Activities - Project – Problem - Based Learning:
A Modality of Teaching and Learning¹

 Reaching higher student achievement levels and helping students to value learning are universal goals for all educators. However, finding avenues for each student to reach these goals seems elusive. Yet, in schools across the nation, teachers set high goals and facilitate learning experiences that result in high levels of rigor and relevance for all students. One of the most effective ways to achieve rigor and relevance is through the use of activities-based learning, project-based learning, and problem-based learning, the focus of the Project Lead The Way^® (PLTW) pre-engineering middle and high school program.

Engaging students hands-on in solving real-world problems is a great motivator.

Students work as a class or in small groups over an extended period of time because of the in-depth nature of the chosen project or problem. Like adults trying to solve a problem, students in Project Lead The Way’s curricula are not restricted to one discipline but rather students delve into mathematics, science, technology, and English Language Arts. In the process, they are learning to apply knowledge that they will retain beyond the test and integrating school learning and real life.

 Research and Life-long Learning

 A growing body of research supports the use of activities-based, project-based and problem-based learning (APPB-learning). Schools that practice these modalities experience an increase in student motivation, an increase in cooperative learning skills and higher-order thinking, and an improvement in student achievement. The blending of APPB-learning is not simply an engaging alternative teaching method; it is a deliberate strategy to achieve high levels of rigor and relevance.

 High school graduation must be viewed not as the end of learning, but as the jumping-off point for a lifetime of learning that will involve both acquiring new knowledge and applying existing knowledge to new situations. Lifelong learning skills will help students make informed and intelligent decisions regarding the direction and limitations of their chosen careers, technological developments, the use of technology to alter their own lives, and other major financial, professional, and personal questions that they will undoubtedly face. These skills cannot be taught as discrete topics. Rather, students learn them through high quality, challenging lessons based on real world-problems and unbounded by separate school subjects.

 Changing the Emphasis

 Teaching involves demonstrating skills and presenting knowledge, but learning does not occur until the students engage and understand. One of the most powerful ways to change what happens in the classroom is for teachers to think about planning instruction from the perspective of student learning. An easy way to enable teachers to embrace this perspective is to design student work in the form of problems and projects that link standards and benchmarks from multiple disciplines, as in the Project Lead The Way pre-engineering program. By taking this approach, teachers are more likely to shift their focus and think in terms of student learning rather than focusing on teaching.

 Project Lead The Way‘s curriculum prepares students with the foundations of engineering at high levels of rigor and relevance consistent with the current standards and accountability movement. It is also a model of how to develop curriculum and train teachers to use APPB-learning.

 In the Project Lead The Way pre-engineering curriculum, “teaching to the test” is not a simple recall of facts; students solve complex problems and apply what they have learned to real-world situations. The curriculum leads to rigor and relevance as the instructional goal and provides a means for teachers and students to better understand what is on the state test and apply their knowledge accordingly.

 Why APPB- Learning Is Important

Activities are a method of instruction that involves directed teaching of a particular process or procedure. Activities engage students in learning skills that are later applied in more complex situations. Project-based learning is a comprehensive approach to instruction that presents a project or relevant activity that enables students to synthesize received knowledge and to individually resolve problems in a curricular context. Problem-based learning is both a curriculum organizer and an instructional strategy that presents a problem that is relevant and related to the context where students are the stakeholders; they synthesize and construct knowledge to help them actively grapple with the complexities of the problem. Students develop strategies to enable and direct their own learning. When students experience a problem in context, they are more likely to make connections and thus see the value in what they are learning. The rigor follows.

 APPB-learning as used in the PLTW curriculum:

• Helps students develop skills for living in a knowledge-based, technological society. Solving highly complex problems requires that students have both basic skills (reading, writing, mathematics) and foundation skills (teamwork, problem solving, research, time management, information synthesizing, using technology tools).

• Adds relevance to the learning. By bringing real-life context and technology to the curriculum through projects and problems, teachers encourage students to become independent workers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners. If students learn to take responsibility for their own learning, they will form the basis for working cooperatively and effectively with others in their adult life.

• Challenges students to high rigor. Complex, messy problems cannot be solved without the application of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. When working toward a solution to a problem, students often find themselves acquiring higher levels of academic skills and knowledge than if they were taught them in isolation.

• Promotes lifelong learning. Exposure to activities, projects and problems teaches students to take control of their learning, their first step as lifelong learners. It promotes metacognition and self-knowledge. Students generate strategies for solving problems by gathering, analyzing, and testing their data, sharing their findings with peers, and determining their solutions. Thus, students develop the abilities to work with peers, work in teams, and develop group skills.

• Meets the needs of students with varying learning styles. Students are expected to experience and to use multiple modalities in the process of researching and solving a problem and then communicating the solutions. This active learning takes advantage of student differences in interests and learning styles, giving each student a chance to excel in various learning activities.

 Project Lead The Way — A Pathway to Rigor and Relevance

 There is a critical shortage of engineers and engineering technologists at a time when technology is reinventing itself every few years. American competitiveness, prosperity and even national defense in a world economy depend not on production workers but on innovative engineers and technologists to solve problems creatively and effectively. The number of job openings is increasing due to the expansion of employment opportunities in technical fields and the increasing number of engineers who are retiring. In order to address this shortage, Project Lead The Way, a national program designed to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists graduating from our education system, was formed. The PLTW curriculum used in schools is divided into the following programs: Gateway To Technology (Middle School Program) and Pathway to Engineering (High School Program).

 These programs use the modalities of activities, projects, and problems to ensure students are exposed to the rigor and relevance necessary to become strong citizens and members of a viable workforce. As schools and colleges move to using PLTW curriculum and, as a result, project-based and problem-based learning, the numbers of students exposed to the principles of engineering and problem-solving will increase. This exposure will likely result in more students understanding engineering and selecting it as a career option. Students who understand engineering principles and concepts whether they pursue a career in the field or not will be capable of assuming the responsibilities required of a highly skilled workforce.

For example, in the Design and Modeling unit offered in the middle school program, students are given the problem of finding out about various technological artifacts and are asked to learn what their history and their impacts were on civilization, and how the particular artifacts are used differently today. In addition, students investigate the similarities and differences between technology and science. Students demonstrate their understanding of the various artifacts by depicting their new knowledge on a book jacket they design. This unit employs activities to aid students to learn about various artifacts. A project is provided to help students demonstrate their understanding, and a problem is posed to provide an environment that encourages students to learn and apply their knowledge. 

Similarly, APPB-learning is incorporated in various scenarios throughout all of the high school courses. In Principles of Engineering, students are given a problem of redesigning a beverage container. The single problem is given to the students who develop multiple solutions. In Civil Engineering and Architecture, students are instructed that they have a certain amount of area they may develop, such as 15 acres of land. Students are given limited criteria and constraints on the use of the land. In teams of four, they design different commercial uses of the building site. In contrast, in the Engineering Design and Development course, students select a problem and work to solve that problem by brainstorming multiple solutions, gathering information, and focusing their investigation to a final solution that is the best fit.

Early on, PLTW established a curriculum model that emphasizes a partnership of schools, higher education, and the business/industry community. The curriculum is based entirely on the combined use of an APPB-learning model. Using the three modalities, students are engaged in three levels of thinking: the cognitive, the novice metacognition, and the expert metacognition. (See Figure 1) For schools seeking to reach high levels of rigor and relevance, Project Lead The Way is a successful model in the broad areas of engineering and technology. The PLTW curriculum continues to expand to reflect the diversity of engineering fields, including electronics, communication, transportation, environment, construction, aerospace, and biotechnology.

Figure 1: PLTW model of curriculum development using APPB-learning.

 Professional Development of Teachers

 Helping teachers to become proficient in APPB-learning requires a unique form of professional development. First, the curriculum needs to be developed, usually by interdisciplinary experts to ensure that the lessons, activities, projects, and overall problems are designed to incorporate academic skills and rigorous evaluations. Having multiple teachers involved also helps to identify engaging activities, projects, and problems and incorporate all aspects that enable students to fully investigate and explore the stated lesson. The curriculum becomes important because it is more demanding for teachers to develop APPB-lessons than to create lessons in a textbook-driven course. A single teacher cannot do this on his/her own. The best way for teachers to acquire an understanding of APPB-learning is to experience the student process in addressing the problem and designing a solution. 

PLTW staff development uses expert teachers to introduce the curriculum. The teachers then actually work through the activities, projects, and problems as the students would. This direct experience of “walking in students' shoes” to solve problems and design projects helps teachers reflect on the power of APPB- learning and prepares them for their own teaching.

 The curricula created by Project Lead The Way, Inc. for the various courses embrace the educational tenets of APPB-learning. Students develop solutions to solve the problems posed by the essential questions stated in each Unit and Lesson.

 In addition, APPB-learning allows students to:

·        Demonstrate an understanding of subject content;

·        Investigate and engage in meaningful activities, projects, and problems;

·        Become independent learners;

·        Make their own connections between posed questions and prior learning;

·        Use real life technologies and resources;

·        Obtain ownership of their learning; and,

·        Exhibit growth in areas often ignored: social and life skills, self-management skills and the ability to learn on one’s own. 

 APPB-learning in Project Lead The Way is a proven strategy for increasing rigor and relevance. As schools are driven by the desire to prepare students to be lifelong learners contributing to society, the nation’s workforce, and the necessity to meet the more urgent goals of student success on state assessments, educators should consider introducing APPB-learning. This newly-trained, innovative and creative workforce will be more capable of assuring our national prosperity in a competitive global community.

 A Project Lead The Way Core Document

 Written by: 

Pam Newberry, PLTW Director of Curriculum
Edward Hughes, PLTW Director of Communications

¹ Based on an earlier article Achieving Rigor and Relevance through Project-based Learning by Willard R. Daggett, President, International Center for Leadership in Education, and by Richard Blais, Executive Director, PLTW