Literacy Links

Teaching Adults Through Projects

Project IDEA Corner

by Barbara Baird and Rebecca Davis
Project IDEA, El Paso Community College, El Paso, Texas

Project-based learning (PBL) is an important component of Project IDEA. These projects serve as the catalyst for the teachers to begin identifying questions and conducting inquiry into their teaching. Additionally, PBL promotes the teacher as a facilitator in a learner-centered environment. "In its simplest form, project-based learning involves a group of learners taking on an issue close to their hearts, developing a response, and presenting the results to a wider audience. Projects may last from only a few days to several months" (Wrigley, 1998, p. 13).

Teachers have reported the following benefits to facilitating student-generated projects:

• Project work required the participants to work as a team. It brought the class together to accomplish a common goal. Communication skills changed as students made suggestions, negotiated, resolved conflicts, and expressed opinions and feelings. Teachers report students making statements such as:
  You're so good at __________.
  Maybe you could ___________.
  No offense, but I was thinking __________.
  
• Most students learned or enhanced their computer skills. Students with advanced computer skills taught their peers who had limited skills. Teachers provided technical assistance but did little of the publication's design, title, organization, clip art, or word processing.
• Students learned standards for publication. They practiced the writing process of brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
• Project work enhanced the participants' self-esteem and self-confidence. One teacher reported that her students were different people as a results of the project; they were recognized in their community and teens talked to them outside the classroom; they were publicly recognized by school officials and given certificates for their classroom presentations. As one student wrote, In all the mess I've made of my life, I've helped someone out.
• Teachers found many "teachable moments'' for presenting information for "just in time learning" that was related to the real world. Project work helped teachers make the connection between classroom learning and real world application.
• The "learning by doing" atmosphere kept the students active and engaged in learning activities. Learning became less abstract as learners performed tasks and acquired skills.
• Teachers reported professional change and growth. They learned to serve as facilitators, cheerleaders, and consultants. They learned to incorporate a variety of teaching activities and methods. They learned to give opportunities to class members to select and organize activities, assignments, due dates, and student responsibilities. They learned to give students opportunities to share their "know-how" with others and employ their skills and knowledge. One teacher reported that it was the best experience she had ever had with students.

A key element in the process of PBL is for ownership of the project to be shared. It is a mutual group decision about "how the project should be set up, which learning activities will be conducted, and who should undertake them" (Poell, Vanderkrogt & Warmerdam, 1998, p. 29). Being a part of PBL helps students to:

• Share their knowledge;
• Develop workplace competencies, including teamwork, decision making, problem solving, communication, time management, budgeting, fund raising, marketing, presentations, and negotiation skills;
• Showcase their strengths and abilities by developing a product that can be part of an EFF portfolio;
• Apply skills learned in the class to real work contexts;
• Gain a sense of pride and help break down the common stereotypes of the "educationally disadvantaged";
• Become agents of their own learning instead of merely recipients of information designed by others;
• Discover the standards used for "publication" of various projects and strive to meet those standards;
• Decide what contributions they can make to the project, learn to discuss and evaluate their own learning, and gain experience in peer evaluation.

If deciding to use PBL, teachers should be aware that there are some difficulties in facilitating student-generated project. Teachers who have used PBL reported the following challenges:

• It was often difficult to keep the momentum going for project work after vacations and breaks.
• Students' attitudes and personalities influenced the class project.
• Some students were very interested and excited about project work, and others were not.
• Students and teachers had different standards for completion and publication. Students were often satisfied with a project while the teacher felt more work was required before final publication.
• Some students initially resisted the teacher being a "facilitator" and wanted and expected the teacher to "do" the project or to tell them how to do it.

Project-based learning is a natural fit for Equipped for the Future (EFF). During PBL, the facilitator has ample opportunities to help the students make the connections between the EFF triad of family, worker, and citizen. PBL also helps to build lifelong learning skills, communication skills, decision-making skills, and interpersonal skills that are key elements of EFF. Student-centered projects give learners a voice in their learning, promote independence, and help them to build the skills that will give them a "bridge to the future" (Stein, 2000).

Do YOU want to know more about Project IDEA? If so, contact:

Barbara Baird, Project Director
(915) 831-4777
e-mail: barbarab@epcc.edu

or

Rebecca Davis, Project Coordinator
(361) 592-4735
e-mail: rebecca.davis@tamuk.edu

References

Poell, R. F., Vanderkrogt, F. J., & Warmerdam, J. H. M. (1998). Project-based learning in professional organizations. Adult Education Quarterly, 49 (1), 28-42.

Stein, S. (2000). Equipped for the future content standards: What adults need to know and be able to do in the 21st century. (National Institute for Literacy Publication). Washington, DC.

Wrigley, H. S & Guth, G. J. (1992). Bringing literacy to life: Issues and options in adult ESL literacy. San Diego, CA. Dominie Press, Inc.