Student-selected, problem-based learning to promote lifelong learning skills and diversity in STEM

1. Student-selected, problem-based learning to promote lifelong learning skills and diversity in STEM Jim Egenrieder Virginia Tech, National Capital Region

2. Overview • Background on project-based learning • Strategies for promoting inquiry • Building connections between STEM and non-STEM curricula • Developing skills for lifelong learning, management and leadership • Promoting projects that result in products with extended utility • Attracting students to STEM careers

3. Introduction • Project-based learning has been part of the school curriculum for nearly a century • teacher strategies have changed significantly • now an integral part of the curriculum, rather than a supplement • Breaks the traditional classroom routines characterized by control, reiteration and duplication, and standardization.

4. Goal for the STEM educator • to develop and maintain students’ connections to STEM tools and practices that foster lifelong learning and appreciation for STEM disciplines Even when such students do not pursue STEM careers, their appreciation for STEM connections in the world around them benefits everyone.

5. Pedagogy of Project-Based Learning • involves students in project design, • problem-solving investigations or • experiences that give students extended periods of time to work autonomously. • resulting products or presentations demonstrate understanding, application and often, synthesis.

6. Other components: • authentic content and assessment, • a reduced role for the teacher as instructor, • increased role as a facilitator • cooperative learning • reflective self-assessment • constructivism • development of adult skills • community involvement • cognitive use of technology-based tools

7. Project-based learning is also well-rooted in constructivist principles • Collaboration • personal autonomy • guiding the next generation • reflection and self assessment • Peer assessment • active engagement • personal relevance • and pluralism

8. Project-based learning as inquiry • Project-based learning is an informal type of inquiry learning. • provides relevance, depth, application and understanding to the formal transfer of knowledge • inquiry, whether formal or informal, does not entirely replace the efficiency and effectiveness of lectures and classroom discussion.

9. 5-E Approach to Inquiry IDENTIFY THE SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT FOR THE LESSON • Engage - real-world or practical applications • Explore - opportunities for students to observe, collect and record information • Explain – driven by research questions • Elaborate (Extend) – deepen students’ understanding • Evaluate – throughout; and then revise

10. Inquiry and Established Curricula • NSES promote an emphasis on guiding students in active and extended inquiry • NSES also promote teachers’ recognizing and responding to students’ individual interests, strengths, experiences and needs • AAAS promotes inquiry through investigation as the tool for scientific literacy

11. In Virginia • Beginning with the third grade, all Virginia Science Standards of Learning except chemistry begin with, “The student will plan and conduct investigations in which…” followed by a grade-specific or subject-specific list of metrics that typically include observations, background research, and the construction of a scientific viewpoint (Virginia Department of Education, 2007). • Standards for the younger grades and chemistry include investigations but not planning.

12. Project-based learning allows for cognitive scaffolding that parallels the most familiar scientific methods: • a.) a problem or question is identified; • b.) background information is developed to identify possible solutions; • c.) procedures to evaluate the solution are performed; • d.) inferences are made; • e.) the solution is evaluated in consideration of other knowledge; • f.) the results are presented to others; and • g.) the outcomes are discussed and further inquiry is considered

13. The Nature of Science: • demand for empirical evidence • multiple approaches to defining problems and conducting research • the creative aspects of research • the role of technologies • recognition of inherent subjectivity, and • the cultural and social influences on science

14. Project-based learning opportunities: • development of new skills • exploration of curiosities • practice in project-management • differentiation in instruction

15. Procedures vs. Investigations Procedures • prescribed steps • prescribed outcome • “cookbook labs” • Hands-on Investigation • answer questions or solve problems • open-ended inquiry • includes procedures

16. Inquiry means…. • Investigate • Experiment • Explore • Design • Develop

17. Procedures vs. Investigations

18. Procedures vs. Investigations

19. Student-selected projects: • connections between their classroom experiences and their interests and environments. greater opportunities for cross-curricular discoveries • greater student investment • Positive experience in school • Meaningful experience with inquiry • connections between their interests and STEM

20. Benefits of student-choice in project-based learning • Students take greater ownership in their projects and the products. 2. Students benefit from control of their curriculum. 3. Particularly in larger projects, all students can participate, and they can often choose the level at which they participate. 4. Students develop tools for lifelong learning. 5. Field experiences provide practice for developing and validating data collection protocols and procedures. • Data collected by students can have an impact on the community. 7. Student involvement often leads to greater parent involvement and contribution of resources.

21. Projects Producing Products with Utility What happens when a teacher is the only audience for documents, models and other demonstrations of learning? • Secondary teachers should require that all projects have a product with utility beyond the student or students that developed it.

22. Examples • Watershed Monitoring • Invasive plant removal • Science newsletters • Neighborhood Trees • Taxidermy • Bee-Keeping

23. Remote-Controlled Aerial Videography

24. Indigenous Fisheries / Embryology

25. More on fishes

26. Biodiesel and Waste Oil Fuels

27. Forestry

28. STEM and Diverse Learners All students have fundamental needs (Osterman, 2000): • desire to belong or to feel accepted • control or power to set their own goals • self-determination or freedom to pursue their goals • pleasure, satisfaction, or fun

29. Reaching a more diverse group of students: • Artists • Poets • Athletes • Gamers • Skaters • Others: • food choices • human sexuality • diseases in their family

30. Project Management Concerns • expanded monitoring and troubleshooting by the teacher • spreadsheets are helpful for tracking project milestones, recording project names, and keeping track of experts, permissions and action-items. • teachers can delegate • teacher must also guide the students to manage their own projects • prepared forms, or better, memoranda or email to mimic the workplace

31. Presentations • reflective of the products, but not be the focus of the project • product minimizes importance of the presentation • presentation can be shortened significantly • allows for 10 to 15 presentations per week • presentations become routine, and a life skill • experience with presentation technology, (e.g., PowerPoint and Blackboard) prepares students for higher education and the workplace • web pages highlighting their project and findings are marketable skills

32. Project and Product Concerns • murals in schools are permanent • web pages are available worldwide, 24 hours as day • students off school grounds • relationships with experts

33. What About the Science and Engineering Fair? Most science fair projects do not receive any special recognition and may discourage students. However, teachers can promote a timeline and structure for IRB and SRC review

34. Summary • The value of project-based learning in STEM disciplines is enhanced when teachers facilitate students’ selection of project topics. • Students take greater ownership in their projects and benefit from control of their curriculum in choosing the level at which they participate. • They also develop tools for lifelong learning while gaining field experience in data collection. • The communities benefit in many ways and often provide recognitions for students’ contributions, and this reflects on the school, the teacher, and teenagers in general. • Parents’ involvement in the community may also increase as they facilitate their kid’s interests. • Community-focused projects may add additional challenges for teachers because of the higher visibility of students’ activities.