PBL Ch. 5 Learning Reflection

At this point in the course I am enjoying the process of fine tuning the Bridge Project that I do with my students in the spring. I would like for my students to have access to my web page and a wiki for the project by the end of February. I am struggling with setting up the webpage just a bit, however with persistency and practice I feel confident that it will be functional in a week or two.

Using the guiding activities from the text has been useful in beginning to learn what I will need for my project and how I can incorporate technology.  As stated above I will be creating a wiki and I have also found a site that will allow my students to build a virtual bridge which is pretty neat. I am still hoping to have my students create a smart notebook presentation of their learning process; however I will not be addressing that until I am comfortable with the general outline of the project.

After reading Ch. 5 two of the topics that I found helpful were “Team Planning” and “Start Simple, then Elaborate.”  I feel that I have a greater understanding of how to organize my student teams. In the past I have grouped them solely on ability and now I will look at my grouping in a different light. Grouping my students based on how they will complement each other versus solely on skill will allow them to be challenged and have a more active role. Additionally, I believe that creating the wiki for this project will be a great tool not only for me, but for my students as well and I have a tendency to become overwhelmed and so taking it one step at a time is ideal. I would actually like to introduce my students to the wiki and have their input as it is being created for the bridge project. Not only will they have had an opportunity to practice prior to the project but they will have an opportunity to mold it.

One other general idea that I am excited about putting into place is working backwards from the end goal while tweaking this project. There is a common thread throughout the reading and the Project Based Learning method to work from the end essential questions and learning objectives that you want the students to know and understand in order to assure that they are being met. This is an ideal way to plan and I now have the perfect opportunity to practice and refine my skills in this process.

PBL Ch. 4 Activty 1: Design Your Project

1.     Revisit the framework.

a.    Make a final list of learning objectives for core subject’s allied disciplines.

                                          i.    Students will be able to:

1.     design and construct a bridge out of toothpicks.

2.    measure and calculate the weight of their bridge.

3.    complete a cost analysis of their bridge

4.    conceptualize how their completed project will look before building their bridge.

b.    21^st-century skills to be addressed.

                                          i.    NETS – 1b and c

                                        ii.    NETS – 2a and b

                                       iii.   NETS – 3a through d

                                       iv.    NETS – 4b and c

                                         v.    NETS – 5a through d

                                       vi.    NETS – 6a

c.    Identify learning dispositions you want to foster.

                                          i.    Scientific method

                                        ii.    Problem solving

2.     Establish evidence of understanding.

a.    Students will complete a worksheet to demonstrate their understanding of the following science and math vocabulary: truss, pier, trestle, cable, caisson, acute angle, angle, congruent, diagonal, edge, obtuse angle, parallel lines, parallelogram, perpendicular line, polygon, quadrilateral, right angle, straight angle,  trapezoid

b.    Students will build a virtual bridge and then draw their bridge blueprints.

c.    Students will construct a bridge using a design of their choice that they have researched that will withstand x amount of weight

3.    Plan the project theme or challenge.

a.    Durability

b.    Environmentally safe

4.    Plan entrée into the project experience.

a.    Engineer guest speaker

b.    “Building Big Bridges” Discovery video

PBL Plan Reflection Questions

1.     What is an important and enduring concept that is fundamental to a subject you teach?

a.    Science

                                          i.    Engineering Design: Engineering design is a process of using science principles to make modifications in the world to meet human needs and aspirations.

2.     Why is this concept important?

a.    The importance of engineering design is to be able to make modifications in the world while minimizing the negative effects on the surrounding environments in addition to creating structures and that are both safe and efficient.

3.    Outside school, who cares about these topics? What is their relevance in different people’s lives and in different parts of the world?

a.    Engineering is a meaningful process to all communities around the world. Engineering allows for areas, people, and communities to be connected as well as providing a means for natural resources to be more readily available.

4.    What other subjects might be incorporated?

a.    Other subjects that may be incorporated with the science concept of engineering design are math, cost to build as one example, and language arts, the ability to communicate and comprehend information.

5.    How might you push pass rote learning into analysis, evaluation and creation?

a.    By providing a real world problem for students to research, analyze, and create a solution to. Then giving them the opportunity to put that plan into action.

6.    Imagine authentic ways students might engage in the project and the ways 21^st century skills might be addressed.

a.    I would like to develop and expand upon a project I have done in the past for this science content standard, which is having my students design, build, and test a bridge. 21^st century skills that might be addressed are: use of the internet to search different types of bridges around the world, using a wiki to post findings, and creating a smart notebook presentation to express their ideas and/or the steps in their design process.

7.    What aspects of these topics will interest your students?

a.    I think my students will be especially interested in the opportunity to build a model of a bridge as well as exploring our interactive smart notebook software.

8.    What learning dispositions should you cultivates and ask your students to pay attention to?

a.    I would like my students to pay attention to the scientific process and how it is applied to engineering design in addition to creating a structure that is safe and not damaging to the environment.