Project Based Learning (PBL 101)

Sacramento State, Spring 2024

Sayonita Ghosh Hajra & Praveen Meduri

Welcome & Introductions

Please share your

• Name
• Preferred pronouns (optional)
• Department
• One favorite class activity

Agenda

• Learning Objectives
• Norms & Community Agreements
• What is PBL?
• Activity – Experience a PBL activity
• Tips for designing projects
• Activity – Transforming an activity into a project
• Discussion & Q/A

Norms

• Please feel free to take a break without hesitation if needed.
• Feel encouraged to ask us any questions.

Community Agreement

• Maintain open and respectful communication.
• Practice active listening, valuing the opinions and experiences shared within the community.
• Provide feedback in a constructive manner, focusing on ideas rather than individuals.
• Be open to new ideas and perspectives, adapting to the evolving needs of the community.

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Learning Outcomes

Participants will

• gain insights into the fundamental elements of project design and teaching practices associated with PBL
• actively engage in hands-on activities involving accessible entry projects
• collaboratively generate ideas for implementing PBL projects in their respective courses by considering incremental steps

What is PBL?

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional approach where students learn through active participation in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

PBL

• Emphasizes theory and practice, not theory then practice!
• Engages in hands-on learning experiences
• Allows collaboration to understand unstructured problems
• Fosters unique journeys and embrace diverse paths
• Cultivates confidence, leadership, and critical thinking skills

What does research say about PBL?

PBL

• Serves as a high-impact practice with proven effectiveness in improving retention rates (Kuh, 2008).
• Contributes significantly to a sense of belonging (Rohde et al., 2019), fostering a supportive learning environment.
• Plays a crucial role in enhancing self-efficacy and student identities (Robnett et al., 2015; Rohde et al., 2019), and closing equity gaps, particularly among URM students (Wilson et al., 2009).

Activity: Experiencing PBL

From left to right: Section of the American river bank, American River flooding near the Guy West Bridge, Aerial view of townhomes in Sacramento.

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to identify quantities that are changing over time. Students will be able to pose real-world questions and make assumptions.

Activity: Experiencing PBL

Quantities refer to measurable attributes or properties that can be expressed with numerical values. In various contexts, quantities may represent physical attributes (such as length, mass, or temperature), numerical values, or abstract concepts (such as price or quantity of goods).

Activity: Experiencing PBL

From the photo situations, identify the quantities that changes continuously. Complete the following sentence:

If I knew (this quantity)…, then I could (say something about) . . .

Activity: Experiencing PBL

If I knew (this quantity)…, then I could (say something about) . . .

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• Think on your own (5 minutes)
• Discuss with your group and write your responses on an index card (10 minutes).
• Exchange photographs and index card with another group and add your thoughts on to the index card (10 minutes).

First Activity: MATH 30 – Student Work

Figure A. Students brainstorm quantities and questions related to the townhomes photo.

Figure B. A group’s question related to the photo scenario of townhomes in Sacramento.

Second Activity: MATH 30 – Calculus 1

• Upload an image from your community that illustrates a continuously changing quantity
• Describe your image
• Complete the statement: “If I knew ..., then I could ...”
• Use the above statement to formulate a question you would like to explore further using Calculus.
• What specific data do you require to investigate your question?

Second Activity: MATH 30 – Student Work

Rosemary Bush Growth Project: One of the groups walked outside and found rosemary bushes. They wrote, “I have a bush at my house and use it in my cooking a lot, so I started thinking about what we could do with it. If we knew what year this rosemary bush was planted, as well as having measurements for this bush since it was planted, then we could determine the rate of growth of the rosemary bush over time.”

Second Activity: MATH 30 – Student Work

Responding to the Rosemary Bush growth project submission, one student wrote in their review, “This was a cool project from y’all. I am very intrigued of how y’all did this by measuring the height of the plants and calculating the different stages of heights. I have seen that bush around and never really thought of it that way. . . . I now will go around and think of the rate of how bushes or any plants be growing!”

Third Activity: MATH 30 – Calculus 1

• Revisit your questions from second activity. Rewrite questions to align with the idea of the rate of change. Using an Excel spreadsheet, calculate the average rate of change over different periods from the data. Sketch a scatterplot from the data and find the best fit polynomial.
• Using the slope of the tangent line for the best fit polynomial function approximate the instantaneous rate of changes. Write a sentence that explains the meaning of the number, including the units, in the context of the data.
• Draw a graph representing rate of change of the chosen quantity. Determine the intervals where the rate is negative and where the rate is positive. Write a summary of your conclusion.

Third Activity: MATH 30 – Student Work

Analyzing the data, group wrote, “We estimated the rate of growth for the rosemary bush in days/cm on day 90. We tried two methods and both methods got us the same slope. It is safe to say that the rate of growth for the rosemary bush on day 90 was 0.0727 cm/day.”

Before PBL: MATH 30 – Calculus 1

(Stewart, P-235) 27. The table gives the population of the world P(t), in millions, where t is measured in years and t=0 corresponds to the year 1900.

1. Estimate the rate of population growth in 1920 and in 1980 by averaging the slopes of two secant lines.
2. Use a graphing device to find a cubic function that models the data.
3. Use your model in (b) to find a model for the rate of population growth
4. Use part (c) to estimate the rates of growth in 1920 and 1980. Compare your estimates.

When &Where PBL in the Semester?

7 Essential Project Design Elements

Source: https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-project-design

7 Project Based Teaching Practices

Source: https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-project-design

5 Tips for Modifying an Activity to a Project

10-minute Break

Try it Yourself!

• Individual work time: 15 minutes
• Select an assignment from your course, contemplate the learning outcomes associated with that assignment, and engage in brainstorming to explore opportunities for incorporating elements of Project-Based Learning (PBL) into the task.
• Be prepared to share in small groups:
• An activity
• What you like about your activity
• Any challenges you had

Small Group Discussion

• Individual work time: 15 minutes
• Select an assignment from your course, contemplate the learning outcomes associated with that assignment, and engage in brainstorming to explore opportunities for incorporating elements of Project-Based Learning (PBL) into the task.
• Be prepared to share in small groups:
• An activity
• What you like about your activity
• Any challenges you had

Discussion

• What is one thing you are taking away, or something you are going to try?

Final Q & A

Have any questions for us, please email us anytime!

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Sayonita’s email: Sayonita.ghoshhajra@csus.edu

Praveen’s email: praveen.meduri@csus.edu

We appreciate your �feedback on this workshop:

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https://surveys.csus.edu/jfe/form/SV_6llpUjTQMKhPNfU

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