PBL and IBL: Advantages and Uses in the Classroom

www.123rf.com

As future teachers, we are constantly searching for new information to store in our tool belt to use for our future classrooms. Get your tool belt ready, here's two new instructional tools to use.

Two types of instruction that will be discussed in this post are: Project Based Learning and Inquiry Based Learning.

What is Project Based Learning?

Project based learning is a classroom approach where students are explore real world problems by investigating and being engaged in the material. The students are presented with a question, problem or challenge and then respond to it through research and investigation. 

www.buncombe.k12.nc.us

The Advantages

• Students are using hands on materials.

• The students are more engaged than with direct instruction.

• Students are challenged by working through a project to become more knowledgable about a subject.

• The students are given a chance to make choices, which makes them feel like they have a voice.

When a student is challenged and successful using a Project Based Learning approach, they are better equipped to apply what they have learned in a different situation. They become all around more knowledgable about a subject, and develop higher order thinking skills. Students will feel accomplished and have more confidence in themselves and future work. Instead of giving notes and just being told about a place or thing, students are learning about that specific place or thing by building it, researching it, investigating it, and becoming a part of it. 

How to use it in the Classroom

Using a budget of $10,000, students will create their dream vacation. This activity will require them to do internet research, allocate resources, calculate the cost of the trip, convert costs and learn the geography of a new area. This will incorporate Math, ELA, and Social Studies into one project.
See this activity and many more here.

Below is a video that can give you more insight into PBL.

What is Inquiry Based Learning?

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines inquiry as: "the act of asking questions in order to gather or collect information."

Inquiry based learning starts off with posing questions to the students. The students then use these questions as a basis for their research. Inquiry based learning is not just asking questions, but it is a way of converting data and information into useful knowledge. 

The Advantages

• Students can easily make connections between the curriculum.

• IBL aids students in developing useful problem solving skills.

• Students develop skills in analyzing data and information.

• Students can draw conclusions easier with practice.

When students become familiar with Inquiry Based Learning, they will transfer what knowledge they learned from the question-based research and apply it in the classroom and in life. When all subjects are intertwined, students develop a more concrete foundation to build upon in the future.

How to use it in the Classroom

If a class is studying about ecosystems and the food chain, a field trip to a local river or creek would be a good way for them to get firsthand involvement with that subject. Students could be assigned different areas and asked to take samples and record observations. In this type of setting students are emerged in the environment and with the creatures they are learning about. They are making discoveries and getting hands on experiences with organisms they may have never come in contact with otherwise. Students will be able to more successfully recall this information later in life because they have used all 5 senses to gather information and develop understanding.

Watch this video on the steps of IBL for further information!

Technology in IBL and PBL

freshmommyblog.com

Teachers, take advantage of technology! Use smart boards, iPads, computers, online simulations, spread sheets and data modeling to get your students engaged in the material. Use these materials to enhance your lessons.

I hope that you have gained some new tools for your tool belt and use PBL and IBL in your classrooms. Start small, and work your way up. You won't regret it, and your students will thank you for it.

Resources
Inquiry-based Learning: Explanation. (2004). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/

What is Project Based Learning (PBL)? (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2016, from     http://bie.org/about/what_pbl