Reading Reflection #4

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

The aspect that stuck me the most was when a project is long on activity, but short on learning.  For me, one of the major aspects of the project based learning, is not only the process, but also learning topics more in depth.  So if a project is very active, but they don’t learn anything more in depth than if they had read the book, or listened to the lecture, what’s the point?

2.  Discuss the features of a good project.

Good projects are in depth. It helps the children learn how to problem solve. They work together and use relevant technology along the way.

3. Discuss where project ideas come from.

Project ideas sometimes come from other people’s ideas, but it is important to go through the ideas and find the weak spots.  Ideas can also come from collaborating with other educators in different subjects.

4. Discuss the steps to design a project.

First, you need to figure the different points and subjects you want your students to learn.  Then you have to figure out the grade level standard that goes with.  Once those aspects are figured out it is necessary to figure out the technology you want your students to use, to compile all this information, and present it to the rest of the class.

5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

The point that seems to stand out in my mind, in relation to my topic is to avoid too many steps.  Gardening can be a very challenging and long term project.  With that put aside, the steps for a third grader should be simplified, so they should learn more about gardening, rather than stressing out about what steps are next.  The goal is the content learned and not necessarily just the process.