Project work is an interesting approach which, in my opinion, encompasses quite a bit about what we have learned about thus far. It integrates higher level thinking, more compatibility and student interaction, and places responsibility on the students in regards to learning.
The book mentioned 3 different varieties to this approach: structured, semi structured, and unstructured. I, for one, would not feel very comfortable allowing my students to have an unstructured learning environment. I know it depends on the type of classroom and the elements it contains to decide which type of approach to take. For example, I feel as though my teacher for practicum uses a combination of all 3 varieties. It's quite interesting actually to see how the students react to these. They have 3 different stations each day -- a reading station where they do silent reading on their own, group work with the teacher, and computer time, where they do activities on the computer that are already pre-made. Some students are disciplined and able to focus during the 20 minutes given to them for the silent reading, but others can hardly pay attention. They do well at the semi-structured level, the computers and sometimes get off track at the structured level with the teacher. Again, I think it all goes back to understanding the personality of the students and how they learn best. I think, for this particular class, a semi-structured project is the best bet.
It's neat to see the different approaches we learn about in class in a real live context :)
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