project-based learning in short PBL is a
powerful way to learn new things and
remember them for a long time it
describes a form of learning that
happens as a result to solving actual
problems it's arguably so effective
because first it gives solving problems
meaning and second because each task in
a project is mentally tied along a
storyline which eventually leads to
either failure or success of an entire
project that means what we learn during
the process has more meaning and we can
remember it later by mentally revisiting
our project story business visionary
Elon Musk explained it quite well he
said that our brain has evolved to
discard information that it thinks has
irrelevance picking a problem and then
using various education tools like math
language or economics to solve that
problem is therefore far more engaging
than teaching the tools itself say we
are going to take apart an engine to see
how it works and then put it back
together again in order to take it apart
we need wrenches screwdrivers a winch
and other tools in the course of solving
that problem of taking apart the engine
we learn about the tools how to apply
them and why they matter to understand
it better let's look at the story of
Jane a shy 19 year old student who
wanted to move out from home but
miserably failed Jane just finished her
high school degree and still lives with
her parents she is eager to move out and
live on her own but she has a tight
budget
Jane begins her project with asking
around where do her friends recommend
her to live how much do they pay she
starts to search online but is soon
overwhelmed by all the options
Jane learns that her search is not
effective unless she knows precisely how
much money she can spend for rent her
brain takes note that such a big project
needs proper planning the next day Jane
spends making some serious calculations
about her income her savings and her
monthly expenses like food phone bills
going to the movies her calculation
leads to the conclusion that her budget
for rent is very small she starts
thinking about taking on a job tutoring
music two kids this could get her
another $200 a month although there are
additional expenses since she would need
to buy a new guitar
Jane's brain goes through the various
computations making a cost-benefit
analysis and decides to try moving out
without taking on a job
Jane is happy she made up her mind and
realized that math is a good tool that
supports making an informed decision
the next day Jane starts searching
online again this time for a shared home
it doesn't take her long and she makes
her first call to get an appointment to
meet the hosts this is her first viewing
there are three flatmates they tell her
to sit down and start asking very
directly about her habits preferences
and how to describe her personality
Jane starts to feel uncomfortable and
stressed all she wants is to leave she
completely stops focusing she excuses
herself and simply walks out outside she
feels terrible
her brain notes an increased heart rate
some confusion about how to describe
Jane and a lack of communication skills
responding to immediate social pressure
in the evening she lies in bed and can't
sleep she starts to have doubts should
she really move out maybe this is not
for her maybe she is too young to live
with such independent people she decides
that she will stay at home for now
eventually she falls asleep during her
sleep her brain keeps working and
revisits the experiences of that day it
puts the experience in perspective and
decides what can be forgotten a few days
later Jane meets an old friend who has
just moved into a shared house and tells
her about his experience it sounded so
exciting her friend made his project a
reality
Jane remembers her initial motivation
how much she wanted to be independent
she decides to give it another try Jane
spends the entire evening looking at
listings noting down the most promising
posts at midnight she calls her best
friend asking him to describe her
personality to prepare for her next
dinner
her brain fueled by millions of excited
neurotransmitters now learns with laser
sharp focus the next day she goes to see
three new apartments she learns to
answer questions about herself and even
ask questions about the others
do you mind if I play guitar what do you
do for a living
what are your thoughts on keeping it
tidy on her fourth appointment Jane
finds an apartment with two super-fun
roommates who share lots of her
interests two days later she arrives at
her new home with her backpack and a big
smile on her face a new life begins in
the evening her brain notes all the
things that learned during the project
her budget calculation her preferences
her social anxiety and new developed
social skills most importantly the brain
realizes that getting better at social
skills is similar to improving her
guitar skills we get better with
practice
ten years later Jane reads a study from
2009 that showed that PBL students
perform as well or better than
traditional students findings indicated
that projects were superior when it
comes to long-term retention skill
development and satisfaction of both
students and teachers traditional
learning approaches were more effective
for short-term retention as measured by
standardized board exams the idea of
project-based learning was made popular
by the educational reformer John Dewey
in 1916 he claimed that the student
learns more if he is interested in the
subject and recommended learning by
doing or learning by solving a problem
Dewey further stressed the importance of
the connection between life and the
objects we are studying on learning he
said if knowledge comes from the
impressions made upon us by natural
objects it is impossible to procure
knowledge without the use of objects
which impress the mind
you
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