PBL 2.0

Beyond simulation education

My principal dropped by my classroom last spring to inform me that a news crew would be at the school in about 30 mins to cover a project based learning unit I’d been doing with my freshman. We were tackling terrorism by thinking up solutions to stop terror organizations operating in the Middle East. I was a little dismayed by the surprise, but I perked up at the idea of getting some good press, and a public audience, for the project. A week earlier the superintendent had visited with another news crew to see what the students were cooking up, and hopefully, learning about modern geopolitics.

The story went well and was liked all over social media. I felt proud for presenting an engaging project to my students that was also featured in the public sphere. It came at a time when I was really struggling to make World Geography relevant and authentic. It wasn’t a perfect project and I certainly wasn’t a perfect teacher, but I think the kids learned something about how terrorism operates and the importance of geography.

One piece of feedback I got from students about the project, and other projects like it was the question: “Who’s going to listen to us?” Or ,“Is someone going to actually take these suggestions?” Of course, I couldn’t answer that question definitively, as I hadn’t yet made any connections with the US counterterrorism department. Though the answer was probably, almost certainly, no one was actually going to seriously consider plans from high school freshman. The project was a simulation — we were pretending to do something other people actually do in order to learn. Simulations can be a very powerful learning tool. They are especially better than a sit and get lecture, worksheets, or tepid group work. They allow students to learn by doing themselves, which is almost always better than learn by listening to someone else.

Project based learning is in vogue for these reasons. Other variations like problem based learning, and cooperative learning fall under umbrella of authentic, engaging learning and lots of schools all over the country are trying to incorporate these methods. Entire schools, such as High Tech High in San Diego, are built around the project based model of education. The method works, at least it did my classroom. Though after running a few project based units, I felt something was missing. What if these projects weren’t just simulations of actual experiences, but taken a step further and became actual work. Instead of simulating the work of a counterterrorism agency dealing with geopolitical issues, students would actually draft an official statement and plan for the school on matters of terrorism — a document that is perhaps actually needed in our world.

In business class, students dreamt up businesses complete with business plans and pitches, but stopped short of making a minimal viable product and pitching it to investors. Lets take PBL to the next level and make our students actual players in our political, economic, and social systems. The stakes are higher, the failure is realer, but the learning is also increased. When you’re pressed to deliver a product to paying customers, and fail, the learning is real.

A lot of teachers achieve the element of authenticity by having a public audience for their student’s work at a cumulative event. The effort is laudable, and a step in the PBL process I never really got to several times. A public audience or presentation is a tangible step towards authenticity, but not sufficient in and of itself. Student work needs to compete alongside professional work to achieve authenticity. Student work needs to be allowed to have the same impact as non-student work in the public sphere. What may be surprising is that most cases students can produce work with the collective effort of their peers and teachers on par with professionals and companies. Why do school districts pay advertising firms for work their advertising teachers and students could’ve done for free? I can think of several similar scenarios, as I’m sure most teachers will be able to as well.

Let students solve real problems, and experience real failure or success. Then the learning will be real.