With the discussion that was tackled in our Edigitech class, I was able to ponder on some matters that tapped into my future teaching plans.
Though the Project-based Learning approach is not a novel concept for us (except for the exact coined term for the subject matter), upon the implant and growth of the topic in the class, it sprouted with new ideas that I can utilize in my teaching endeavor.
I can still remember the nights when I stay late awake so I may finish the unending projects that the teachers tend to shower us. I often end up thinking of after the project is done that it will be rubbish right after it was graded. Some of the heavily persevered projects end up in boxes or worse, in trash bins. Good thing I keep mine. Now that I was able to take up education, I saw the light behind the darkness of the projects' burdens that they seemed to throw us.
Being a believer of John Dewey's "learning by doing" concept, projects indeed are of great help in helping the student achieve a higher degree of mastery. It can be intertwined with what the cliche "Experience is the best teacher" tells us. A person will never know how it feels to get hurt through words and books only. These will only describe and narrate but will never let you feel it. In the first place, the authors who wrote those concepts may had the writings originate from their own experiences. Once the person got personally hurt, he would have a pool of words to describe it for the core is in him already. The root is there.
Projects functions the same way. They serve to imprint the lessons by making their students spend more time with the topic regarding the project. Can you forget something that you worked hard for that easy? In almost all aspect, of course not.
Edgar Dale's cone of experience also says that people remember 90% of what they say as they do; thus, through the projects and reports, the lessons are deeply instilled in the learner's mind. Maybe because he had spent time with the topic and had with it strings of emotions as he prepared and presented it in the class, it will have a good retention in his memory. The psychomotor memory may also be injected in the cone of experience where in the person's muscles or motor skills may help in the recall of the specific learning that transpired before.
Through the discussion of Project-Based Learning Approach, the clarification of the projects' real purpose transpired. Through these projects, the cognitive, affective, social and leadership skills of the students will be cultivated and developed. A student may learn the topic, work with his groupmates, build rapport and improve his self-confidence in a simple production of a play or a movie clip done in groups. Learnings and discovery that he will experience during the process he will not experience in the four corners of the classroom. He will also be geared towards competence in different aspects as he develops his 21st century skills. He will learn of things that he won't extract from the pages of his book. He can acquire wisdom aside from the fed knowledge.
Projects can bring forth rich learning opportunities to learners. They may seem to be tedious and simply time-consuming, the benefit is simply subtle. It is happening and what it gives the students is the wisdom from knowledge aside from the skills. Projects are tools for experiences. They really are.
I hope I can fully use the particular approach after two years.
