Do a project or take a test? For some students at North Cobb Christian School, the choice, at first, seemed daunting.
“But within 15 minutes, they were loving it,” said environmental science teacher Janelle Rupp.
Rupp’s class is part of the Kennesaw school’s move away from traditional tests and exams to Project Based Learning, an approach that engages students with real-world problems and solutions to gauge their grasp of concepts. Beginning with the 2021 school year, PBL has been the emphasis in the upper and high school levels.
“It’s different from a typical project; it’s not just ‘it kept me busy, and here’s my presentation,’” said Rupp. “It’s activity based and pushes projects to be more. At the same time, it gives students more choice and freedom to seek answers to questions; that’s what drives critical thinking.”
Rupp implemented PBL in her class by having students investigate problems facing some of the country’s national parks. The idea was sparked during a road trip last summer.
“I saw different climates, organisms and threats at each park, and it made me think kids could be invested to think through solutions,” she said.
Students had the freedom to pick a park, come up with science-based queries and present ways to protect the lands for future generations. Many collected data and feedback directly from park rangers around the country.
“PBL made the project applicable instead of just teaching about deforestation,” said Rupp. “The students were more engaged, and so was I; it pushed me more as an educator.”
Senior Angela Bell researched Glacier National Park for Rupp’s class and found the project approach offered more opportunities to be creative.
“I enjoyed having it up to our own interpretation rather than having a lot of guidelines,” she said. “And it really made me dig into the subject rather than just learning this or that fact. It helped me understand concepts rather than just memorizing things.”
For her project on Yellowstone National Park, senior Emily Bailey had ongoing email conversations with a park ranger who provided insights on her idea of a sprinkler system to deter wildfires.
“I was able to pitch him my ideas, which was very cool,” she said. “It also gave me room to reflect on what I know and get a better grade than just taking an A-B-or C test where I could guess wrong.”
Requiring students to use higher-order thinking skills and engage in real-world problem solving around issues they’re passionate about can increase motivation as well as performance, said Assistant Head of School Chip Houston.
“Just giving students a voice and a choice in what they’re studying and producing makes a difference,” he said. “And it let us do away with final exam week. But it isn’t easier: In some ways, it’s more demanding to do five or six projects and then have full days with assessments, presentations and demonstrations of what they learned. It’s a more engaging, authentic way to gauge the work students do.”
Information about North Cobb Christian is online at ncchristian.org.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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