Education is considered important in so many ways for the evolution & growth of self, family, society, nation, and mankind. But do we question enough on what the purpose of education is, for our children and how is it being achieved? Why is education delivered the way it is? Is it relevant in the times we are living in? Are there any other approaches?
The biggest question today is not about ‘what are we teaching’ but it is ‘how are we teaching’?
Let me throw some light on one such alternative approach, ‘Project-Based Learning’.
What is Project-Based Learning?
Project-Based Learning, PBL, is a process of teaching in which kids are engaged in real life and personally meaningful projects. It is an active approach to education where kids are learning by doing rather than just passively receiving and processing information.
Kids work on a project that may extend over a period of time — from a week to months — that engages them in asking questions, experimenting, building prototypes, finding answers & solving real-life problems. In the process, they explore and demonstrate knowledge and skills.
As a result, students develop skills like critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, initiative, perseverance, and other social-emotional skills required to succeed in career and life.
An example of Project-based Learning could be where kids are given a problem that — in an overcrowded city they have come with a design for a small house that can be built within a budget and provides a good and healthy living.
During the process, kids will try to understand the user and their needs like who is going to live in the house, what are their preferences, how do they live, what kind of activities do they do for the most part of the day, how do they prefer to relax, etc. Once they have thoroughly empathized with the user and defined their needs. They move on to brainstorming the solution. While brainstorming, they think creatively. critically and collaboratively about the possible features of the house while researching other things like its location, climatic conditions, housing rules, materials, cost, etc.
Once they, as a team, have a consensus on a solution they start using design, engineering, and technology tools to build the prototype. While doing this they may also have to learn new tools like 3D printing, Arduino, sensors, hardware tools, etc which will help them to build good prototypes.
Then they explain their solution through the prototype to their audience or client and receive feedback.
Check this video to understand more about the process kids go through while designing a house for their clients.
The difference in PBL and Traditional way of Learning
PBL and traditional learning differ in almost all aspects i.e. the why, what, where, when, who and how of education. Traditional learning focuses on knowledge/information; categorised in the form of subjects; delivered by people who are assumed experts of that subject and are called the teachers; received & stored in the brains of children, with an expiry of one year; with this transaction taking place in a well organised, supposed to be quiet, with no room for creativity, called the classroom; tested how well the information is downloaded on a piece of paper in a limited time. All this is repeated twelve times, which no one knows why. Sometimes, there may be a project being assigned to apply the knowledge.
PBL on the other hand focuses on engaging children in creating a product or a solution; by identifying, learning, and applying knowledge & skills; in the presence of a guide called a mentor, who closely observes and assesses the children.
Traditional Learning vs PBL
How doing a project and project-based learning are different
Many people confuse between PBL and simply doing a project. The main difference is in the process which changes the entire experience. The process to focus on learning than just the project. To give further clarity let me give a simple example.
This evening a few guests are coming to your place, what will you serve them. If they are your regular visiting neighbour, you may just simply make tea and but if they are some special guest you may think of something special keeping in mind who they are, what is the occasion, what is the weather today, what time they will come. So here, making tea is a “doing a project” and thinking a complete snack is “project-based learning”
Doing a Project vs Project-Based Learning
Schools & other education settings are widely adopting project-based learning methodology with a variety of practices but it can be easily observed if it is actually PBL. “Making a Tea” is a short project done after covering the content of a lesson or a unit while the “Making a Snacking Meal” project is a unit in itself that works as a vehicle to teach important knowledge and skills kids need to learn.
How can you evaluate if the process being followed is actually PBL? Here are 7 key essential elements of a Gold Standard PBL project and teaching process
Essential Elements of Designing & Teaching a Project
Why do we need Project-Based Learning?
Is it worth putting so much effort to change the entire approach to learning and will it really benefit kids?
Have a look at the world around you, how it works? As the nature of jobs is changing and automation is taking over, more & more jobs are becoming project-based. Be it sales, marketing, production, recruitment, training, logistics, QA; pretty much all professions include doing projects; big or small. As more & more industries realise the need of being dynamic and innovative, the nature of jobs will also change. And if you have read through this blog till here, I am sure your job is also based on doing different projects. But I am also sure that you have not been taught or educated through the PBL approach.
Think of the kind of challenges you faced or you think someone who has just started with a job will face and what could be done to avoid these challenges. Probably, if you would have gone through a process of learning where the focus was on building basic skills like adaptability, teamwork, empathy, creative confidence, etc. then just on information and use of tools, your experience would have been different and more fulfilling. If you would have been involved in doing projects during your school or college, you might have been a very different person today.
Changes in society must be reflected in the teaching methodologies. This is why PBL is required for all 21st-century kids to make sure they are ready for the world they are about to enter and have all the skills required to succeed by contributing to the world and living a fulfilling life. Many case studies show that when kids are involved in learning through projects,
They are much more engaged.
They get to explore different interests and careers.
They find learning more purposeful.
They even pursue mastery in a particular domain.
And this doesn’t stop here, teachers also enjoy this approach of teaching and end up being more involved.
However, all this sounds very interesting but it is not easy and requires a revolution to make this paradigm shift in the mindset of people involved in education. But this revolution has to start with the end-users of education i.e. kids and their parents.
Lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing
elit. Nihil repudiandae non pariatur sequi asperiores
quas omnis ad iure maxime ipsam iusto velit corporis,
officiis rem libero sed quod saepe, magni sit impedit
nemo? Consectetur iusto reprehenderit totam qui eum illo
illum nihil quas tenetur reiciendis saepe blanditiis
consequatur dolore similique perferendis, optio ullam
provident incidunt culpa velit voluptas. Dicta
consequatur ab natus delectus repellat, praesentium
autem eaque quam nobis expedita iure aut dolores, id
molestias.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.
Accusamus hic fuga provident nam? Libero delectus
accusantium porro odit dolore sint quibusdam expedita
aliquid, autem officiis nisi rem tempore. Rem ut numquam
necessitatibus quasi ducimus ratione a, sint deserunt,
nam magnam porro odit error excepturi qui?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur, adipisicing
elit. Vero quae similique laboriosam pariatur cupiditate
et temporibus ex maxime, ullam esse consectetur sint
possimus repudiandae mollitia sit reprehenderit
aspernatur explicabo, placeat sunt autem fugit!
Explicabo aperiam itaque sunt sapiente sequi nihil vero
facere possimus, in iure saepe earum accusantium
tenetur. Corporis fugit libero voluptatibus ipsa
voluptatum aspernatur laborum reiciendis? Tempora esse
expedita commodi quaerat quibusdam laudantium ratione
quod illo nostrum recusandae ut molestias reprehenderit,
ab sunt provident nesciunt unde! Dolorem eius accusamus
earum veniam ex corporis voluptatibus provident cumque
blanditiis facilis quos facere sint fugit, alias rem eos
temporibus hic mollitia?
A caption for the above image.
Lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing
elit. Nihil repudiandae non pariatur sequi asperiores
quas omnis ad iure maxime ipsam iusto velit corporis,
officiis rem libero sed quod saepe, magni sit impedit
nemo? Consectetur iusto reprehenderit totam qui eum illo
illum nihil quas tenetur reiciendis saepe blanditiis
consequatur dolore similique perferendis, optio ullam
provident incidunt culpa velit voluptas. Dicta
consequatur ab natus delectus repellat, praesentium
autem eaque quam nobis expedita iure aut dolores, id
molestias.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit.
Accusamus hic fuga provident nam? Libero delectus
accusantium porro odit dolore sint quibusdam expedita
aliquid, autem officiis nisi rem tempore. Rem ut numquam
necessitatibus quasi ducimus ratione a, sint deserunt,
nam magnam porro odit error excepturi qui?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur, adipisicing
elit. Vero quae similique laboriosam pariatur cupiditate
et temporibus ex maxime, ullam esse consectetur sint
possimus repudiandae mollitia sit reprehenderit
aspernatur explicabo, placeat sunt autem fugit!
Explicabo aperiam itaque sunt sapiente sequi nihil vero
facere possimus, in iure saepe earum accusantium
tenetur. Corporis fugit libero voluptatibus ipsa
voluptatum aspernatur laborum reiciendis? Tempora esse
expedita commodi quaerat quibusdam laudantium ratione
quod illo nostrum recusandae ut molestias reprehenderit,
ab sunt provident nesciunt unde! Dolorem eius accusamus
earum veniam ex corporis voluptatibus provident cumque
blanditiis facilis quos facere sint fugit, alias rem eos
temporibus hic mollitia?
Lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing
elit. Nihil repudiandae non pariatur sequi asperiores
quas omnis ad iure maxime ipsam iusto velit corporis,
officiis rem libero sed quod saepe, magni sit impedit
nemo? Consectetur iusto reprehenderit totam qui eum illo
illum nihil quas tenetur reiciendis saepe blanditiis
consequatur dolore similique perferendis, optio ullam
provident incidunt culpa velit voluptas. Dicta
consequatur ab natus delectus repellat, praesentium
autem eaque quam nobis expedita iure aut dolores, id
molestias.
Makershala is a Learning by Making ecosystem for kids from age 8-16 to help them discover their interests, develop future skills and deepen conceptual understanding. Makershala follows the Project Based Learning approach as its way of teaching in which kids work on authentic, real life & personally meaningful projects.
Kids work on these projects in different educational settings, namely; self-learning; online 1:4 Peer to Peer with a mentor; or in a school. Projects are categorized in different interest segments like Robotics, Coding, Electronics, 3D Printing, Animations, Photography, Machine Learning, Astronomy and many more.
Each project is mapped with classroom concepts, 21st century skills, UN sustainable development goals and interests/careers to not only focus on holistic development of a child but help them identify their calling by giving them exposure to problems that exist in the real world.
Why Project-Based Learning
Project-Based Learning has the potential to solve many of the learning problems we see today beyond foundational literacy.
Ownership: Learners have complete ownership on what they need to know to solve a problem and come up with the best solution in the best way. It can be a concept or a software tool or a skill. Kids involved in projects are never required to be told to study.
Interdisciplinary: Unlike traditional learning where subjects are taught in silos and learners develop a perception of liking or disliking a subject. In project based learning, the given problem is supreme and it may require to know something from maths, science and history together.
Experiential learning: We generally retain 75% of what we do as opposed to only 5% of what we hear and 10% of what we read, hence PBL helps kids retain what they learn.
Lifelong learning: The most important gift that PBL gives to its learners is to make them lifelong learners as this is the most required skill to lead a good life, personally & professionally.
Skills & Knowledge balance: Project-based learning doesn’t focus too much on memorizing information, rather it equally demands practising life skills to be able to do better in projects.
How Makershala Works
Parents and Kids who wish to start their journey with Makershala, are suggested to pick one interest area of the child and then choose a plan.
Parents and Kids after enrolling in a course based on their interest are assigned a batch. Each batch has 3-4 learners and 1 mentor.
Each course has 6 guided projects and 1 challenge project.
During the project, formative assessments are conducted to evaluate learner’s knowledge & skills.
On completion of a project parents and kids get a learning report which indicates the skills and knowledge developed/displayed by them.
Kids also build their portfolio which showcases problems solved, solutions created, skills developed, knowledge acquired and technologies learnt.
Kids earn rewards in the form of badges, points and coins for their performance in a project, course and overall.
Kids are maneuvered to take up courses and projects from different learning segments to gain more clarity on their interests. This eventually helps them in picking up a career.
.jpg)