Project-Based Learning
Authentic, Active, Collaborative
In a social studies course, project-based learning allows student to build and develop their historical thinking skills. Both internal and external authentic learning are essential for an effective social studies PBL (Turk & Brensilver Berman, 2018). Internally authentic learning allows students to engage in the same work as historians, such as evaluating evidence, debating different interpretations of the evidence and their implications, and developing a compelling narrative with the evidence. Externally authentic connects the learning to the real world, to students' lives and their concerns, and emphasizes the social value of what students are creating.
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Project-based learning is one way to support a significant learning environment. By promoting learner agency, PBL is associated with choice, ownership, and autonomy (Lenz & Larmer, 2020). By adding project-based learning to my blended learning classroom, I can provide students with another opportunity to make their learning their own.
PBL Plan
This is my project-based learning plan for my U.S. History course. The project allows learners to discover how a number of landmark Supreme Court cases directly affects their lives as students in the public education system. This project asks students, "what will you do with what you learned?"
References
Lenz, B., & Larmer, J. (2020). Project-Based Learning that Makes a Difference. Educational Leadership, 77(6).
Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/project-based-learning-that-makes-a-difference.
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Turk, D., & Brensilver Berman, S. (2018). Learning through Doing: A Project-Based Learning Approach to the
American Civil Rights Movement, 82(1), 35–39. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from
https://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/articles/se_820135.pdf.
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