One of the greatest struggles I had when I was in the classroom was finding lessons and activities that were engaging and that the students would find value in and outside of the classroom. Unfortunately, I never mastered how this was supposed to look. There were a couple of things that stood in my way that more often than not kept me from having the students engage in more “real-world experiences.” For one, I just didn’t know how the students would handle being given minimal direction in undertaking something of this magnitude. Letting go was something that I was not very comfortable with until a few years into my instruction. Another apprehension of mine was that I didn’t think that what I was going to have the students complete would fit in with my curriculum or would have a dramatic impact on student achievement. These were and still are major concerns of teachers as we move forward with challenged/problem based learning.
On Tuesday, I had the chance to attend a training put on by Apple about Challenged Based Learning. I went in with an open mind but still had the apprehensions mentioned above on my mind as the training was taking place. After completing the training I was relieved that all of the anxieties I had before were addressed. As for letting go, it was nice to see some examples of challenges that other students had completed. It was definitely reassuring to know that students at all levels were producing high quality work that they were excited about. As we all know, everyone is more likely to complete a task with higher quality if it is something they enjoy or something they see value in. By challenging our students with finding a solution to a problem that is worthwhile to them will increase levels of engagement in our classes. The anxiety about having the time and tying it to the curriculum is something that is also something that we need to stop worrying about. In the process of giving students some big ideas, letting them identify an essential question and identifying a solution will expose students to a variety of standards across multiple subjects. Plus, the levels of critical thinking and problem solving will be exponentially higher than completing a worksheet about new learning.
As far as student achievement is concerned, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information supporting one way or the other. However, there is a plethora of research that is out there that concludes how there is an increase in student achievement when there is a presence of high levels of critical thinking and problem solving in student work. As I mentioned above, Challenged/Problem Based Learning is something that will take some time to become proficient with. There will be some hiccups and speedbumps along the way. However, we owe it our students to provide them with learning opportunities that peak their interests and will require them to use 21st Century skills to accomplish. Visit challengebasedlearning.org to find additional information and challenges that have already been completed.
On Tuesday, I had the chance to attend a training put on by Apple about Challenged Based Learning. I went in with an open mind but still had the apprehensions mentioned above on my mind as the training was taking place. After completing the training I was relieved that all of the anxieties I had before were addressed. As for letting go, it was nice to see some examples of challenges that other students had completed. It was definitely reassuring to know that students at all levels were producing high quality work that they were excited about. As we all know, everyone is more likely to complete a task with higher quality if it is something they enjoy or something they see value in. By challenging our students with finding a solution to a problem that is worthwhile to them will increase levels of engagement in our classes. The anxiety about having the time and tying it to the curriculum is something that is also something that we need to stop worrying about. In the process of giving students some big ideas, letting them identify an essential question and identifying a solution will expose students to a variety of standards across multiple subjects. Plus, the levels of critical thinking and problem solving will be exponentially higher than completing a worksheet about new learning.
As far as student achievement is concerned, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information supporting one way or the other. However, there is a plethora of research that is out there that concludes how there is an increase in student achievement when there is a presence of high levels of critical thinking and problem solving in student work. As I mentioned above, Challenged/Problem Based Learning is something that will take some time to become proficient with. There will be some hiccups and speedbumps along the way. However, we owe it our students to provide them with learning opportunities that peak their interests and will require them to use 21st Century skills to accomplish. Visit challengebasedlearning.org to find additional information and challenges that have already been completed.