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Integrating Social Studies and Literacy through Project-Based Learning
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | French, Katie |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Inspired by a phrase commonly heard in schools, “I'm never going to use this in real life,” this paper focuses on how students make real-world connections through project-based learning (PBL). Specifically, research is focused on how middle school teachers efficiently and effectively integrate social studies and literacy through PBL in addition to any challenges and successes they experienced. By observing and interviewing teachers who have implemented PBL, I found that there was an increased amount of motivation and positive attitudes towards the work, as well as a shifting role between the teacher and the students. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 5 Integrating Social Studies and Literacy through Project-Based Learning “I hate Social Studies! It's stupid! What's the point of learning history if there's nothing we can do about it because it already happened?” This is just one variation of the age-old question I get asked most frequently while teaching Social Studies: When am I ever going to need this in real life? Math is used when students count their money; science is explored as they watch mold grow on the leftover sandwich sitting in their locker; the many forms of literacy are literally everywhere whether students realize it or not. But what about history? Is answering Jeopardy! questions correctly the only real-life application of Social Studies as one student recently informed me? In my study, I focus on how teachers are finding real-world implications of Social Studies content through the integration of literacy and project-based learning. Topic and Research Problem As a substitute teacher, I have the privilege of peeking into different classrooms across a span of grade levels and subject areas. Some days I am on the floor with a group of first graders while other days I am overhearing Socratic discussions in an eighth grade classroom. Upon gaining a position as a long-term substitute for a consultant teacher, I spent six weeks bouncing around classrooms at a local middle school and noticed trends in student engagement in the core subject areas. I witnessed the most student engagement in math and science where they participated in numerous hands-on activities and labs; content was related to their personal lives, and they were engaged in meaningful projects where they had a varying degree of autonomy. There was a slight decrease in interest in English class where they mumbled about having to write yet another “boring essay” about the book they were reading. Social Studies was paired with complete mental shutdowns and numerous pained PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 6 facial expressions while they read from the textbook and listened to their teacher and took notes. Students did not see the point in going to Social Studies since none of the content was relevant to their lives; they had no choice in what they were learning and they just sat there day after day taking meaningless notes. Students need engaging activities that will hold their interests while incorporating both social studies content and literacy learning: project-based learning. According to the Buck Institute of Education, project-based learning “is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge” (Markham, Larmer, & Ravitz, 2003, p. 1). Students choose a topic of interest, research answers to their authentic questions and design and complete projects that focus on their findings (Markham, Larmer, & Ravitz, 2003). When thinking about projects and hands-on learning opportunities, STEM subjects come to mind with their potential to create physical objects as a result of research and proper execution. In a recent study, educators representing English, mathematics, and science subject areas were interviewed concerning recent PBL experiences conducted in their classrooms; Social Studies was exempted from the list of those studied (Lee, Blackwell, Drake, & Moran, 2014). There is lack of information regarding PBL in Social Studies that I will be exploring. Furthermore, literacy learning should not stop once students walk out of their English classroom. Reading and writing instruction should continue across the curriculum since the reciprocity of the two areas leads to higher comprehension of the topic that is being read and written about (Knipper & Duggan, 2006). The Social Studies curriculum lends itself well to the incorporation of literacy components, but too often I am observing students answering short answer questions that do not involve critical thinking skills. Students need to be engaged in PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 7 asking and answering authentic questions; PBL will allow students to do just that and goes a step further as students synthesize the information they learn to create projects that could potentially impact their community. Rationale. As an avid lover of history, the lack of enthusiasm among students (and sometimes teachers!) in regards to learning about Social Studies is concerning. A large part of why students go to school is to learn what it means to be a citizen in the United States. Through critical thinking and analysis of the past, students will be able to apply what they have learned to authentic situations in their own lives either now or in the future (“A vision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: building social understanding and civic efficacy,” n.d.). After analysis, history, a branch of Social Studies, can provide students with multiple perspectives of events that took place, and they can learn how to take situations that occurred in the past and aspects of them in their lives and the world today. Although I am currently substitute teaching, it is my goal to learn more about PBL so I can effectively implement it in my own future classroom. I am well aware that Social Studies is sometimes viewed as a subject that students either love or hate. One of my goals as a future teacher is to provide students with learning opportunities that increase their interest in the subject; through PBL, students will have a choice in what they are researching and thus increase their motivation and engagement in their project (Chalupa & Haseborg, 2014). Through PBL, students will have the opportunity to discover more about topics of interest and dive deeper into the content than they would have had a chance to in a traditional classroom setting. Students will have opportunities to showcase their learning through a variety of hands-on projects of their choosing; this could range from students giving a presentation in class or talking to a local government official about an area of concern in their community that could be potentially solved PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 8 based on their research and proposal. The opportunities for the integration of social studies and literacy are endless on paper, but it is important to learn more about how effective PBL is in actual social studies classrooms. Purpose. Through PBL, students are taking ownership of their own ideas and participating in an extended research study of a topic instead of simply reading through a textbook. During my research, I interviewed teachers who have completed PBL experiences with their students and analyzed their thoughts on the projects with the aim to answer the following questions: 1. How can middle school teachers efficiently and effectively integrate social studies and literacy through project-based learning? 2. What are the challenges and successes educators face when implementing projectbased learning in their classrooms? Literature Review Theoretical framework. To gain a better understanding of the topic, this literature review begins by providing a theoretical framework of the ideas behind PBL, as well as why students are motivated to complete these experiences. To help contextualize the research questions, prior research concerning the role of the teacher in a PBL classroom, academic achievement as a result of PBL, and complications with PBL will be reviewed. Constructivism. At the heart of PBL is the idea of constructivism; it is not an instructional approach, but rather a theory of how students gain knowledge. Constructivists believe that learning is an active process, where students use their background knowledge of the topic to construct new ideas (Sharma, 2014). According to Piaget (1990), humans were born with schemas that individuals could add to through the process of assimilation or accommodation. PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 9 Constructivist theorists often agree with Piaget's theory, as they believe students construct their own knowledge through experiences and by building upon their existing knowledge (Tompkins, 2014). By using past experiences and the environment around them, PBL engages students' intellectual development through observation and investigation to expand their preexisting schemas concerning the topic (Katz & Chard, 2000). While PBL can take different forms, students are often asked to produce a research question or hypothesis that will guide their work throughout the process (What is pbl?, 2003). These research questions will be the launching point for further student work on the project, and because the students choose them, they are more motivated to add to their knowledge about the topic. Instead of having students take note about the particular content matter, students will be actively engaged with a relevant, hands-on project as they seek to answer the authentic questions they created (What is pbl?, 2003). Social constructivist theory. While PBL is rooted in the constructivist ideas of Piaget, specifically how learners construct their knowledge, the theories of Vygotsky can also be found in the social nature of the projects. Whereas Piaget is often criticized for underestimating the influence of social interactions in meaning making, Vygotsky argues that social interaction is critical in student lea |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1657&context=ehd_theses&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
