The Humble Bird Teacher
Imagine you are sitting in a classroom where students are collaborating while thinking critically, creatively, and respecting each other’s decisions through citizenship. They are fully engaged in learning and excited about what they are learning. The great part about this type of learning is that your students don’t even realize they are being assessed, and they also receive real-life experience with the scenarios created for this assignment. This is know as Project Based Learning (PBL) or Project Based Assessment (PBA).
Project Based Learning and Project Based Assessment
Many students enjoy working on projects because it allows them to express themselves in a creative way. Students can review a certain skills that will help them connect to the real world and 21st century demands. Students learn to solve problems, and most importantly, they have a choice on what they study. It makes learning personal versus a multiple-choice test that doesn’t give students the chance to express what they know. Students are scored by a rubric instead of a machine, and they have several days or weeks to complete their assignment to show understanding in the topic provided by the teacher such as research, writing, basic math skills, persuasion, inferences, and more.
How to Create Your Own PBL and PBA
If you are familiar with R.A.F.T then you are half way there with creating your own PBL or PBA. A great PBL or PBA will include the role, audience, format, and topic. Your students will take on a role of a real-life person as you give them an audience, format, and task to complete. Additionally, you will need to provide them with a scenario, rubric, and materials needed to complete the task. These types of assessments will make testing fun for your students, and they will have a chance to show you that they learned the skills taught in class.
How are They Different?
A PBL is more like an independent study for student to prove they understood the objectives taught. On the other hand, a PBA replaces your typical multiple-choice test. Students show their understanding through a final presentation just like a PBL; however, you would count it as a test grade. Are they really different? Not really, but they are definitely the wave of the future, and they will eventually replace common tests and maybe, even state tests.
Are you ready to get started with a PBL or PBA? Click here.
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