The Early High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Program will use an integrated approach to teaching and learning that draws on the foundations of the STEM subjects. Students in the EHSSP will be engaged in learning and exploration through rigorous coursework, applied technology and critical/independent thinking within theme-based curricular courses.
Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups.
Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning:
○ A NEED TO KNOW
Teachers can powerfully activate students' need to know content by launching a project with an "entry event" that engages interest and initiates questioning. An entry event can be almost anything: a video, a lively discussion, a guest speaker, a field trip, or a piece of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario.
○ A DRIVING QUESTION
A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn.
○ STUDENT VOICE AND CHOICE
This element of project-based learning is key. In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better.
○ 21st CENTURY SKILLS
A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the second criterion for meaningful work—an important purpose.
○ INQUIRY AND INNOVATION
Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry, which does not mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions.
○ FEEDBACK AND REVISION
Formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of the endeavor. Students need to learn that most people's first attempts don't result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-world work.
○ A PUBLICLY PRESENTED PRODUCT
Schoolwork is more meaningful when it's not done only for the teacher or the test. When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality. Once again, it's "the more, the better" when it comes to authenticity.
Click here for more information on the 7 Essential of Project-Based Learning.
Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning:
○ A NEED TO KNOW
Teachers can powerfully activate students' need to know content by launching a project with an "entry event" that engages interest and initiates questioning. An entry event can be almost anything: a video, a lively discussion, a guest speaker, a field trip, or a piece of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario.
○ A DRIVING QUESTION
A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn.
○ STUDENT VOICE AND CHOICE
This element of project-based learning is key. In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better.
○ 21st CENTURY SKILLS
A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the second criterion for meaningful work—an important purpose.
○ INQUIRY AND INNOVATION
Students find project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry, which does not mean finding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and often ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions.
○ FEEDBACK AND REVISION
Formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of the endeavor. Students need to learn that most people's first attempts don't result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-world work.
○ A PUBLICLY PRESENTED PRODUCT
Schoolwork is more meaningful when it's not done only for the teacher or the test. When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality. Once again, it's "the more, the better" when it comes to authenticity.
Click here for more information on the 7 Essential of Project-Based Learning.