I decided to create my PBL on density because it has always been a tough concept for my students to grasp. Each year I look for new assignments, activities, and labs to aid in teaching density and every year I finish the unit still feeling like most of my students don't truth grasp its meaning. When it came time to start implementing my PBL, I was extremely nervous about what would happen. Would my students "buy-in" to the project? Would the ships they create even work? Would my classroom sink into utter chaos with different groups working on different types of projects?
After my PBL was over I administered a large unit test. This test had questions from my entire Chemistry unit, not just density and buoyancy. To put more focus on the PBL, an essay question was put on this unit test that asked students to explain in their own words how density and buoyancy help a ship float. Data showed that 58 out of 88 students (66%) received full credit on the density question. This was a little concerning to me. I assumed this number would be much higher because of the project. What I found was that most students could relate density to the ship project, and many even understood that the ship had a lower density than the water, but they could not relate density to mass and volume. This shows me that students did make connections between the content and the real-world applications, but some still struggled with the exact science of the vocabulary.
Based on my reflections and the data from my density PBL, there are a lot of changes I will make to my next PBL. First, I want to make sure that the concept the PBL is based around is the main focus of the project. To make sure that students are truly grasping ALL of the material, I will put more individual benchmarks along the way. These benchmarks could come in the form of reflections, quick-check grades, or even quizzes or tests. I'm even flirting with the idea of creating a checklist of information students will need to show mastery of before moving on to the more "attractive" aspects of the PBL. Second, I want to give students opportunities to work with different groups of peers throughout the entire PBL. After teaching middle school for several years, I've noticed that students tend to get a little antsy within their groups after about 5 days working on a project. For my next PBL I've already planned various activities where students can work with a partner or in a lab group before finally being assigned to their project group. This will keep everything fresh and exciting so students don't lose steam heading into the second week of a longer unit. Third, I want to do a better job having students collect the needed data throughout the entire PBL. With my density project, students had a blast building and testing their ships, but when it came time to write their proposal, most groups lost interest and did not put forth good work. If I have groups gather and write the necessary parts along the entire journey, then the final task of simply putting everything together won't seem like an uninteresting chore.
I've always said that I learn more by "doing" and that has been the case with these PBLs. Actually implementing a PBL in my classroom has taught me a great deal about what I'm good at, but has also given me several areas where I know I can improve. I'm excited to create and introduce my next PBL to my students in the spring.
After my PBL was over I administered a large unit test. This test had questions from my entire Chemistry unit, not just density and buoyancy. To put more focus on the PBL, an essay question was put on this unit test that asked students to explain in their own words how density and buoyancy help a ship float. Data showed that 58 out of 88 students (66%) received full credit on the density question. This was a little concerning to me. I assumed this number would be much higher because of the project. What I found was that most students could relate density to the ship project, and many even understood that the ship had a lower density than the water, but they could not relate density to mass and volume. This shows me that students did make connections between the content and the real-world applications, but some still struggled with the exact science of the vocabulary.
Based on my reflections and the data from my density PBL, there are a lot of changes I will make to my next PBL. First, I want to make sure that the concept the PBL is based around is the main focus of the project. To make sure that students are truly grasping ALL of the material, I will put more individual benchmarks along the way. These benchmarks could come in the form of reflections, quick-check grades, or even quizzes or tests. I'm even flirting with the idea of creating a checklist of information students will need to show mastery of before moving on to the more "attractive" aspects of the PBL. Second, I want to give students opportunities to work with different groups of peers throughout the entire PBL. After teaching middle school for several years, I've noticed that students tend to get a little antsy within their groups after about 5 days working on a project. For my next PBL I've already planned various activities where students can work with a partner or in a lab group before finally being assigned to their project group. This will keep everything fresh and exciting so students don't lose steam heading into the second week of a longer unit. Third, I want to do a better job having students collect the needed data throughout the entire PBL. With my density project, students had a blast building and testing their ships, but when it came time to write their proposal, most groups lost interest and did not put forth good work. If I have groups gather and write the necessary parts along the entire journey, then the final task of simply putting everything together won't seem like an uninteresting chore.
I've always said that I learn more by "doing" and that has been the case with these PBLs. Actually implementing a PBL in my classroom has taught me a great deal about what I'm good at, but has also given me several areas where I know I can improve. I'm excited to create and introduce my next PBL to my students in the spring.
I love the idea of you putting benchmarks or checklists in place, making sure that students complete certain tasks and understand certain concepts before being allowed to move on to the more "fun" parts of the project. I would imagine that it's hard to get them to go back and write a proposal after they got to build a boat. I like reading your critique of your project, because even though we teach different age groups, we still encounter many of the same problems since we both teach science.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your final reflection and appreciate the thoughtful ways you analyzed the summative results, specifically looking at your students’ responses on the density question. You shared that 58 out of 88 students (66%) received full credit and how you were hoping it would have been higher. I appreciate how you took time to reflect on it to determine what this data revealed. You shared that it showed your students made connections between the content and the real world applications but struggled with the content specific vocabulary. You shared how next year to ensure students understand all major concepts you want to narrow the focus of the pbl and provide more individual benchmarks along the way. I think this will help, especially if your benchmarks are dual purpose – instructional and formative assessments. I also like the idea of an ongoing checklist to help students visibly see their learning objectives and work towards mastery of their “need to knows” before moving on to the next step.
You also brought up some great points about collaboration versus independent work. I agree with you that there needs to be a balance between intensive collaboration and time to work on their own. This helps ensure that students are fully present when they are working in groups and that they are able to really maximize their time together to achieve the task. You also mentioned how you wanted to facilitate student data collection more effectively throughout the next unit.
I am glad that you and your students are learning “by doing.” The more we do and reflect the better we get for our next endeavor. Thank you for your continued work!
Sincerely,
Dawn