How Project-Based Learning Helps Kids Solving Real-World Problems?

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a methodology used to solve real-world problems by an investigation over an extended period of time. In Project-based learning, kids learn by doing and performing practical work.

Real-Word Problems

Real-world problems are the issues that are experienced and dealt with by the people in the world. These are the complex and challenging problems that are considered as external environment issues i.e. outside the classroom. The Modern Education system provides the children with this project-based learning to solve real-world problems by using their knowledge and skills. The term ”Problem solving” does not mean that you should expect the kids to must find out the solution but it is the practice of making things better i.e. it involves progress.

Come Up with a Plan First

If we talk about project-based learning in a school system, the instructor should initiate a proper plan first. He or she should connect the content, interest of the students, authenticity of the context, and after this, he or she should guide the students about the instructions of the project to solve particular real-world problems.

i. What a Proper Plan Should Contain?

The instructor should plan things in a good and proper way i.e. she must know about the interest of the students, knowledge, and information about that field of interest, understanding the basic things, providing a timeline and required benchmarks, expect the type of final product and what problems the students can face during solving these real-world problems. Initiate the project with small tasks of the daily routine.

ii. The Plan Should be Flexible

Flexibility is the most important thing to deal with anything in the world. The instructor should already keep in mind the possible outcomes of the problem given to the students. Maybe the students would like to have some changes in the procedure or they come up with a bit different product than expected. So, flexibility must be shown to evoke their sense of creativity.

iii. If The Plan Gets Fail

It may happen that the kids come up with nothing as a product so it is important for you as an instructor to accept the flaws made and plan other strategies again for better understanding and better results. Allow the students to try, explore and make mistakes. Just keep the kids motivated.

Bruce Albert says,

”Everybody is motivated by challenge and solving problems, and we don’t make use of that in schools enough”

Bruce Albert

Source: https://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-student-motivation

For tips on Motivation, read the article on the same blog

Use The KWI Technique

K:

What information or knowledge the kids already have or what they have gathered on the board?

W:

What further things you should consider to have solving the project?

I:

What ideas your students possess to solve that real-world problem?

How to Do Deep Investigation?

Project-based learning is important because it involves an in-depth investigation of real-world problems. The three main phases of deep investigation include:

Phase 1:

In phase 1, there is an initial discussion of the project with and among the kids. All the essentials of the project are discussed earlier to make sure the procedure goes smoothly. This phase evolves the sense of teamwork among the kids.

Phase 2:

Phase 2 involves the main procedure of the project. It is basically the practical part of solving real-world problems. It may constitute field-work, informative sessions, and experiences related to the project with the field experts.

Phase 3:

The last and the most important phase of the in-depth investigation is the presentation of your final product to the audience.

Examples of Real-World Problems

1. Climatic Change

The gradual everyday change in the climate is seen by everyone and is a serious real-world problem in the current era. The project related to this climate change can be assigned to the students. The students will witness all the changes themselves and then they will be guided a plan to solve the problem or how to make it better.

2. Food-Home Insecurity

Food and home insecurity is a real-world problem that cannot be neglected at any cost. Many people in the world are deprived of affordable, nutritious, enough food and homes. Poverty is the major culprit here playing a key role in the problem. According to an estimate, 13 million people in the world are those who have no other choice to live in food-insecure homes. The students can pick up this real-world problem and come up with a possible solution.

3. Lack of Education

Lack of education is still a serious concern in the world majorly affecting third-world countries. It can be due to several reasons. Children especially girls are not allowed to have their secondary school education completed. This shows another aspect of another real-world problem which is gender disparity.

In South Africa 2019, Over 21% of children between the age of 7-18 years stated that they are unable to attend schools due to poverty or lack of financial resources whereas, 23% dropped out because of their lack of interest in the academic curriculum and the ones not attending the school education due to family concerns include 17.1% females and 0.3% males.

4. Violence

Violence can be of any form such as violence in school and educational systems or violence at the home. Domestic abuse or domestic violence is a notorious issue that is always tried to hide instead of having a proper required solution of it. The students should be given a guideline to have a product of solution regarding the issue. About 200 thousand issues of domestic violence were reported in 2019-2020 in England and Wales as compared to the 701 thousand issues in 2001-2002.

Project-Based Learning Vs Traditional Education System

Unlike the Traditional education system which only involves cramming and a test system to check what the kids have memorized, project-based learning for solving real-world problems is the most unique and effective way of making the kids learn. Modern project-based learning involves field trips, advanced instrumentations, researches, models, interviewing the experts in the field, etc.

Benefits of Project-Based Learning

1. Fun Schooling:

It suppresses the traditional educational system that is found boring by the kids. Project-based learning enhances the knowledge and skills of the students to make them capable of thinking. It also involves teamwork and fun learning.

2. Live Other Characters:

The kids are able to live the characters of different professions for a short period of time during project solving. For Example, if the project is based on a medical issue, the kids will be able to play a character of a medical health professional and similarly in the case of scientists, if the project involves some scientific work.

3. Improved Behaviour:

You can see an obvious difference in the behaviors of students who are dealing with project-based learning while those of having the traditional educational system. The kids with project-based learning develop a hunger to learn new things. They would tell their parents the whole summary of the day with a remarkable level of excitement, enthusiasm, and engagement.

4. Building Strong Concepts:

The modern education system denies memory-based learning while improves the ability to explore and create. It involves retaining the things learned and not forgetting them the very next day. They try to apply connections and relate even the smallest things they have learned in a day. This makes their concepts strong and they are free of any ambiguity.

5. More Benefits:

• Enhances sense of teamwork and how to collaborate
• improves skills
• boosts confidence by questioning
• reduces absenteeism
• increase test scores
• providing them with a sense of power, responsibility, authority, and decision making
• society is benefitted theoretically as well as practically

Conclusion

Real-world problems are serious issues faced by people or the environment in the world. Project-based learning is an effective and helpful method of teaching the kids to improve and solve real-world problems by using different techniques. Project-based learning has several benefits for the kids and also for society.