The Importance Of Project-Based Learning

It starts from infancy. Effective learning has occurred through curiosity and active engagement from the very beginning. Think about how a baby discovers the world around him. He will experiment and research by touching, feeling, tasting and exploring everything in his environment. He explores with a heightened spirit of inquiry and he overloads his senses at every opportunity. Project Based Learning (PBL) is simply a way to enhance a student’s curiosity, and allow them the opportunity to work through their learning with the same ups and downs that they encountered when they first learned to walk. Instead of just ingesting the educational material spoonfed to them, students have the opportunity to actually experience the journey of their …show more content…
According to John Larmer, “When it comes to building the ideal graduate, project-based learning lays a strong foundation.” In his article “It’s a Project-Based World”, he explains that teachers, administrators, parents, business people, community members and other stakeholders all have the same standard for what a high school graduate’s career readiness portfolio should possess. According to Larmer, “the graduate’s profile typically looks like this every time: a responsible, resourceful, persistent critical thinker who knows how to learn, works well with others, is a problem solver, communicates well, and manages time and work effectively.” (Larmer 2016). In addition, another key component to this type of learning is the safe zone in which students are allowed to experience failure and learn how to re-evaluate, make adjustments to their ideas, and ultimately work through them in an effort to persevere until they find a solution. This type of hands-on, real life experience of success, failure and grit, leads to a deeper understanding and retention of information. Finally, it is important to allow students to engage in issues that are real and important to them. The autonomy that students have in PBL inspires self esteem and self confidence. As stated in the book “Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student Centered Classroom” “Project-based learning “not only fosters and enhances a sense of community and collaboration but also has …show more content…
In the article, “It’s a Project Based World” a student that graduated from project-based schools talked about the influence that type of teaching had on her. Katie Wayne said, “project-based learning did not teach me to sit quietly. Rather it taught me to be adaptable and embrace ambiguity, to seek the value in others and lead inclusively, and to be confident in forging my own life and career.” (Larmer 2016). Students are learning how to take responsibility for their work, manage time, resources ,and behaviors, improve both verbal and written communication skills, and many times are challenged to expand their thinking, moving them outside of their comfort zone. This causes students to grow in confidence and as a person. The collective impact that PBL has on students is that it allows them to develop into that “ideal graduate student” the world in looking for. In a country that is struggling to produce a competent and qualified workforce we need to do a better job in our school systems to develop those skills that will make our country competitive for future jobs. Words that have been used by students and teachers to describe their experience with PBL include, empowering, increased self confidence, leadership, making a difference, and intrinsically motivated, just to name a few. The authentic, and real world applications that are addressed through PBL are creating the necessary and vital connections students need to