Uploaded by Taqi Agha

PBL and ECE

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Importance and Effectiveness of Project Based Learning in Early Years
Reported by Taqi Ali Agha to Miss Sadia Iqbal for the Early Childhood Education Course
Greenwich University, B.Ed
Introduction:
Traditional teaching methods might have shown success in the past where the economy, the
technology used at work and learning overall could have been as slow paced. In their later
years, students may experience lack of sufficient skills, those they might only get a chance to
nurture during work, or debating and presenting in front of their class, for instance. As a
result, firms might hire only those who naturally possess the required skills and thus the
student of today is demanded to have learned social and other personal skills at work, to
identify what they are so that they will not wrongly assume that they belong somewhere, only
to realise that they belong elsewhere after firms spend huge sums of money for their trainings
and what not.
According to Piaget, the process of environment cognition and acquisition of the basic skills
occurs since the day that the person is born and continues through the rest of their life
(Chalky Papers, Early Education Learning Theory, 2023). This suggests that whatever the
child might acquire, positive or negative, there is a good chance for them to carry it through
their life. As most parents leave their children to the use of gadgets like iPads while they are
having lunch, for instance, to not have to attend them and do other chores or work, their
social and cognitive engagement needs remain unmet and this leads to a failure of acquiring
social and cognitive skills they might require in the future (Rosalyn, 2021). Since traditional
teaching methodology fails to asses these skills while newer takes on education especially
project-based learning or PBL gives a chance to the teacher to assess students in action
(McDowell, 2017) and also helps students to carry their learning through their lives
(Claussen, 2017) it means that they will get a chance to develop and nurture those abilities as
required by employers later in the years. Early learners should start to acquire these skills
through these new approaches and as above-mentioned evidence suggests the importance of
these skills by pointing out that such skills are harder to develop later, might as well be
addressed sooner than later in their school.
In their research on social development in early childhood through project-based learning
approaches, Farida and Rasyid (2018) argue that project-based learning fosters investigation,
purpose and meaningful learning as well as collaboration and inter-personal skills. As the
approach is less dependent on abstract concepts stored in memory, it provides a more robust
way of execution and demonstrations of inter-personal abilities and development options.
Since they are a more student-centred approach and do not leave the teacher to assess
students through a standardised test as pointed out in the article by Pear Tree elementary, but
proves to cultivate active learning. A teacher-centred approach might not induce active
learning though only motivate the person to know just enough so as to cross the mark
boundary while there is less focus on overall development. While Claussen’s (2017) also
argues that project-based approaches not only cultivate short-term as well as long-term
learning but also develop social skills especially if started in early years. New methodologies
like PBL, thus provide a good platform for these necessary skills to be fostered and
developed while traditional teaching methodologies are more teacher-centred proving that the
teacher has done their job and only provides short-term benefits while sacrificing on the longterm ones as explained (Harris-Helm and Katz, 2011). It is quite concerning that once a child
shows a few abilities and gets marked and certified, might not even have those abilities later
when required. Newer ‘gold standard’ teaching approaches amongst those which include
PBL, if applied rigorously, can ensure that learners get to solve real world problems and also
understand how to apply these learnings in their lives (De Vivo, 2022). Thus, these
approaches ensure that the skill is transferred to a new level and carry them on to keep
developing in that particular regard. According to Duke (2020) project-based learning
provides opportunities for students to engage in sense making driven by their social contexts
especially through long-term engagement and real-life issues which can relate to their life
outside of school. By focusing on real-life examples of problems to solve, PBL and other new
teaching approaches may give students a unique chance none of which traditional methods
might be expected to inculcate. Krajcik et al. (2202) also find evidence of effectiveness in
curricula which include project-based learning approaches to teaching help develop
professional skills and learning in science students as well. Practical approaches like PBL,
hence, are becoming more important than ever before and must be applied so that the learning
gap can be bridged and a transitory pathway from the world of education to the world of
work is provided. These approaches, hence, are of utter importance and might also be the
bridge required by recruiters who are depending on candidates having these abilities for
hiring effective and efficient staff with multiple skills and aptitudes. Project-based learning,
should thus be inculcated in mainstream early years teaching to make students learn social,
cognitive and other required skills and push-start their development from that point onwards
and not only deposit theoretical knowledge in their memory bank.
Literature Review:
To gather evidence for point being made, following literature was thoroughly studied to
create a sound argument for the inculcation and importance of newer teaching approaches
like PBL to be part of early years education.
Teaching approaches with early years learners which are more student-centred like the
project-based learning, cultivate active learning and fosters skills required in real life or
future projects such as prioritising, investigation, purposefulness, collaboration and peopleskills. Farida and Rasyid (2018), investigate the effectiveness of PBL approach to social
development in early childhood and claim that it enhances cooperation and provides an active
process for children to work together and remain motivated in the learning process. They also
claim that it provides a meaningful approach for any educational level. The result found that
project-based learning approach has positive influence on children social skill development.
The project-based learning approach also enhances cooperation among children. The projectbased learning approach is a meaningful approach for any educational levels. It provides
active process for children to work together and motivate them in the activity provided
(Farida and Rasyid, 2018).
Meanwhile, (Harris-Helm and Katz, 2011) there is also evidence cited in Danielle Claussen’s
(2017) literature review of the implementation of PBL in early childhood classes suggests
that it is a child-initiated learning activity which contributes to the student’s short and long
term academic and social development. He also contrasts it with traditional methodologies
and approaches that are more teacher-centred to have short-term benefits, hence, long-term
development is sacrificed.
De Vivo (2022) finds out that in well executed project-based learning approaches to teaching,
students get to explore real-world problems with both individual and group projects as they
start to make sense of why is it useful and how it might be applied in their lives. They also
add the evidence-based research at Michigan State University that of the four gold standard
approaches to teaching, PBL improves student learning, suggesting that PBL approach has to
be included in mainstream education, especially early years.
On the contrary, traditional teaching seems to leave out any skill that might not have
developed. Sward, Rosalyn (2021) writes that unmet developmental needs consequentially
lead to failure of acquiring language and social skills and that child’s increased engagement
with personal electronic gadgets has caused this.
Claussen (2017) states that project work teaches young children to be responsible for their
own learning and try to look for answers to the questions they think of. Therefore, it teaches
children how to learn and enjoy the process. He also adds that implementing project-based
learning into children’s classrooms will help them carry the learning through their lives.
Traditional Learning classrooms, also test each student in a standardised manner and thus
only one or two kinds of learnings. Pear Tree, a Canadian Elementary school collect
contrasting benefits of project-based learning against traditional learning and suggest that
project-based learning gives a chance to students to explore their own strengths and also
allows the teacher to find that out as well, while the later does not. (Ableson, peartree.school)
McDowell (2017) writes an article in Edutopia, a George Lucas educational foundation, that
project-based learning and teaching methods gives teachers a chance to asses students in
action (AIA) whether it would be a math problem, debate or drafting papers. Traditional
teaching, however, does not offer this platform.
At least theoretically, project-based learning provides opportunities for students to engage in
sensemaking driven by their social contexts, particularly by extended engagement with
authentic problems, needs, or opportunities in their community or the larger world (Duke,
2020). Hence PBL is a more practical approach that might teach students to perform better in
the real world as they prove that it represented five to six months of greater learning when
compared to a traditional teaching approach. In their extensive study, Duke et al. show that
PBL students when compared to a group of students from a school using traditional teaching
methods are far ahead in many areas of learning ranging from two to six months (if a nice
month school year is considered). Hence arguing that PBL students understand more practical
work like locating destinations and navigating through a map and extracting information.
Project-based learning approaches does only not offer new curriculum and lesson materials
but also offers professional learning and as Krajcik et al. (2022) suggest, is more effective
than other interventions is scientific learning. They asses the use and effectiveness of PBL
amongst science students and also is indiscriminatory for the learning of students from low
socioeconomic status backgrounds, students of different races, ethnicities and genders.
Conclusion:
This article collected a pattern of evidence to amalgamate different benefits and importance
of inculcating project-based learning approaches in early childhood education. The literature
review also gives competing evidence to compare traditional and newer learning and teaching
approaches and their benefits to student achievement. Project-based learning was found to
have capabilities, especially if designed and conducted rigorously, to develop skills from an
early point in education through early years educational institutions. PBL also gives teachers
an assessment chance for the people-skills and social development of children as it can be
observed and consequential results can be drawn, as compared to traditional methods which
might only asses memory and rote memorisation. Since researches have also shown that
inculcating PBL in early years can put student learners at an advantage in many subject areas,
it must not only be conducted and formulated in the curricula at school level or university
level, but creatively embedded in early learning policies as well. Hence, PBL must be part of
school curricula and assessments since early years.
References:
Ableson, J. (no date) ‘7 Benefits of Project Based Learning Your Children Will Enjoy’,
PearTree. Available at: https://peartree.school/7-benefits-of-project-based-learningyour-children-will-enjoy/ (Accessed: 26 May 2023).
ChalkyPapers. (2023, April 15). Early Education Learning Theory. Retrieved from
https://chalkypapers.com/early-education-learning-theory/ (Accessed: 26 May 2023)
Claussen, D. (2017) A Review of Literature: Project Based Learning in Early Childhood,
https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/. thesis. Northwestern College, Iowa. Available at:
https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=educatio
n_masters (Accessed: 26 May 2023).
Duke, N. K., Halvorsen, A.-L., Strachan, S. L., Kim, J., & Konstantopoulos, S. (2021).
Putting PjBL to the Test: The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Second Graders’
Social Studies and Literacy Learning and Motivation in Low-SES School Settings.
American Educational Research Journal, 58(1), 160–200.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220929638
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0002831220929638 (Accessed: 26 May
2023).
Farida, N. and Rasyid, H. (2019) ‘The Effectiveness of Project-based Learning Approach to
Social Development of Early Childhood ’, Advances in Social Science, Education and
Humanities Research, 296(2018). doi:
https://www.atlantispress.com/article/55917585.pdf (Accessed: 26 May 2023)
Krajcik, Joseph & Schneider, Barbara & Adah Miller, Emily & Chen, I-Chein & Bradford,
Lydia & Baker, Quinton & Bartz, Kayla & Miller, Cory & Li, Tingting & Codere,
Susan & Peek-Brown, Deborah. (2022). Assessing the Effect of Project-Based Learning
on Science Learning in Elementary Schools. American Educational Research Journal.
60. 10.3102/00028312221129247.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365000028_Assessing_the_Effect_of_Project
-Based_Learning_on_Science_Learning_in_Elementary_Schools (Accessed: 26 May
2023)
McDowell, M. (2022) ‘Edutopia’, https://www.edutopia.org/, 17 August. Available at:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/choosing-effective-assessments-pbl (Accessed: 26
May 2023).
Sword, R. (2021) Why is Child Development So Important in Early Years?, High Speed
Training. Available at: https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/child-development-inearly-years/ (Accessed: 26 May 2023).
Vivo, K.D. (2022) A new research base for rigorous project-based learning,
kappanonline.org. Available at: https://kappanonline.org/research-project-basedlearning-de-vivo/ (Accessed: 26 May 2023).
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