Learning is a natural human brain exercise. From a baby’s birth towards its growth, a person is naturally incited with the want of being able to gain knowledge of the different things that are happening in the society. However, not until they are able to set their foot on the grounds of proper learning would they be able to understand what is there to get knowledge about. On the other hand, when the right time comes, and the learning arena is already waiting for the young learner, the interest for gaining knowledge has rather faded on the part of the young mind.
This is the reason why there is a serious need for increasing the transfer of learning for the young learner’s benefit. Concerning the issue of learning and the transfer of knowledge that has to be addressed in this paper, it would be helpful to learn what project-based learning is all about and how it affects the learning process of young minds. What is Project-based Learning? The project-based learning approach has been actually developed to help young learners to become inspired in being able to further understand the society in their own point of view.
Naturally, this approach for classrooms activities directly emphasizes the essence of long-term learning. Through further development of the said process of teaching, PBL has been noted to encourage deep investigation among young students. Since they are usually faced within the subjects that concern the society, the students are further encouraged to increase the interest they have towards learning. True to its Increasing transfer of learning page 2 sense, many teachers believe that project-based learning helps the students further develop their independent sense of working on their own assigned tasks.
In turn, this process further allows them to acquire a more in-depth learning and accurate informations regarding their own study topics. Through the application of project-based learning, the creation of a fine environment of learning for the students has been successfully met.
PBL is mainly a form of an inductive teaching that is designed to carry on the use of problem solving as a form of teaching than simply resorting to spoon-feeding processes that were traditionally utilized by past educators. As the PBL system is being directly applied, the roles of the said system is mainly described to be much effective for the students as it is applied through the thought of carrying its roles in learning: • PBL relies on learning groups that involves the students in an actual performance of investigation of the given problem
• PBL allows student groups to determine their projects. Most of the students are able to actually get involved in the process of learning that is further implied in the problem solving • PBL helps the students realize their own social responsibility because of the fact that they are commonly faced with the actual problems that plague the society Increasing transfer of learning page 3 • PBL helps them develop soaring self-esteems as they are able to get directly connected with the problem solving
• Students develop a thirst for being able to be directly connected to the social phenomena that happens in the society now every now and then. With the roles that have been listed herein, it could then be noted that PBL is indeed a break through in the field of education, and its application in the field of learning. Furthermore, Ravitz, and his colleagues in his research on the development of PBL systems comment on PBL this way:
“Project Based Learning is not only a potentially effective instructional approach, but it is also an essential component of several current school reform models. There are many definitions and approaches to Project Based Learning. We define standards-focused Project Based Learning as…a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks (Buck Institute for Education, 2003)” (Ravitz, 2004)
By being able to define PBL in this manner, the group of Ravitz in the Buck Institute for Education has noted that this system of teaching is indeed effective for Increasing transfer of learning page 4 application especially for children or students whose interests are already spurred up by investigative processes of learning. Furthermore, the researcher whose study was held in Chicago Educational Institutes has commented on the PBL system this way: This study provides strong empirical support that “instruction matters.
” We found clear and consistent evidence that in Chicago’s elementary schools the instructional approach teachers use influences how much students learn in reading and mathematics. Moreover, interactive teaching methods were associated with more learning in both subjects. Our findings call into serious question the assumption that low-achieving, economically disadvantaged students are best served by teaching that emphasizes didactic methods and review (Smith, Lee & Newmann, 2001, January). (Ravitz, 2004)