PLACE-BASED EDUCATION, ASSESSMENT, AND PROJECT BASED LEARNING

Defense of Practice: Place-Based Education, Assessment, and Project Based Learning

Marguerite Ferguson
11163161
EFDT 315 – Christopher Clark
University of Saskatchewan: College of Education

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Introduction

In traditional education, teachers maintain the power and authority in the classroom,
which means they have the power to decide the topics discussed in class, the assignments
students will complete, and the grade they believe a student should have. Traditional education is
something that teachers, students, parents of students, and community members have always
followed; however, challenging traditional education with non-traditional practices can cause
back lash. I am aware that certain teaching pedagogies can be considered as controversial if they
step away from conventional education, and that is why the purpose of this paper is to discuss
and rationalize the teaching pedagogies that I will be using in my teaching practice by using
research and evidence that support these pedagogies by outlining student success as a result of
these pedagogies in place. The pedagogies that I support and will be discussed are place-based
education, formative assessment, and project based learning.

Place-Based Education

Place-based education can be considered as a controversial teaching pedagogy since

learning takes place outside of the classroom; however, there is ample evidence that proves that
place-based education results in higher student engagement within their community. Place
matters in education, especially if that place extends outside the walls of a classroom, since
students can build stronger connections with their community. Smith (2007) strongly believes
that it is essential for students to build better connections with their community because it allows
students not only to develop a sense of pride towards their community, but also a sense of
commitment to create change in order to better their community. Smith (2007) has found that
place-based education presents cultural and historical investigation opportunities for students.
This means place-based education provides opportunities for students to explore local assets and
issues in their community that may have been invisible to them before. This new awareness of
local assets and issues can help students determine “what is worth preserving in a territory they
call home” (Smith, 2007, pg. 192). This type of educational experience that occurs through
place-based education cannot be done inside the walls of a classroom. Smith (2010) makes it is
quite apparent that place-based education creates educational experiences that not only helps
students create a sense of affiliation with the community in which they live in, but also helps
students develop passion for creating change in their community through this affiliation.

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Therefore, it is fair to say that students’ care and commitment to make changes within their
community would be absent without the use of place-based education.

Normally, the teacher is the primary source of information who is responsible for
presenting standardized knowledge within a subject’s curriculum to the students in the
classroom. This way of teaching limits student learning since students are required to use the
resources in the classroom to learn. Student learning can be heightened when students can gather
information from multiple resources outside of the classroom. Students need to go out and
explore their community so that can recognize that “a place is an expression of culture and that it
represents the outcome of human choices and decisions” (Gruenewald, 2003, pg. 627).
Collecting information from one’s community is a type of resource and an educational
experience that students do not have access to in the classroom.

It is so important to realize that teachers do not have to be the sole resource that students
gain knowledge and understanding from. Gruenewald (2003) believes that place matters in
education because of its emphasis on the need for teachers and students to explore new places
and to connect with citizens from places outside the school. Connecting with community
members outside the school also offers the opportunity for students and teachers to learn from
individuals who may possess more knowledge about a topic than the teacher. Students benefit
more when they are given an opportunity to learn outside the classroom from individuals who
can help students build connections and increase understanding of a specific topic. For instance, I
was able to learn more about the Canadian Light Source Centre and how I could connect it to
teaching the ELA curriculum to students from the CLS tour guide because she was possessed
more knowledge about the CLS Centre than my professor, Chris Clark did.

I intend on implementing place-based education into my teaching practices by breaking

away from institutional and standardized practices so that I can offer students the option to learn
outside the classroom and from multiple resources. I understand that I do not know everything,
and I fear that I may limit my students if I choose to restrict my students’ acquisition of
knowledge by remaining inside the walls of a classroom. I think it is extremely important for
students to explore their community and connect to members of the community, and as a teacher,
I need to create this opportunity by approaching outside sources who are more knowledgeable
than me about a topic to educate my students. Students and their learning are the priority, and

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therefore I must acknowledge that I sometimes have to step away from my pride and the power I
maintain in the classroom as the teacher and give that role to someone else outside the
classroom, especially if it helps benefit my students’ learning.

Assessment

Using formative assessment rather than summative assessment in the classroom has
multiple benefits on student learning, task involvement, and motivation. Providing only
comments to students rather than a traditional grade creates an opportunity for students to shift
away from comparing themselves to others and towards individual improvement. Black,
Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam (2004) extend this idea by suggesting that numerical scores
or grades do not tell students how to improve their work, and therefore an opportunity to enhance
their learning is lost. The comments made by Black et al. (2004) can be supported by a study
conducted by Ruth Butler in 1998, which found that students who received only comments on an
assignment improved by 30% and had a higher task involvement compared to the students who
received only a grade or a combination of both comments and a grade. It is clear that using
formative assessment instead of summative assessment helps students improve over time since
they are focusing more on the feedback provided by the teacher instead of focusing on the grade
itself. According to Black et al. (2004), comments on assignments or projects need to outline
what was done well, what needs improvement, and explicit strategies for next steps regarding
how students can make those changes. This particular way of commenting on students’ work
provides students with the proper tools that they can use to improve their work in the future.

Students’ task involvement improves when teachers provide comments on students’ work
that focus on what needs to be done to improve along with specific detail about how students can
improve. Accordingly to Black et al. (2004), this type of feedback can help students focus on
what needs to be done to improve, which can ultimately encourage students to believe they can
improve. Students can ultimately develop a poor task involvement because they have been
conditioned by grades to believe that their abilities are fixed; however, this can change by
providing students with effective feedback because this allows students to work towards
improvement. Providing only grades to students can produce a sense of competition amongst
students, and Black et al. (2004) would argue that if “a learning exercise is seen as a competition,
then everyone is aware that there will be losers as well as winners, and those who have a track

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record as losers will see little point in trying” (pg. 18). This means that providing students with
only grades produces a lack of task involvement within students, especially with students who
see themselves as “losers.” Students needs to be able to see their ability as incremental, and this
is only accomplished by offering students effective feedback on their work that focuses on areas
of improvement and the strategies to achieve improvement. Providing students with this type of
feedback as opposed to summative assessment helps students believe that they can always
achieve higher through improvement, which will ultimately increase students’ task involvement.
It is clear that Black et al. (2004) agrees with this statements since they believe that “students
will invest effort in a task only if they believe that they can achieve something” (Black et al.,
2004, pg. 18).

Providing students with marks only enhances ego involvement rather than task
involvement, and it is this ego involvement that marks create that does not help motivate students
to increase their task involvement or performance. Many teachers believe that the only way to
motivate students is through extrinsic rewards, such as grades, stickers, or prizes. However,
Black et al. (2004) makes it clear that students who receive only a grade or a combination of both
a grade and comments do not grow. Instead, these students compare their grade with others, and
as a result, they have no ambition or motivation to improve. It is clear that providing students
with only grades creates opportunities for students to see themselves as “losers” of the grading
system since they are constantly comparing themselves to others, and therefore decreasing
motivation to complete an assignment because they believe they are not going to do as well as
others (Black et al., 2004, pg. 18). This is why it is essential to provide students with only
comments since it helps motivate students to improve their work for the future. Teacher feedback
that comments on areas of improvement and provides helpful strategies for students to achieve
this improvement places more responsibility in the hands of the students. Black et al. (2004)
suggest that this helps students become more responsible for managing their own learning and
improvement. It is this sense of individual responsibility that increases student motivation not
only to change from passive to active learners, but also to improve their work for the future.

Favouring formative assessment over summative assessment will be used in my teaching

practice in order to promote improvement rather than competition amongst students. Providing
opportunities for students to improve can be achieved in my class if students are given the

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chance to revise and resubmit their work. This strategy focuses on student learning because it
will help students review, reflect, and question their work along with the feedback provided by
the teacher before they make the appropriate changes before resubmitting their work, which will
ultimately allow improvement to occur. Yes, it is clear that providing feedback to students helps
increase student motivation, task involvement, and performance. However, it is essential that the
comments given to students are not ego-boosting comments. Black et al. (2004) emphasizes how
feedback given solely as rewards enhances ego involvement rather than task involvement, which
can ultimately cause students to shift their attention towards their “ability” rather towards the
importance of effort. This means that I must provide genuine comments that helps students
recognize what was done well, what needs improvement, and the steps students need to make in
order to make those improvements if I am to facilitate this pedagogy into my teaching practices
successfully.

Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a student-driven, teacher facilitated approach to learning

that needs to be implemented into the classroom since it not only increases student motivation,
but also increases student control of their learning. Project based learning is essential for
fundamental and social skill development for students. Project based learning provides the
opportunity for students to develop and practice their productive communication, negotiation,
and teamwork skills while learning how to show respect towards others. These skills are
achieved through student collaboration, which is one of the elements of project based learning.
Student collaboration requires students to effectively communicate with one another to ensure
that timelines and group goals are being met. In a way, communicating group expectations
produces a sense of accountability amongst students. Bell (2010) believes that communicating
these group expectations also creates individual responsibility to the group, which motivates
students to adhere to the group dynamics and the interdependent team it creates. The ability to
successfully negotiate and work with others is a skill that students will be able to develop and
practice through student collaboration in project based learning. Bell (2010) suggests that
negotiating in a group setting helps students not only learn how work together in order to
generate ideas, but also helps students learn how to collectively solve problems as a group.

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Implementing project based learning into the classroom significantly increases student
motivation and interest to learn. Increasing student motivation and interest to learn is achieved
through project based learning since it provides students with the freedom to take control of their
own learning. This means students have the power not only to decide how to collect information,
but also to decide how to best reflect their knowledge based on their learning preference.
Normally, students will find and use resources that match their individual reading levels and are
compatible with their technology knowledge during the research stage of any project. However,
Bell (2010) has found that students will often reach higher and attempt to read more challenging
material to gather the information they desire during project based learning. This sudden interest
to learn more comes from the freedom to explore topics and create projects that interest students
that project based learning offers, and it is this sudden motivation that “pushes [students] to
improve their reading ability as they strive for new knowledge and understanding” (Bell, 2010,
pg. 41). Using project based learning in the classroom helps students develop their own interests
that can ultimately motivate students to pursue deeper learning in order to better understand their
interests (Bells, 2010, pg. 39).

Focusing on student choice is one way that I am going to use project based learning in
my teaching practices because it supports natural differentiation and the development of
fundamental and social skills. Student choice is essential to project based learning because
students then have the ability to choose their studied topic, which automatically creates a higher
task involvement due to the student interest in the topic. Focusing on student choice while using
project based learning in the classroom will also allow students to explore the different ways in
which they can display their knowledge depending on individual preferences. For instance, I will
give students the options to display their knowledge through writing, drawing, photography,
multimedia presentations, etc. Student choice is a crucial factor in project based learning, and I
want to focus on the aspect of student choice in project based learning because it supports the
development of students’ fundamental and social skills. Students are able to develop
fundamental and social skills through project based learning, specifically through student
collaboration, and in order for students to master these skills then there must be a constant
employment and practice of these skills. I want to provide multiple opportunities for students to
engage in project based learning so that students’ fundamental and social skills can be
strengthened over time, which Bell (2010) believes “leads to proficiency and mastery” (pg. 41).

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Project based learning provides students with the freedom to take control of their learning
in order to explore topics that interest them; however, students may stumble across certain issues
that require the help of the teacher. Project based learning heavily relies on the ability of teachers
to scaffold their students. This means teachers maintain the responsibility to provide enough
guidance for students to succeed while still being in control of their individual learning. Bell
(2010) emphasizes how scaffolded instruction “assists [students] in making cognitive growth just
beyond their reach” (pg. 41). Using project based learning has many advantages for students, but
I must be able to provide feedback that guides students towards discovering their highest
potential when I use project based learning in my teaching practices.

Conclusion

Place-based education, formative assessment, and project based learning are the three
main pedagogies that I plan on using in my teaching practices. I have called on scholarly
research and evidence from multiple sources that supports these teaching pedagogies in order to
justify why I am going to use these pedagogies in my teaching practices. I understand that these
teaching pedagogies are considered to be controversial because they stray away from
conventional and traditional educational practices, and therefore can cause skepticism from
parents, students, and even other teachers to arise. However, this defence of practice paper will
help abolish any confusion, questioning, or back lash produced by students, teachers, or parents.
Ultimately, no one will be able to question my teaching practices since my paper successfully
explains the positive outcomes that each pedagogy creates for students and is justified by
scholarly sources, which makes it almost impossible to question.

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References
Bell, S. (2010). Project-Based Learning for the 21st Century: Skills for the Future. The Clearing
House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 83(2).
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the Black
Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1).
Gruenewald, D. (2003). Foundations of Place: A Multidisciplinary Framework for Place-
Conscious Education. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 619–654.
Smith, G. (2007). Place-based education: breaking through the constraining regularities of public
school. Environmental Education Research, 13(2).
Wiliam, D. (2007). Keeping learning on track: Formative assessment and the regulation of
learning. Nature, 1, 20. 10.

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Criteria Specifics

Instructor
Assessment Codes:
M = met the expectation
I = some improvement needed in the future
DN = did not meet the expectation

Self
NA = not applicable
E = exceeded the expectation
Formatting Ideas are organized M
and Thoughts are expressed fluently and coherently M
Language Grammar and language mechanics are correct M
Use APA format is used properly for all citations and quotes M
Student name and number is clear and easy to read on a front title M
page
Information Clear explanation of why and how you feel that place matters in E
education
Research is identified and used effectively to support your M
explanation of why and how place matters.
Clear identification of which teaching pedagogies you intend to use in M
your teaching practice.
Clear and brief description of how you are going to use these M
pedagogies in your practice.
Clear and detailed explanation of why you are going to use the E
pedagogies including:
1. Clear description of the positive outcomes for students that M
result from the identified pedagogies
2. Clear description of what things in the pedagogy facilitate M
those positive outcomes
3. Research is identified and used effectively to support your M
explanation of why you are going to use those pedagogies.
WORD copy A copy of the paper saved in Word is emailed to the instructor M
The Word copy is named using the student’s last name at the M
beginning followed by the paper’s name
Length The paper is a minimum of 1500 words E
Feedback:

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