Inquiry-Based Learning

Project Based Learning: Six Hours of Professional Development (a free mini-course)

Last spring, as part of a professional development series organized by Tom Marshall (an Elementary Principal in Paramus, New Jersey), I facilitated three two-hour sessions on project based learning (PBL).

Below is an outline of the five activities that were spread out across the three sessions. In six hours total, the goal was to start with an introduction to PBL and then finish with participants feeling at least somewhat comfortable in designing their own projects. (Yes, we packed in a lot.)

There’s enough here for individuals or groups to work through these activities (or versions of them) on their own, as if it’s a self-paced PBL mini-course. Also, keep in mind, about 10-15 educators took part in the professional development. So, if you plan on using these activities to facilitate learning in your own school or district, some adaptations could be necessary.

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Session 1 of 3: What Is Project Based Learning?

Activity 1: What’s the difference between projects and project based learning?

Directions

In small groups, claim a column on this spreadsheet (which you’ll need to copy in order to use) and ask as many questions as you can related to the above graphic and the differences between projects and PBL. Your questions should be recorded in the blue. (10 minutes)
Transfer your three most important questions from your blue to your red. (5 minutes)
Group discussion based on everyone’s red questions

Resources

Activity 2: What are the essential elements of project based learning?

Directions

Read, Buck Institute’s Gold Standard PBL: Essential Design Elements.
In different small groups, using this spreadsheet (which you’ll need to copy in order to use), rank the seven essential design elements from most important to least important (column B). For each ranking, provide justification (column C).
Group discussion based on everyone’s rankings

Resources

What are your next steps?

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Four Reasons to Tackle Flexible Learning Spaces

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

Since this past January, I’ve been the Elementary Principal of T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School (TBD) in the Old Tappan School District. And, as I’ve previously detailed in my blog post – Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey – one of our first initiatives involved flexible learning spaces. In short, every teacher was given money to spend on furniture for his/her classroom.

Why Every Teacher?

Yes, every teacher had the option. This idea probably sounds a bit unconventional, as most initiatives begin with a pilot group that paves the way, making it easier for late adopters to follow. However, in this instance, due to certain constraints (timing, budget, etc.), I believe it made more sense to let everyone jump on board, which has its upsides. As Prakash Nair announces in Blueprint for Tomorrow, “Indeed there is evidence that reform efforts focused on improving the capabilities of individual teachers are less effective than those that engage teachers collectively.” There is value in everyone moving in the same direction at the same time while learning from one another and continually refining their work (or learning spaces) as necessary.

Why the Classrooms?

I also played with the idea of taking a look at other parts of the school, such as (1) furniture that would allow for students to more comfortably work in certain sections of the hallways, and (2) rethinking the area right outside the main office, which is what is first encountered when entering into the building. However, it didn’t take long to realize all of these changes would have been too much too soon. And, if we’re going to start anywhere, it makes sense to start with the classrooms, as this is where students and teachers spend the majority of their time. In The Third Teacher, John Stanford, the late superintendent of schools in Seattle, tells us, “The victory is in the classroom.”

Now let’s take a look at four reasons why we prioritized flexible learning spaces.

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How Do We Assess (And Possibly, Grade) Project Based Learning? #HackingPBL

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Last week, Erin Murphy and I facilitated a two-day project based learning (PBL) workshop for an inspiring group of educators from Madison City Schools, Alabama. As part of the workshop, we spent some time focusing on what assessment (and possibly, grading) can look like within the context of PBL.

When discussing this topic, it’s first and foremost important to keep in mind there is a difference between assessment and grading. Whereas the goal of assessment is to improve student learning, grading (or a grade) is generally used to evaluate current level of performance.

Should Projects Be Graded?

In short, the answer is a resounding “No!”

Project based learning experiences should call for a great deal of student critical thinking and creativity. And, research tells us that “carroting and sticking” these types of skills isn’t just ineffective, but detrimental.

Pause for a second and watch this Daniel Pink TED Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, which is based on his book, Drive. Or, if you are in a rush, just watch from 1 minute 30 seconds to about the 7-minute mark. And, if you really don’t want to watch the video, here is the take-home point for this segment:

If-then rewards work really well for those sorts of tasks, where there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination to go to. Rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus, concentrate the mind; that's why they work in so many cases…But for the real candle problem [a problem that requires creative problem solving], you don't want to be looking like this [tunnel vision]. The solution is on the periphery. You want to be looking around. That reward actually narrows our focus and restricts our possibility.

Pink also makes it clear this experiment is not the exception to the rule: “What's interesting about this experiment is that it's not an aberration. This has been replicated over and over again for nearly 40 years.”

Looking back on my work as a fourth grade teacher, I can draw a straight line from Pink’s work to my use (or misuse) of grades as the carrot and the stick. The more I engaged my students in project based learning, the more I realized that grading the actual project was not only unnecessary, but potentially harmful.

If Not Grades, Then What?

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Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Over the past few weeks, my teachers and I have been exploring flexible learning spaces. And our goal is to hit the ground running with implementation at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. (Of course, we can experiment when our supplies arrive before then.)

Here’s the email (slightly modified) that officially began this movement. It was sent out about three weeks ago.

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Hacking Project Based Learning – Free Online Course! #HackingPBL

By Ross Cooper 5 Comments

This post was written by Erin Murphy and was originally published on her blog.

Ross: What do you think about writing a book on PBL?

Me: I think you’re crazy.

Ross: Just think about it.

If I’m being honest, I tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, the idea got stuck in my head. At first I fixated mostly on my failures: terrible rubrics, lengthy directions, displays of content rather than displays of learning, and the list could go on. Eventually, my stream of consciousness turned to the solutions I created (often times through a conversation with Ross), and then my wheels really started spinning. The true tipping point, however, came later in the week, when I bumped into a former student. She approached my family and me, while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant, and said, “I was JUST telling my parents about the time you let us save those plants in the school garden from that fungus!”

Nine years.

This learner was in my class nine years prior.

Well, that really got me thinking. If experiences in my classroom held up to the test of time, maybe I did have something to write about after all.

Writing Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom was just as much about the failures as it was the triumphs (in fact, the failures probably had a greater impact). Mostly, though, it was about the kids. For us, this book is about sharing a clear framework for implementing PBL, with the ultimate goal of creating more educational experiences worthy of conversation after nine years.

This last year has been a whirlwind. Ross and I could not have predicted the positive acclaim that has surrounded our first book. Our work has connected us with opportunities, adventures, and people for which we are endlessly grateful. We continue to learn and grow with each moment, each interaction, and to show our appreciation, we want to offer you a Hacking PBL Birthday Gift!

We have compiled our favorite resources into an interactive online course, and we are giving it to you FOR FREE.

Thank you for joining us on this journey and for adding to the PBL conversation around the world!

We appreciate you.

Here's what's included…

Over 65 additional resources, organized by hack/chapter, to help you take off with project based learning – plus an introductory video for each hack
eBook Add-On – Contains 10 blog posts, each an extension of one of the 10 hacks/chapters from Hacking Project Based Learning
eBook: Sweet Spot Directions – Tips and authentic examples for how to deliver your project based learning directions in style
Project Planning Template – The easiest way to make project based learning a reality for you and your students
Hacking PBL 101 Slide Deck – An outline of the book, in slide format, that is ideal for project based learning professional development
Theory to Practice Book Study Guide – 3 professional learning options for facilitating a Hacking Project Based Learning book study
Question Cards – 36 questions to get you started with your discussions – 3 per hack/chapter, plus the introduction & conclusion
Posters – 8 posters featuring some of our favorite quotes from Hacking Project Based Learning
And more!

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Professional Development: Focusing on Student Choice

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Under the leadership of our Middle School Principal, Ken Parliman, we’re in the process of rethinking some of our middle level electives to provide students with more personalized learning experiences.

In preparation for these shifts, not too long ago I led the facilitation of an all-day professional learning session for our middle level specialists (those who teach the electives). I planned for this day alongside Ken and my Assistant Superintendent, Lynn Fuini-Hetten.

The theme for the day was student choice, and everything was encompassed by the essential question:

What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves?

What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves? via @spencerideas & @ajjuliani #EmpowerBook Click To Tweet

This question is from Empower, by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani. This a book I can highly recommend, and Spencer’s work served as the basis for what we accomplished.

The Agenda

Here’s the agenda for the professional learning:

The essential question was revealed and briefly discussed.
We watched and then discussed the YouTube video, 10 Ways to Empower Students With Choice, by John Spencer.

Each participating teacher chose a project he or she had already facilitated. With their projects in mind, each teacher filled out a T-Chart (in Google docs). The left-side contained the teacher choices that took place during the project, and the right-side contained the student choices.
With the following prompts in mind, participants analyzed and discussed each other’s T-Charts and projects:
- Looking at everyone’s examples of student choice, are there any possible ways you could group them into categories? What commonalities exist?
- How could you provide more student choice within your project?
- What are your reservations for providing more student choice?
With the following prompts in mind, participants read and then discussed the eBook, Getting Started with Student Choice, by John Spencer:
- Where is the author full of crap? (if at all)
- Where does the author hit the nail on the head?
- What practical tips are provided?

The Culminating Activity

Directions

Think of a project/activity you already use. Create ways to embed more student choice into it, based on “moving up” the diagram (p. 32 in the eBook, above) on your journey to the FroYo model. As you’re designing your project/activity, consider the following questions:
- Will students be designing a product? Solving a problem? Open-ended? Something else?
- As a result of the project/activity, what do you want students to understand?
- How will students be assessed and possibly, graded?
- For the lessons that take place within the context of your project/activity, (1) what content will need to be addressed, and (2) how will it be addressed?
After, share out the following:
- What was your “before” project? What is your “after” project? How do they contrast?
- What new opportunities are there for student choice? How do you think these opportunities will benefit your students?
Peer feedback.

In the End

Shortly after the session, I posted the following on Facebook:

Today I worked with my Middle School Principal to facilitate an all-day session on student choice during project design. Great stuff! Feeling inspired! (Sometimes if we remove the buzzwords and drill down to what matters, moving forward is that much easier.)

Through professional learning, there are countless ways to tackle such practices/topics as: inquiry-based learning, project based learning, personalized learning, learner agency, etc. However, often times, when we lead with these terms, we can easily intimidate and possibly “turn off” participants (especially when a district doesn’t have a common definition/understanding of what these terms involve). So, in this particular instance, we chose student choice as our entry point. By the end of the day we ended up exploring all of the above and a whole lot more. And, in the process, I do believe we comfortably “met participants where they were” without being disrespectful of the work they had already done.

Finally, as usual, I look forward to improving upon this professional learning for when we decide to roll it out again!

How do you encourage student choice?

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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Yes, Learning Targets Can Make Our Lives Easier

By Ross Cooper 9 Comments

My first few years in the classroom I wasn’t a big fan of learning targets or posting learning targets prior to each lesson for students to see. These feelings were mostly driven by my experiences as a student teacher, during which I had to write the standard on the board prior to each lesson. (I mistakenly thought standards were the same as learning targets. But, in reality, posting the actual standard was even worse.) I also thought the learning target approach to revealing content was both generic and lame.

However, I can say now that I started to “get” learning targets when I began to give my students more choices in regards to how they expressed their learning. In short, I was making the transition from, “Learn this in this way!” to, “This is what we’re learning, and you can demonstrate your understandings however you’d like!”

This shift was most evident when examining the rubrics my students and I used during our project based learning experiences. Initially, these rubrics looked like project directions regurgitated in another format, which promoted compliance, not creative learning. Many of my students were able to “play the game of school” and earn an A by simply following what had been outlined for them in their rubric/directions: appropriately title your work, include three photographs related to your topic, include at least ten adjectives, cite five sources, etc. Furthermore, in the end, all finished products usually looked quite similar.

Then, after a few years of this productive struggle, it was nothing short of groundbreaking for my students and me when I decided to start populating each rubric’s left-hand column with learning targets (as opposed to tasks). As students made their way through these projects, I gave them feedback in relation to where they were on the continuum of hitting each target (instead of telling them what hoop to jump through next in order to earn an A). Increasingly, feedback and assessment focused on what students were supposed to learn, not what I wanted them to do. And, because feedback wasn’t task-specific, students were able to naturally own how they learned and displayed their knowledge.

The Graphic

As I continue to wrap my head around learning targets, I’ve created the graphic (above), which illustrates the various degrees to which learning targets can impact learning. From top to bottom, choices range from most restrictive to least restrictive. For example, after choosing one from each column (as the graphic indicates), we can end up with, “Teacher chooses target(s). Hit the target(s) this way, by this date, at this time.” Here, we’re one-size-fits-all without student choice. The other extreme is, “Learner creates target(s). Hit the target(s) however you want, at your own pace.” This path resembles personalized learning. And, with all the buzz about personalized learning (and student choice, student agency, learner-centered spaces, etc.), I have found that these abstract (and sometimes, intimidating) approaches are much more concrete (and far less scary) when considered through the lens of learning targets.

Two more ideas related to learning targets…

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The 6 Drivers of Inquiry-Based Learning

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Inquiry-based learning can be defined as learning that “starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios – rather than simply presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path to knowledge.” In short, we uncover material, as opposed to content coverage and the memorization and regurgitation of facts and knowledge.

As a teacher, everything I taught was infused, in one way or another, with inquiry, creativity, and/or literacy. And, inquiry was often integrated with the other two.

As an administrator, whenever I walk into a teacher’s classroom, one of the first things I almost always subconsciously look for is whether or not the students are engaged in inquiry. However, telling a teacher, “Your students need to engage in more inquiry,” is comparable to letting a comedian know she needs to be funnier or asking a pizzaiolo to make a better dough. And, vague directives in the absence of explicit instruction typically generate anxiety.

To avoid these anxieties, and for progress to actually take place, we need to drill down to the nitty gritty and be as explicit as possible. In other words, we need to be explicit about being explicit and leverage specific strategies to comfortably move forward for the benefit of our students.

With these thoughts in mind, I’ve been obsessing over inquiry’s common denominators – the strategies or drivers we should always consider when implementing an inquiry-based lesson.

That being said, here are the six drivers of inquiry-based learning. And, while I don’t think every lesson or activity must have all six, I do believe that once we (and our students) become comfortable with an inquiry approach, all drivers will naturally find a way into learning experiences on a regular, if not daily, basis.

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Project Based Learning Made Easier! (free project planning template) #HackingPBL

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Since Hacking Project Based Learning came out last December, Erin Murphy (my coauthor) and I have had many requests for a project planning template that ties everything together. So, without further delay, scroll/swipe to the bottom of this post to download the template! Meanwhile, below is information pertaining to fives features of project based learning, which are included in the template. And, for additional (free) Hacking Project Based Learning resources, check out the book's official page.

3 Tracks

PBL can unfold in a variety of ways. Teachers should choose a track based on the needs of their students, their readiness as facilitators, and the demands of the curriculum. While it would be unrealistic to detail every possible track, below are the three we find are most common:

Product Track (most restrictive) – In a project completed with fourth-grade students, each group was expected to produce a pinball machine. The difference between this experience and a traditional project is that the journey to the product looked different depending on each group’s creative decisions and trials and errors. Students learned about electricity & magnetism and force & motion through their work.
Problem Track (medium restrictive) – In this scenario, the project is initiated by presenting students with a problem, or in some cases the students may identify the problem themselves. Examples may include how to tackle the dilemma of subpar cafeteria food, or students being asked to identify a problem of importance to their age group. Student work would then revolve around identifying the cause of the issue and proposing or enacting a remedy.
Open-Ended Track (least restrictive) – Here the project begins with the teacher sharing the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings and possibly the Umbrella / essential question with the class. Students then design a project that is truly medium agnostic. In other words, they can demonstrate their knowledge however they choose. For example, a high school physics teacher may share the High Impact Takeaway / enduring understanding: An electric current can produce a magnetic field and a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current. Students, with teacher guidance, then design a project that will support this understanding. Simply researching and sharing information would not be sufficient.

High Impact Content/Priority Standards

To determine your High Impact Content / priority standards – the content that should serve as the basis for your PBL unit – apply the following criteria while exploring your planning materials:

Language – Does the language connected to the content call for a deeper understanding? As you look at the learning objectives or standards in your materials, pay close attention to their leading verbs. There are certain verbs, such as “create” or “justify,” which call for a higher level of thinking and application than other verbs, such as “identify” or “state.” The former lend themselves to PBL because they ask for students to uncover and demonstrate deeper understandings of content, and therefore you can also justify spending a great deal of time in these areas. (We ask you to not only consider verbs, but also what students will have to accomplish. Here you will have to exercise some professional judgment.)
Lasting impact and future transfer – Is the content valuable in an authentic context, and will it be needed for future learning? Topics such as informational writing and plant growth, which students can relate to outside the classroom, are more likely to elicit project buy-in. In addition, content students may need to call upon in the future, such as numeracy and the ability to appropriately debate an issue, is worthy of the deeper learning PBL offers.
Professional judgment – What do you (and your team) know about students and what they need to learn? No one knows your students like you do. As the classroom teacher, you have a handle on your students’ background knowledge, interests, wants, and needs. Your perspective is pivotal in determining on what to focus.

High Impact Takeaways/Enduring Understandings

This is the predominant learning with which students should walk away as a result of experiencing your project. While High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings can be continuously refined, we should be able to answer yes to all of the following questions before giving them the seal of approval:

Do the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings encompass the main content (and High Impact Content / priority standards) from the upcoming PBL unit?
Do the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings promote rote memorization or inquiry? In other words, will students have to engage in exploration and productive struggle to uncover a deeper understanding of the content?
Do the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings promote learning through transfer? For example, once students apply simple circuits to pinball machines, will they be able to apply something a bit different to another object and understand why it does or doesn’t work, such as a parallel circuit to a classroom in the school?
Optionally, it would be ideal if students can demonstrate these High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings through some type of performance task, as opposed to a pencil and paper test.
Are the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings in student-friendly language so they can be relayed to the students for them to take ownership of their learning?

Umbrella Questions/Essential Questions

Your Umbrella / essential question is the glue that holds everything together. Think of your project as a mind map, and everything students learn is connected in one way or another. Right in the middle of your mind map is the Umbrella / essential question, which serves as the project's main idea or “brand.”

When designing an Umbrella / essential question, we should be able to answer yes to all of the following questions:

Does the Umbrella / essential question relate to what is being studied? It should encompass your enduring understandings (which connect to your High Impact Content / priority standards).
Does the Umbrella / essential question promote inquiry? Rather than being a question that students attempt to definitively answer, it should encourage curiosity and engagement.
Is the Umbrella / essential question Googleable? We are insulting the intelligence of our students if we are spending a great deal of time on a question that could be easily answered elsewhere.

Learning Targets

The understandings we want students to achieve as a result of a project or lesson could be shared with students (or uncovered by students through inquiry) in the form of learning targets to give them a clear picture of what they are supposed to learn. Standards are not the same as learning targets. Here are three tips to consider when converting the former to the latter:

If a standard calls for multiple independent actions (e.g., I can identify a dog. I can identify a cat.), split it up into multiple learning targets.
Make sure all learning targets are in student-friendly language.
To promote inquiry, present each learning target in the form of a question.

For a project based learning unit, students can analyze exemplars, found by them or the teacher, so they can see what each target looks like in the context of their current work.

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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What Is School For?

By Ross Cooper 3 Comments

The other day, one of my former fourth grade students, who is now a high school sophomore, posted something on Facebook that struck a chord with me. And of course, as her former teacher (and as an educator), I saw it as my duty to appropriately respond.

Yesterday (about a week later), Faline followed up with another post, and I couldn't help but smile.

So, here are a handful of thoughts that come to mind:

In Seth Godin's must-see TEDx Talk – Stop Stealing Dreams – he repeatedly asks, “What is school for?” And in my opinion, one of the top priorities of school should be to help students accomplish exactly what Faline is asking – turning passions into careers. Seriously, if this isn't our goal, what are we doing?
If students are able to turn their passions into careers, we have to ask ourselves, “Is this happening because of or in spite of school?” In other words, do students play the game of school and then go home to do what's worthwhile and relevant? Or, does the worthwhile and relevant take place within our learning spaces?
In a previous post, I declared, “Not only should student be learning how to do their work, they should be learning and experiencing how to share and market their creations.” Why hasn't this approach become the norm in our schools? Do students fear making their work public, or are teachers' comfort zones serving as the main barrier?
Is school truly failing our students and/or entrepreneurs? (much like Gary Vaynerchuk tells us in this one-minute video)
In classes in which entrepreneurship is being taught (in isolation or integrated with other subject areas), could works by the likes of Vaynerchuk, Godin, Eric Ries, and Tom and David Kelley serve as “textbooks?” (much like I recommended today, at a middle school planning meeting for our project based learning school-within-a-school, which is scheduled to open next year)

And finally, if you haven't read Crush It! (the book I recommended to Faline), make sure to check it out. Also, I can highly recommend Empower by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani (the guys responsible for the quote in this blog post's featured image).

How can we help our students turn passions into careers?

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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