What Is a Project?

What do we mean by project? Traditional school projects are typically product driven, for example, a trifold display, a diorama, or similar. With this model the teacher does all the research and planning. In Project-Based Learning, the students also complete these steps along with a final product, fulfilling the natural process of learning. 

Think about project management. In actual work projects, are project teams sent out to immediately create a product based on someone else’s research? No! On an actual project team, members work in an interdisciplinary fashion.

They engage in a process. They propose the project. They do their research. They plan; then, they create the product. Finally, there is an assessment of the project, with some reflection on how the project went and conversations about how to improve. This is the project-based learning model we bring to the school communities we coach! The learning and growth is inherent in the project process--the whole process. 

In a traditional learning-silos model, students learn math, then move to science, then the next disconnected subject and so on. They’re interrupted throughout the day to move from one subject to another, never experiencing the flow of learning and discovery. They also have no choice in the matter. What and how they learn is assigned. This is completely unnatural. 

The projects we coach teachers through follows the process of an actual project process. If a child knows how to learn, they can learn anything; therefore, the project process takes precedence because rather than being told the answer, children will find the answer to their own questions using the skills built in the project process. Children possess a natural inclination to learn, so the topics change based on what the student chooses, together with advisors and parents. Skills are tracked in a Personal Learning Plan to ensure students are learning across the disciplines and putting in enough hours in each area of study.

Project rubric: