EDUC 2010

Project-Based Learning with Children

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2018-2019.

A multi-disciplinary team of students spends a week over winter session at an elementary school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The school integrates project-based learning and the arts into its curriculum. While on site, the team works directly with children to model the use of high- and low-tech resources for organizing and inspiring the tough work of learning through complex projects. In 2017, the team focused on video filming and editing; in 2018, the project was writing, illustrating, and binding short stories. Pre-departure seminars near the end of the fall semester familiarize students with the project, the school's background and strategic plan, and basic classroom-management skills.

When Offered Winter.

Course Attribute (CU-CEL, CU-UGR)

• Describe the academic and other standards to which elementary school students and their teachers in Louisiana are held accountable.
• Explain the history, demographics, current student performance data, and rules and protocols for the elementary school.
• Discuss advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of engaging in participant-observation as a method of understanding a context such as a school
• Explain why it's valuable to, engage in critical reflection during and after a community- engagement experience.
• Give clear directions and ask clear questions that help students complete the different parts of a multi-faceted project.
• Describe the challenges and benefits—for students, education professionals, and schools—of enacting project-based pedagogy (vs. more conventional direct instruction.
• Demonstrate modeling skills for elementary-age students.
• Examine the daily challenges of school professionals (teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals) and be more comfortable and skilled at interacting with them

View Enrollment Information