Hands On Learning

Project Based Learning and STEAM

I've been teaching for quite a while, but I still remember sitting in a child development course, in college, learning about how the brain works.  No where in the course, did we learn about how children are made to sit still, listen without questioning, remember everything they're told, and take tests like it's their job.  This is not how children develop.  So then, why is this the practice so many schools apply?

As someone who has learned to embrace change in the classroom, it is very frustrating to attend professional developments that still promote this method or to talk to teachers that swear this is how students learn best.  If I'm bored as an adult that understands the "why," "who," and "how," then what are children feeling?

Luckily, there are more and more administrators, educators, and families that see a need for change.  Some changes occur in small doses, while some are on a much larger scale.

An Updated Way of Thinking

 STEAM (Science - Technology - Engineering - Art - Math) is one way that educational institutes are embracing change.  Students work on problem solving, in a hands-on manner.  They are being challenged to design, create, test, and evaluate their ideas.  While there is debate on if art should be included in STEAM, it is clear that critical thinking and problem solving are the focus.  

What does STEAM look like?  It looks different in different settings.  In my elementary classroom, students work to solve a small scale problem.  While we've done many different activities, the students most enjoyed our NASA Moon Landing activities.  We researched how the sun, moon, and earth work together.  We watched videos of moon landings, explored simple machines, and eventually built our own rovers and cranes.  While these activities were more structured and guided, STEAM with older students may be extended experiences and include more student voice and choice.

Project Based Learning has many similarities to STEAM.  My opinion is that PBL is an extension of STEAM; it is the next step.  PBL however does not focus on only science or math, it is an all inclusive strategy.  It is inquiry based, real-world applicable, authentic, reflective, engaging, and student centered. 

Also like STEAM, PBL looks different in different settings.  As I grew more comfortable in facilitating learning and letting students take charge, we began to integrate projects into our reading curriculum.  Students read about communities around the world and how they access literature, explored the geography of these locations, compared these cultures to our own city.  Students then began to question how they could impact literacy in our community, designed a system for helping people access literature, built their system, and shared it with community members. 

The point is this - in either of these situations, it wasn't the content that we focused on. Students weren't sitting still and quiet.  Rather, they were moving, talking, thinking, learning, challenging others' ideas, producing, and collaborating.  We used technology and engineering as the catalyst through which students explored topics related to content.