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With additional funding secured through the Straight-A grant, Problem Based Learning training will be offered to more schools within the consortium that grant was rewarded to.
Clark-Shawnee and Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center teachers will join Springfield City School District peers in receiving this training next year. SCSD has been involved in the training for about two years, said Kim Fish, district spokesman.
“Without the (grant) funding,” said Karen Elder, the SCSD’s curriculum coordinator, “we wouldn’t be able to do it as quickly and as extensively with other districts.”
Project Based Learning is a growing trend in education. Students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem or challenge.
“The idea is, through a project, there’s significant learning a student can do,” said Brian Boyd, Wright State University math professor and Director of the Dayton Regional STEM School’s Training Center. Boyd has been involved with teaching SCSD personnel in the teaching process from its beginning.
After being taught isolated skills, students are given a project or application that requires them to use those skills, Boyd said.
“The project drives a lot of the learning that’s going to happen,” he said.
The SCSD has already trained around 50 teachers in grades 7-12. Some principals have also been trained, so that they can support the work of teachers.
“What we want to do is get as many teachers trained in the same teaching field, so they can collaborate and write Project Based Learning lesson plans together and support each other’s work, which is so important today,” Elder said.
Elder added her district plans to implement Project Based Learning at the elementary level in the future.
The advantage for students, Boyd said, is that the method shows them greater relevance to what they are learning.
“It’s definitely more engaging,” he said. “The learning is much deeper (and goes beyond a question on a test).”
“When kids are engaged in real-life experiences, their learning is so extended,” Elder added.
Boyd said the concept has received positive response from teachers, some of whom had struggled with engaging students.
“So if they can design something that is going to engage kids … it solves a lot of classroom management issues,” he said.
Project Based Learning has been implemented in pockets so far, Boyd pointed out.
“I think there are more and more people trying to chip away at it and get better at it,” he said. “There’s definitely an interest in a lot of places to learn more about it and to try it.
“Springfield is definitely one of the bigger schools we’re working with,” he continued. “And the new Global Impact Stem Academy (in Springfield) is doing a lot of it in their classrooms.”
Boyd said he hopes the concept will become more widespread.
“There’s a push for students to learn more deeply, and Project Based Learning is a way to do that,” he said.
But he also cautioned,”There’s a lot of things in our education system that push against it.”
He pointed out Problem Based Learning is difficult work, it is sometimes hard to develop relevant projects and it can be a bit scary for teachers who are used to more traditional teaching methods.
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