Project Based Learning: Extending Social and Educational Reach
Abstract
Project based learning approaches are being employed in the college as a creative and innovative means to engage and motivate learners through a transformative curriculum model for both further and higher education students. This article will examine how these pedagogical approaches have made a positive impact on our Childhood Studies’ students with regards to retention, achievement and success set within the context of widening participation and social engagement with and for those in society who are the hardest to reach including those children from the travelling community who have been integral partners in our Erasmus project. It will highlight the benefits of social learning, not only as a means of developing vocational skills for our students, but it will also examine the wider impacts of developing softer skills for our students, particularly with regards to employability skills, whilst considering the wider impacts this approach has had on society and building community cohesion.References
Books
Boss, S., & Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects in the digital age. Eugene, International Society for Technology in Education.
Dewey, J (1938/1997) Education and Experience,. New York. Touchstone.
Greeno, J. G. (2006). Learning in activity. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 79-96). New York: Cambridge University Press
Keengwe F and Onchwari G (2009) Published online: 3 September 2009 Technology and Early Childhood Education: A Technology Integration Professional Development Model for PracticingTeachers Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Race, P (2000) 500 Tips on Group Learning, Kogan Page Ltd, Stylus Publishing, Sterling
Journals
Blumenfeld et al 1991, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST, 26(3&4) 369-398 "Motivating Project-Based Learning: Sustaining the Doing, Supporting the Learning." Phyllis C. Blumenfeld, Elliot Soloway, Ronald W. Marx, Joseph S. Krajcik, Mark Guzdial, and Annemarie Palincsar
Dunn, L. (2017) Embrace the technology: digital learning and teaching is
the responsibility for all. Teaching Scotland, 67, pp. 18-19
Mitchell, S., Foulger, T. S., & Wetzel, K., Rathkey, C. (February, 2009). The negotiated project approach: Project-based learning without leaving the standards behind. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(4), 339-346
Walsh, G., Spoule, L., McGuiness, C., Trew, K., Rafferty, H. and Sheehy, N. (2006) An Appropriate Curriculum for the 4-5 year old child in Northern Ireland: Comparing Play Based Approaches’, Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development 26 (2): 201-21
Online Sources
Buck Institute for Education (2003). Project Based Learning Handbook: A Guide to Standards-Focused Project Based Learning for Middle and High School Teachers http://www.bie.org/tools/handbook accessed on 20/07/18
http://www.bie.org/blog/gold_standard_pbl_essential_project_design_elements accessed 5/07/18
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/technology-can-hurt-students-learning-research-shows-1.3385864 accessed 07/07/18
https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/students-lack-the-skills-and-discipline-essential-in-a-workplace-warns-boss-10457428.html accessed on 02/7/18
http://www.amyreesanderson.com/blog/we-dont-stop-playing-because-we-grow-old-we-grow-old-because-we-stop-playing/#.W1lu8o0zUcA accessed 25/07/18
https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/learning/howard_gardner_theory_multiple_intelligences.pdf accessed 25/07/18
https://tccl.arcc.albany.edu/knilt/images/4/4d/PBL_Article.pdf accessed 15/07/18
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10529785/How-technology-is-changing-childhood.html 23 dec 2013 accessed 22/07/18
Further Education Means Success: The Northern Ireland Strategy For Further Education (2016) https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/economy/FE-Strategy%20-FE-Means-success.pdf accessed 26/07/18
http://www.pathsoflearning.net/articles_Educating_Childs_Inner_Power.php accessed 26/07/18
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- The Author/Authors agree(s) to publish the article free of charge in Multidisciplinary Journal of School Education in English or Spanish. The Editorial Board reserves the right to shorten the texts and change the titles.
- As part of free publication mentioned in § 1, the Author/Authors agrees to make the full electronic version of their article available in the Internet.
- The Author/Authors agrees to index their article in databases at home and abroad, including abstracts and keywords as well as Author's/Authors’ affiliation in English and in other languages. The Author/Authors agrees to pass on the information mentioned above to the owners of these databases.
- The Author/Authors declares that their publication is original and does not include borrowings from other works which might cause Publisher's responsibility, does not infringe the rights of the third party and that their copyright on this publication is not limited. The Author/Authors will incur all the costs and will pay compensations which might result from the mendacity of the following statement.
- The Author/Authors declares to bear complete responsibility for the scientific reliability of the article submitted. The detailed contribution of all co-authors is defined.
- The Author/Authors declares to publish the text in the Multidisciplinary Journal of School Education under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-ND 4.0).
- For more than one author, please complete the Authorship Contributions and send it to the editorial office. Please indicate the specific contributions made by each author (list the authors’ initials, e.g., JKH). Please download, complete, scan and attach the file in the system during the submission process.
Authors Statement - Authorship Contributions