"Road Trip" - Student Voice and Choice - Project Based Learning

Student Voice and Choice

Project Based Learning 

"I am going to Disneyland.  Not! Disney world, yes." - Deijohn Dixon

"Can I go to Mexico?" - Aaron Jurado

"What about a car that can drive on water?" - Edgar Gonzalez

"How many places can I go to?" - Robert Wenceslao

"$20,000 is a lot of money for a trip." - Angela Lugo

"CAASPP in 21 days"

"I still have a module to teach that I have not started yet."

"When am I going to review all the topics that were taught this year?"

"How do I keep the students engaged at such a critical time of the year?"

"High school registration has begun and I need my students to do well on the high stake test."

Are these some of the thoughts you are having right now?  Because I am having these thoughts.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a method of learning where students acquire knowledge through challenges and inquiry-based learning.  One of the project essential elements in PBL is student voice and choice.

     Student voice and choice can allow you as much input as you would want from your students.  Students deciding on the final public product, to the project requirements, to the actual project design are just a couple of the options for student voice and choice.  Allowing student voice and choice in a project can build more buy-in by students.  This essential element in PBL projects can be implemented at the planning stages of a project, beginning of the project, middle of the project or even the end of the project.  Getting students' ideas of what is of interest to them can start the planning of a new project for an upcoming unit of study.  After introducing a project, you could have students choose from what they want to study in the unit.  And in the middle or end of the project, you could have students start choosing what type of public product they want to create as a demonstration of their learning.

The goal of student voice and choice is to give students the opportunity to lend their ideas and thoughts to the project they are working on.

     I just started a project last Friday with my 8th graders on the unit of study with functions.  I decided that I would use the idea of a "Road Trip" to keep students' interest this close to CAASPP and as a 'vehicle' to teach an important topic.  As I was planning this project, I wanted to give as much student voice and choice as I could to my students.  So, the project allows students to choose anywhere they want to drive to - they use Google Maps to determine the total distance and the total time required for their trip - the only restriction being that you must be able to drive there.  They can bring anyone on the trip that they want to go with them - from friends to celebrities to pets.  Then students are allowed to choose the cost of food per day they want to spend, the quality of lodging they each night, and the amount of spending money per day.  A list of car options is given, but I added an extra 'your choice' where students can research their own vehicle - this has turned out to be a good option because students are researching motorhomes which I had never considered - great thinking on my students' part.  They then calculate the amount of gasoline and the cost to buy gas for their entire trip.  So many options for the students in this project that each and everyone of them is creating their own personalized "Road Trip."

    Where is the CA content?  Great question.  The "Road Trip" must cost between $19,000 and $20,000.  And each part described above must be represented four different ways - a story, an equation, a table, and a graph.  Students are so focused right now on their choices that only a couple have figured out that this is a very small margin - but those that have realized that are starting to go back and make changes to their choices.  And the final part of the project, students get to choose what public product they want to create to demonstrate their learnings through the project.  I keep telling the students, "I want you to get it wrong the first time, and the second time, and hopefully get it right the third time."  There are so many moving parts to this project but each moving part allows students to have their own voice and choice - in the hope that they are engaged for the entire project.

I encourage you to think about a project idea and ask how you can incorporate some "student voice and choice" in the project - whether it just be one part or multiple parts.

Still learning and loving it,
Kevin