This year in Stage 4 we have changed our project model to better meet the needs of our student body. Moving away from a mostly unstructured type of Project Based Learning to a project learning model that is based on students completing episodes. Each episode involves the completion of three main types of activities – engage, challenge and reflect.
There are many positives coming from the change in learning models and this has been reflected in the higher quality of work that is currently being produced in both Year 7 and 8. From my observations the best aspect of the new model is that it builds student confidence while learning. As students move through the episodes and activities the wide variety of tasks means that students have many small wins and successes throughout the entire project. When I talk to people about the experiences they had when they were in college everyone always reflects positively about the subjects they had success in. Confidence is the key to learning in a high college environment.
With feedback now given on a more more regular basis student learning is at an all time high in Stage 4. I’m very proud of where we are at, many thanks to my colleagues who work hard to constantly improve the work that we do.
The attached photo is of students completing a field sketch of their local environment as part of the “challenge” activity of episode one of this term’s combined Science and Geography water project. Students looked at the water cycle as a scientific concept then went out to the local gardens to sketch how that water cycle looked in real life.
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