Readings
Blog Post
Gold Standard PBL - Public Product Examples of Public Products
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Group Discussion
1. What challenges have you faced in making your student products public?
2. Other than upping the stakes for the students, what benefits do you see in making student work public? 3. Think of one of the PBLs you've done in the past and then ask yourself: would my students benefit more from an audience of parents who don't really know much about the topic or from two experts? 4. Editor in Chief John Larmer notes that making student work public is just as valuable as making the final product public. What are some things teachers could do to bring greater public transparency to the work process? |
Action and Assessment
Use the following rubric to evaluate your PBL. Remember that public doesn't necessarily have to mean a LOT of people; it can be a couple experts from the outside that give feedback to each group.
If you find that yourself falling short on making your students' work public, consider trying the following:
- Revise the product so that it's something that can be shared more easily. It's hard to share a paper, but if you pair the paper with a presentation that requires students to publicly explain the reasoning behind the choices they made, how they worked together, what they learned, etc., it will be much more conducive to sharing
- Reach out to your families and invite them for an exhibition at school.
- Reach out to families to discover what outside experts are at your disposal. Parents love a chance to spend some class time with their child in addition to giving something back. Every year brings a new set of parents with new professions and valuable perspectives. Take the risk and send out an email every time you start a new project.
- Work towards developing public spaces at our school that are conducive to showcasing work (TVs in the hallway, cork strips on the walls, display cases, places to hang work from the ceiling, etc.)