring for bookwork. I obliged and gave them questions to answer from their textbook that they had to answer after reading. They were not able to work with others and had to remain silent during class. At the end of the class, their work was due and most students turned in all of the completed questions. The next day, I started by quizzing them on what they had learned the previous day. I wasn’t surprised to find out that the vast majority of my students had not learned the material, but simple gave the illusion of learning when they turned their work in the previous day. I asked the class to come up with a project that would enable us to better understand the rest of the chapter, which was on pollution in the Great Lakes. As a class, the students came up with what they really wanted to know, which we easily turned into a driving question, and what our end project would look like. We made lists of possible ideas and eliminated them until we came up with a project that was to their liking that answered what the pollutants in the Lakes were and how they had been cleaned up since the problem became widely known.
I asked them which of the 4-C’s they used the previous day when they did bookwork, and the consensus was they hadn’t used any of the 4. They didn’t learn the material, nor did they work on any other skills besides reading and writing. I followed up that question by asking which of the 4-C’s they used today, just in creating their project, and it was a unanimous “all 4.” Then I decided to quiz them on the material they had learned in the previous 10 weeks and almost every student could answer those questions. “If all you learn from my class is geography, then I have failed you as a teacher,” I told them. I proceeded to go over the 4-C’s with the class so they could better understand what I wanted them to learn in addition to geography.
The 4 C's, in no particular order are:
Critical Thinking- There are many ways to develop the critical thinking skill, and teachers have numerous ways they incorporate into their classrooms. A good driving question is open ended, with no real correct answer, that asks the students to demonstrate their knowledge in a way that is largely guided, but not given. This sets the tone for the critical thinking process in the project. Students are immediately aware that they will not be able to find the answer to this question by looking on a particular page in a book but will have to dig deeper to eliminate possibilities, compare and contrast ideas, and come up with the best solution.
Communication- Can the students effectively show others what they know and communicate their ideas in a clear manner? The mode of communication is what is being taught and assessed, not just their ability to talk to their neighbor. Oral presentations are great ways to measure communication skills, but there are other things that can be done to show communication skill development.
When students design a model of an atom, their project communicates their knowledge to others, and if done effectively, can replace an oral presentation or at least enhance a presentation. When students are asked to solve a math problem on the board in from of the class, their steps communicate how they achieved their answer. A movie, drawing, website, sculpture, song, podcast, or email are other ways to demonstrate the communication skill that one might find in a PBL project.
Creativity- When students have the ability to innovate different approaches to a problem, that is not strictly governed, but guided, their creativity is tested and higher level of thinking takes place. In projects, creativity can be displayed in various ways. A different approach to a question or topic certainly helps to drive creativity. Students that are studying Supreme Court cases might look at the wording of amendments and previous court cases, creatively apply it to another scenario, and make a link that others might not have thought of, in the same way real Supreme Court Justices work.
The physical design of a project, many times, is a great way to measure creativity. If a class has a project where the end result is to make a shoebox model of a place, many times students will ask for details of the model, or even an example of the model to see what they need to do. When the teacher shows an example of the model, the students will do everything they can to replicate that exact model and they are not developing their creativity skill set. Instead, when a teacher gives guidance and mentions things like, "You need 3-D components, lots of color, and descriptions of content," students are given an idea of what they need to provide to succeed, but not given the answer to replicate. As a result, the students make projects that differ and are unique to that particular student. Where one student might choose to use blue tissue paper to depict water, another would choose to use blue toothpaste with goldfish crackers on top (real example).
Collaboration- A Japanese proverb says that “none of us are as smart as all of us.” Most people feel they can achieve better results if they are able to share and receive ideas from others, but a direct instruction approach contradicts that and students are many times forced to figure things out on their own. Too many teachers take the “my way or the highway” approach to teaching and are bewildered when students are left on that highway. They enjoy the quiet, orderly classroom where talking is prohibited because as the teacher, he or she has all the answers as well as the right questions to ask.
A PBL classroom certainly has it’s moments where the teacher needs to address the class, but there is also sufficient opportunity for students to talk to their peers and work out scenarios and ideas on their own. Think, pair, share, and jigsaw are common, formal ways to teach collaboration, but an informal conversation between two students is just as valuable. When students are given a problem, collaboration helps to achieve the best result which many times, are more creative and on a deeper level of thinking than when students try to do it on their own.
People are natural collaborators and are taught to learn that way early on when they sit in groups in elementary school. When they hit middle school, however, they are forced to sit in rows and told to stay quiet so they can take notes on the powerpoint, in preparation for high school and college, yet are then asked to collaborate with others in a job setting. For this reason, many students enter the workforce with an elementary school level of the collaboration skill.
One day, after numerous weeks of PBL, my 9th grade geography students started complaining about PBL and were clamoring for bookwork. I obliged and gave them questions to answer from their textbook that they had to answer after reading. They were not able to work with others and had to remain silent during class. At the end of the class, their work was due and most students turned in all of the completed questions. The next day, I started by quizzing them on what they had learned the previous day. I wasn’t surprised to find out that the vast majority of my students had not learned the material, but simple gave the illusion of learning when they turned their work in the previous day. I asked the class to come up with a project that would enable us to better understand the rest of the chapter, which was on pollution in the Great Lakes. As a class, the students came up with what they really wanted to know, which we easily turned into a driving question, and what our end project would look like. We made lists of possible ideas and eliminated them until we came up with a project that was to their liking that answered what the pollutants in the Lakes were and how they had been cleaned up since the problem became widely known.
I asked them which of the 4-C’s they used the previous day when they did bookwork, and the consensus was they hadn’t used any of the 4. They didn’t learn the material, nor did they work on any other skills besides reading and writing. I followed up that question by asking which of the 4-C’s they used today, just in creating their project, and it was a unanimous “all 4.” Then I decided to quiz them on the material they had learned in the previous 10 weeks and almost every student could answer those questions. “If all you learn from my class is geography, then I have failed you as a teacher,” I told them. I proceeded to go over the 4-C’s with the class so they could better understand what I wanted them to learn in addition to geography.
The 4 C's, in no particular order are:
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Creativity
- Collaboration
Critical Thinking- There are many ways to develop the critical thinking skill, and teachers have numerous ways they incorporate into their classrooms. A good driving question is open ended, with no real correct answer, that asks the students to demonstrate their knowledge in a way that is largely guided, but not given. This sets the tone for the critical thinking process in the project. Students are immediately aware that they will not be able to find the answer to this question by looking on a particular page in a book but will have to dig deeper to eliminate possibilities, compare and contrast ideas, and come up with the best solution.
Communication- Can the students effectively show others what they know and communicate their ideas in a clear manner? The mode of communication is what is being taught and assessed, not just their ability to talk to their neighbor. Oral presentations are great ways to measure communication skills, but there are other things that can be done to show communication skill development.
When students design a model of an atom, their project communicates their knowledge to others, and if done effectively, can replace an oral presentation or at least enhance a presentation. When students are asked to solve a math problem on the board in from of the class, their steps communicate how they achieved their answer. A movie, drawing, website, sculpture, song, podcast, or email are other ways to demonstrate the communication skill that one might find in a PBL project.
Creativity- When students have the ability to innovate different approaches to a problem, that is not strictly governed, but guided, their creativity is tested and higher level of thinking takes place. In projects, creativity can be displayed in various ways. A different approach to a question or topic certainly helps to drive creativity. Students that are studying Supreme Court cases might look at the wording of amendments and previous court cases, creatively apply it to another scenario, and make a link that others might not have thought of, in the same way real Supreme Court Justices work.
The physical design of a project, many times, is a great way to measure creativity. If a class has a project where the end result is to make a shoebox model of a place, many times students will ask for details of the model, or even an example of the model to see what they need to do. When the teacher shows an example of the model, the students will do everything they can to replicate that exact model and they are not developing their creativity skill set. Instead, when a teacher gives guidance and mentions things like, "You need 3-D components, lots of color, and descriptions of content," students are given an idea of what they need to provide to succeed, but not given the answer to replicate. As a result, the students make projects that differ and are unique to that particular student. Where one student might choose to use blue tissue paper to depict water, another would choose to use blue toothpaste with goldfish crackers on top (real example).
Collaboration- A Japanese proverb says that “none of us are as smart as all of us.” Most people feel they can achieve better results if they are able to share and receive ideas from others, but a direct instruction approach contradicts that and students are many times forced to figure things out on their own. Too many teachers take the “my way or the highway” approach to teaching and are bewildered when students are left on that highway. They enjoy the quiet, orderly classroom where talking is prohibited because as the teacher, he or she has all the answers as well as the right questions to ask.
A PBL classroom certainly has it’s moments where the teacher needs to address the class, but there is also sufficient opportunity for students to talk to their peers and work out scenarios and ideas on their own. Think, pair, share, and jigsaw are common, formal ways to teach collaboration, but an informal conversation between two students is just as valuable. When students are given a problem, collaboration helps to achieve the best result which many times, are more creative and on a deeper level of thinking than when students try to do it on their own.
People are natural collaborators and are taught to learn that way early on when they sit in groups in elementary school. When they hit middle school, however, they are forced to sit in rows and told to stay quiet so they can take notes on the powerpoint, in preparation for high school and college, yet are then asked to collaborate with others in a job setting. For this reason, many students enter the workforce with an elementary school level of the collaboration skill.