Project-Based Learning; The Ultimate Personalized Learning Model

Social Studies for Secondary Schools: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach by Alan J. Singer: Chapter 11 ("What is a Project Approach to Social Studies?").

Make Learning Personal: The What, Who, WOW, Where, and Why by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey: Chapter 4 ("Where is Personalized Learning Happening?")


To add to the learning process I went through with chapter 10, I saw another direct application of how a project-based learning approach is a personalized learning opportunity. For starters, project-based learning is listed as one of the characteristics of personalized learning models by Bray and McClaskey (121). With project-based learning, students "are required to organize themselves and each other, think critically about difficult topics, and may actually use more demanding reading material and produce more sophisticated writing" than they would in a classroom that was simply content driven (Singer, 182). Singer emphasizes that this way of learning focuses on the skills that students need and learning as if they were actual historians or social scientists rather than trying to drive the content that historians and social scientists "need to know". I argue that Singer's approach is a better one because it is so easy to look information up on Google or through web research in an instant, but skills take a long time to develop. We can find the right answer to a question anywhere, but can we always have the skills to complete a task if we don't practice them for a significant amount of time first? I would rather focus on the skills rather than the content for that very reason.

In a project-based approach to learning, it can be tailored to student needs. "Students can work as individuals or in learning teams. Projects can originate from student discussions or teachers can present previously developed ideas to their classes. The focus ... can be on academic skill development, the research process, the product created by individuals or groups, or on student presentations in class. It can also be a combination of all of these" (182). The possibilities seem to be endless.

The possibilities are also endless on how these can be completed, and all work in a personalized way. There are examples of flexible pathways through an internship "at historic sites, government offices, with economic development agencies, or with community-based organizations" (182). Those are important community partnerships that provide new learning opportunities for students outside of the traditional classroom setting.

Voice and choice is also at the heart of a project-based approach. If we allow students to come up with any representation of what they know, that provides choice. Or, we can give them a number of options to choose from. Another example of voice and choice in one school was a "'project menu'" where "students select both the type of individual and group projects they want to complete and the topics they wish to explore so that the total value of all their projects is equal to 100 points" (183). Students get the opportunity to say what they want to learn, how they want to represent that learning, and how they will complete it. That is the ultimate voice and choice!

There is a component of the teacher just guiding learning and being a coach rather than spending all of their time at the front of the classroom lecturing and forcing students to take notes. There is opportunity for UDL as there is now flexibility in time for the teacher to have the opportunity to spend more time with students with needs and who really benefit from extra time with the teacher. Learning is self-directed as "students need to take responsibility for their learning" (184). We still guide our students but they need to be reflective and be able to monitor themselves for progress. Furthermore, there is room for flexible learning spaces. The classroom should have spaces that work for every type of project - grouped desks, desks on their own, spaces for movement and to create reenactments, technology areas if there is not 1:1 tech., etc. Additionally, not all learning has to come from the "typical" classroom; learning can take place in museums, historical societies, government buildings, etc.

This chapter really added to my understanding of personalized learning opportunities. Can this project-based learning approach be combined with a thematic unit? This is a question I really seek an answer to.