What are the strengths and weaknesses of Project Based Learning?

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a form of learning where there is an attempt to have students engage in real world application of knowledge as opposed to stale classroom book based learning.  It provides a chance to  have a practical application to a subject area.  This can allow a motivated student to run with a subject and make links between theory and practice.  This prevents ideas from remaining abstract inert from one another.  Many students that will frequently ask the question "Why do we need to know this?" can have that answer as they are placed into a context where they need to apply information.

The downside of PBL is that it requires a far higher level of personal initiative on the behalf of the students.  Typically in a classroom the teacher provides the context, structure, and direction for the learning.  This form of structured learning can provide an effective framework for individuals that would merely get lost in the details.  Having an expert guide is also a requirement in many disciplines where running into a problem prohibits any further progress.

PBL requires students to develop a critical set of skills for success for entry into the work force or an endeavour in life.  It necessitates determining the scope of a project, assessing the available resources, time constraints, and the quality require to meet the objective.  Risk assessment at each stage is also required as mistakes in the pursuit of a goal will invariably have consequences.

http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-guide-description

The above link provides a description of PBL.  Interestingly enough there was a post relating to chemistry which is the subject that I teach.  If a student is apathetic or disdainful of a subject, a PBL assignment could seem far to big of a task to possibly accomplish.  These students require the exact opposite of PBL as they require more structure and tasks to be broken into smaller pieces.  By its nature a project is a multifaceted undertaking requiring a range of skills outside of the subject of study.  Organizational skills are critical to the successful completion of a project.  On one hand a project can aid students develop in these critical areas.   On the flip side current educational policy requires integration of students with learning disabilities into the class.

In my opinion a PBL assignment has the potential to dramatically deepen knowledge for students who are personally invested in their own learning.  For students that are apathetic or have learning disabilities a PBL assignment could be disastrous.

Questions:

1. Can PBL work for students with learning disabilities such as autism?
2. Is a PBL approach more likely to motivate disinterested students?

Flipped Classroom

I must confess some initial skepticism over the idea of a flipped classroom as it sounded like yet another "fashion" trend in education.  Upon hearing more details about how a flipped classroom functions it is something that I think might have a large potential to positively affect learning.  Flipping the class so that the lecture portion of the material is watched at home on a video with the in class time used as a tutorial has enormous potential.  Like some of the videos mentioned (http://www.techsmith.com/flipped-classroom.html) the issue of students understanding in class but unable to do questions once home was a problem I encountered in high school.

I don't believe I would completely abandon the teacher directed lecture in front of a class.  I would however reserve the class lecture material for more engaging discussions where an forum of students could further an idea in a group setting.  Key problems that are universally challenging to all students could also be taken up in a more formalized interactive lecture style.

One downside that I see is that students must wait to ask questions for material presented in the video lecture portion of the course.  The ability to ask a question and immediately receive expert clarification could make comprehension difficult or lead to false understandings of the material.  Another potential downside is that the amount of video production time that the teacher takes to produce the videos could be prohibitive.  What is the best way to get around this time constraint for the teacher?  Also is it necessary to flip our classroom when Khan Academy is so widely available.

Khan Academy TED talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTFEUsudhfs

Tablet Computing

This is an article that summarizes current trends in technology in the classroom in higher education.

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-higher-ed-shortlist.pdf

This article provides a couple of quick ideas for tablets in the classroom.  The section that mentions being able to post a tablet in a classroom that has videos of laboratory techniques instantaneously seemed useful.  The ability to refer a student to a video for reference after I have explained something would save me from explaining the same thing repetitively.

The shortcoming of the article having such a short summary of multiple of technological trends is that it lacks depth on any given subject.  The article does provide some links to other sources for more information.



This article dovetails nicely to the above article giving multiple examples of how to incorporate technology into the class to engage students.
http://edudemic.com/2012/12/25-ways-to-use-tablets-in-the-classroom/

Here is a summary of some useful apps for tablets that can be used in the classroom.
http://www.princeton.edu/hrc/documents/Using-Your-Tablet-in-the-Classroom.pdf

Something to think about with apps being able to duplicate a frog dissection; no matter how good the program is, it is still a digital abstraction from the real thing.   How much does the artificial "learning" detract from learning?