Double Entry Journal #7

1. The instructional model of the teacher and the textbooks as the primary sources of knowledge, conveyed through lecturing, discussion, and reading.
2. Project-based learning approaches are broader then traditional approaches in a way that tries to get students to transfer their learning and knowledge to new situations, instead of standard memorization methods. In comparative studies of traditional vs. project-based approaches have demonstrated several benefits from projects, such as an increase in the ability to define problems (Gallagher, Stephen, & Rosenthal, 1992), growth in their ability to support their reasoning with clear arguments (Stephen, Gallagher, & Workman, 1993), and enhanced ability to plan a project after working on an analogous problem-based challenge (Moore, Sherwood, Bateman, Bradsford, & Goldman, 1996).

3. Problem-based approaches have students taking an active role in building their own knowledge.  Instead of the normal lecture and memorization, students get to come up with meaningful problems and strategies on how to solve those problems. This approach has been found to be better, though, in supporting flexible problem solving, application of knowledge, and hypothesis generation (for a meta-analysis, see Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003).  Students who participated in problem-based experiences are better able to generate accurate hypotheses and coherent explanations (Hmelo, 1998b; Schmidt et al., 1996).  Students experience larger gains in conceptual understanding in science (Williams, Hemstreet, Liu, & Smith, 1998).

4. Learning by design asks students to design and create an artifact that shows their conceptual knowledge of the idea being taught, instead of the standard evaluation or assessment.  Designing an artifact or object can lead to a positive effect on motivation and sense of ownership over their designs (Fortus and colleagues, 2004). Design activities are particularly good for helping students develop understanding of complex systems, nothing that the systems can be presented as a united whole whose structure is adapted to specific purposes (Perkins, 1986).  A research conducted by Fortus and colleagues (2004) found that both higher and lower-achieving students showed strong evidence of progress in learning science concepts, by applying key concepts into a design; their design. 

5. Project-based learning is completing a task or project while learning new information.  Problem-based learning is coming up with different strategies to solve a problem.  Learning by design involves creating an artifact using knowledge or information they have already learned, this helps show an understanding. 
6. With these three approaches students get a better understanding of what they are doing.  With traditional teaching students may learn or memorize the factual information but when you ask them the question why?  More then likely their response will be “I don’t know”, or “because that is what I was told”.  When students complete “hands on minds on” learning, they are getting a way to actually understand what they are being taught.