Challenge Projects and Their Unintended Consequences

I have planned and coached several Challenge Based Learning experiences over the last few years.  Since students have so much control over these projects, the direction the teams take vary considerably.  Always for me, the unexpected outcomes provide considerable excitement and anxiety.  Fortunately, I have found that the unexpected successes trump the failures, which is why I continue to forge ahead using the CBL principles.

This semester, I assigned a modified CBL with the following challenge:


Create a video on a policy about which you care, which has measurable impact.

As I told the students, since they were taking a political science course, the most essential (and most difficult) piece of the assignment involved assessment.  And fortunately, all the challenge teams did indeed develop legitimate means of testing for the impact of their messaging.  As I had hoped,  to what they learned through planning, researching and consulting about their survey plans, they gleaned almost as much from the post mortems we conducted after the studies were implemented.

When I issued the challenge, I emphasized that I did not expect the students-- without training-- to produce slick videos.  Nevertheless, each of the teams did significant research on visual messaging.  In fact all three groups consulted with at least one accomplished videographer who reviewed their work during the production.

Consequently, though I was attempting to teach political science, in their reflections, my students learned important information about  video production-- an unanticipated, but valuable outcome.  With their permission I've shared one, below:

MACUL '13, Looking Back

Last week, as I have posted here, I gave three presentations:

1) A webinar on iPad professional development on edWeb.net

2) A presentation on iPad professional development at MACUL '13, Cobo Center, Detroit.

3) A presentation on Individual assessments within group challenge and multimedia projects at MACUL '13

As I was tweaking my slides I thought back on how I had arrived as a presenter on "multimedia projects".

Well, it all started at MACUL '07, which I felt I had been forced to attend since I had no particular interest in doing much of anything in the classroom with multimedia.  I attended a session on creating mp3's by telephone using Gabcast.  

I began creating audio files and used them in my American Government class.  I then starting collecting podcasts in all of my classes.  The centerpiece of my Government course was a legislative simulation which I began to move online.  On a lark, I decided to apply to become an Apple Distinguished Educator, even though I taught in a P.C. school.  In order to apply, I needed to make a movie, so my daughter taught me iMovie.

Miraculously, I was accepted to the program.  Attending by first ADE Institute introduced me to Challenge Based Learning.  My first experience with CBL was a game changer.  I applied to MACUL '10 to present on CBL.  I also posted some of my multimedia to this blog.  It was noticed by Apple.  I then found myself more vitally involved with the Apple Education community.  This led to more CBLs and more ADE Institutes.  

I am very thankful to all the interesting people and experiences ed tech has brought me in this, my fourth decade of Education.

Learning from Failure in Challenge Based Learning

Under other circumstances it might have been a very grim experience for a teacher to listen to one set of students after another step up before the class and boldly expound upon their failures. I can't say I was gleeful, but theses acknowledgements assured me of two things: 1) The students had accepted that their challenge projects were experiments, where perhaps as much could be learned from failure as success. 2) in some cases that they had fell short of success because they or I had set the bar high (I always urge groups to seek a solution worth failing for).

The context for these admissions of failure were "unpacking" presentations for the entire class (I will describe these further in the next post). The groups were asked among other things to weigh two considerations: 1) Had their solution made a "demonstrable difference" in the community they targeted. 2) What hard evidence had they gathered to come to their conclusion in #1.

All of the teams acknowledged that they had not to their satisfaction made a demonstrable difference. In one case the group had determined to meet with a state or U.S. representative and had been led to believe this would happen in three instances (including time with a U.S. Senator), but had the rug pulled out from under them at the last second. There were surely lessons to be learned here, but none to positive about our system of representative government.

In other cases the teams had to admit that their means of assessment were lacking. Perhaps they had failed to do pre-testing, or had not successfully ruled out other variables for cause and effect interpretation. Ironically, the team with the very best assessment methods had to live with the fact that the results did not offer a shred of demonstrable support that their clever solution had made a difference.

Sure I would love to have touted four terrific solutions to incredibly challenging issues. But I also have no qualms about show-casing failure-- as long as it is connected with learning.

Using Challenge Based Learning in an AP Class - Critical Thinking

CC Image from core.org.cn

When I give presentations on Challenge Based Learning, I often drawn examples form my AP American Government and Politics class.  Occasionally listeners are skeptical about being able to "fit" this kind of sprawling project into such a structured curriculum. 


It's a fair question, and I frankly find framing a challenge more difficult for a College Board course.  This year, I made a conscious effort to bake some very challenging critical thinking into the CBL.  On the surface this challenge was the most simple and board: "Make a Difference".  But the challenge was qualified in two critical ways:  A) The students were challenged to make a demonstrable difference.  B) Students were called upon to use knowledge they had gained in this particular class.


The latter condition was poorly conceived by me and poorly executed by the students.  While the students were working through the CBL process, they were not given any kind of check point for assuring the the solutions they were moving toward were based on the course concepts.  When they were asked to account for these in their presentations to class after the their solutions had been implemented, it was clear that often the course concepts were applied retroactively-- In other words they did not form an explicit part of the solution development.


On the other hand the demonstrable difference condition notched up the challenge several levels and forced the students to think of their solutions as experiments rather than good works.  It might strike the reader as strange that I would explicitly instruct groups not to turn their CBLs into "service projects."  But given that I teach an political science class, data analysis is a fundamental part of this course, and I wanted them to grapple with it in the field.  For me, the methodology of assessing their solutions was nearly as important as the "good" they intended by them.


Frankly most of the measurements they used were greatly lacking.  However, through this failure, they clearly learned about proper assessment and since the challenge was so difficult, I considered their failures an instructional victory.  I'll discuss this in my next post.

Back in the Saddle with CBL

My AP Government students and I have been banging our heads against our Make a Difference CBL project.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the most abstract challenge that I have dished out.  What is more, I put the students on a pretty tight timeline. I knew all this, but what I forgot is how foreign the methodology can be for the kinds of students who have the academic confidence to elect an AP course.  They have experienced success with conventional assignments, and were pretty flummoxed by CBL's open-endedness and lack of teacher-direction.


At first I was pretty disappointed by how slowly they were rolling into action.  During the initial stage of conjuring up questions about the challenge, they explored the topic in a narrow or cursory way.  I snapped back on their shared Google Docs and gave out some low grades (temporary), which got everyone's attention.  However, I have to say that looking back on it, I took much for granted.  I insufficiently communicated the rigor necessary to truly tackling the challenge.


Last week, I "surprised" them with three prompts and asked them to make a spoken reflection (They had a half hour of class).  The prompts:

1) Single out a team member and explain a notable contribution that she has made thus far to the project.
2) When asked, what would your team members say that you have contributed?
3) What fresh knowledge have you gained from this experience to date?

I was blown away by what I heard: great ideas, terrific research, and impressive teamwork. I am reassured that the girls are on the "right track" (whatever that may be!), and I am excited about the solutions that may be in store.

I thought you might like to hear a sample. Christina has given me permission to share Christina's reflection.

CBL: "Make a Difference"

As I mentioned in Some Great New CBL Resources, I have conducted a challenge based learning project for a few months.  Tomorrow, I will be officially launching my AP American Government Challenge:

Make a Difference

Flickr CC by sheffpixie

Its aims are a bit paradoxical:  I want my students to engage in a rather sophisticated concept (political efficacy) through a very simple challenge.  This is certainly the most open-ended challenge I have ever presented to a class.  But each time I do this (Is this my eleventh CBL?), I seem to let go of the reigns and trust the process a little more.

In a couple of weeks I'll share my students first responses and reactions.  Wish us luck!

Project Booth

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #3 in page views and recalls meeting two of the finest educators I have ever had the pleasure to meet.


In January, i spent six weeks in Texas,  first consulting with the Belton ISD and then working with the CBL Implementation team.  It was an exciting experience with extraordinary networking opportunities.  I workshopped with CBL teams from Ohio and Illinois.  I hung out with with folks who are impacting education on the international scene and halls of Washington D.C.  But my most precious hour of conversation was with Mary Kay Zeeb and Mark Labouchere from the Arizona School of the Arts. 

The three of us were assigned to give a fifteen minute presentation on the potential role of video reflection in CBL.  We took care of this in about five minutes-- since we discovered that we were completely "on the same page."  But then, we simply chatted about education and how our commitment to CBL had impacted us and our students.  They were so far ahead of me in terms of immersion and experiment with the CBL process.


They have given me permission to share one such endeavor.  Their students were embarking on challenges and had just gained access to two classroom Macbooks.  The teachers wished to record student reflections using Photobooth, but the logistics posed a challenge.  The teacher solution?  Give the students a challenge to create reflection booths.  How fun!  Their idiosyncratic endeavors are pictured here. And then play the movie to see the booths in action.  Already, since meeting with Mark and Mary Kay, I am even more inclined to turn critical challenges over to the student or teacher teams I am mentoring, rather than simply try to resolve the challenge myself.

Challenge Based Learning Trifecta

"Woo-Hoo" Flickr CC by JAKULL

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one was ranked #4 in page views.

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I have been more or less slogging away at the CBL wars for the past few weeks.  In some instances, particularly the professional development sessions (PCGs), it has been difficult to gauge how well things have been coming together.  So it was really nice today to find signs of success on three fronts:

* For the second consecutive day, staff planning for next year reported on some really interesting CBL projects.  In most cases they have moved from broad issues to logistics.  For the first time it is obvious that some really cool projects will be rocking the joint next year.

* Today, two "Fight Apathy" teams made presentations to their classmates on solutions for making teenagers care about politics.  The presentations were so sharp that the other teams  left the room chattering about how they needed an extra meeting or two to raise the bar on their own presos. (Yes!).

* A first AP Gov & Politics team presented to classmates both on their solutions and their panel experience.  This was very cool--  students had completely integrated the feedback from the "experts" on their panel into revised solutions.  Presenting to the class gave them a formal way of processing and owning the feedback.

This week has suddenly brightened up!

Apathy Vanquished!

As the year ends, I am re-posting my five most popular 2011 musings.  This one is a personal favorite and was ranked #5 in page views.
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Thanks to a Challenge Based Learning project that truly rocked, for at least one night, "teenage apathy" was brought to its knees.

Lynn Waldsmith, Mike Gruber and I challenged our students to defeat teenage apathy in our English and American Government classes.  These ninth and tenth graders worked several weeks to develop their solutions,

implement them, and explicate them to classmates.  But tonight, all seventeen teams staged a Fight Apathy Fair.  It was the kids who suggested exhibiting the solutions in the evening in a science fair like venue.  In addition to inviting the entires school, each girls was required to email five other persons, personally.

Some 200 friends, teachers, uncles, cousins, neighbors, moms and dads milled through the lobby.  There was a buzz in the joint.  And the students were excited!  The attendance from our students was close to 100% and they were actually thanking us for the chance to present from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm.  The parents were delighted and were shocked to learn that this was a first time event.  We teachers were shocked too.  As Mike remarked the positives far surpassed anything we might have imagined.

If I have had doubts about the power of CBL, they were vanquished too!

Some Great New CBL Resources

The new CBL community site replete with two Mercy challenges

I've been on a bit of a Challenge Based Learning sabbatical.  Distracted by learning a new job and ramping up projects like M-Hub and Mercy 2.0, I haven't participated in any CBLs this school year.  Fortunately, CBL has been moving along quite well despite my neglect:


* Mark Nichols has been working determinedly to bring The Challenge Based Learning Community site to fruition.  It's a beauty.  The site is utterly packed with top resources and it offers challenges that anyone can join.  It includes forums for discussing CBL and a place where anyone can post a challenge and find teammates.  It is gratifying to know that Mercy has contributed two of the challenges that seed the site.  Along with my AP classes' "Strengthen Democracy" challenge (albeit a lite version) our pilot teams' "Design a Better Cafeteria Experience" may be found.


*The New Media Consortium's new research report is also available.  Mercy, along with the other 19 schools in the pilot, were examined, and the analysis is now published online.


* The  report may be accessed at the community site.  But is also is available on the branded Apple site, where the  a set of webinar resources may also be found.  We now have some truly awesome go-to CBL sites.




Incidentally, I will soon be making up for lost personal time with CBL.  In a month , I'll be launching my big 2012 project.  Stay tuned!

Toolkit for Challenge Based Learning

It was fun discovering, recently, that four of my Challenge Based Learning movies have been grouped together in iTunes under "Toolkit for Challenge Based Learning".  I made these in 2010 after working on this project with fellow Apple Distinguished Educators at Full Sail University in Florida.  The marvelous Katie Morrow spear-headed this project.

Assessment Methods for Challenge Based Learning

From Substitution to Redefinition

When I attended the "Challenge Based Learning Group Think" in Cupertino last year, I had the opportunity to meet a really bright guy-- Reuben Puentedura.  Reuben had already made a great impression on me, but I was still surprised when at the end of our conference, several Apple Education employees waiting outside our conference room descended on him like a rock star.


Not long ago, while I was listening to an Apple conference call, I came to understand why.  His SAMR model has been a centerpiece of Apple Ed briefings and presentations.  As he writes,

The SAMR model is a model I developed starting in the late 80s, early 90s, to answer the question of what types of technology use would have greater or lesser effects upon student learning. The name comes from the four levels of technology use that I've found could be related directly to results in terms of what happened on the student side. 

Here are the levels:

1. Substitution: the computer stands in for another technological tool without a significant change in the tool’s function.

2. Augmentation: the computer replaces another technological tool, with significant functionality increase.

3. Modification: the computer enables the redesign of significant portions of a task.

4. Redefinition: the computer allows for the creation of new tasks that would otherwise be inconceivable without the technology.


I think that this model offers excellent markers for how well a teacher or school "gets" the power of instructional technology.  In my own case, my disdain for tech used to be so great that I did not even explore substitution through PowerPoint for example.  In my film class I was interested in augmenting my students' experience with superior technology (dvd for vhs; LED projectors for tv screens).  


After I developed my "bookless" course in government, I began to be recognized at MHS for being quite the techie.  When Will Richardson led our in-service three years ago, I was introduced to him, more or less as Mercy's techie exemplar.  However when I told him what I had done, he gently urged me to explore ways to use the technology to empower my students or even engage them in creating the curriculum.  At first I was annoyed, but then took it to heart.  Looking back, I see that he was essentially nudging me toward "redefinition" and that Challenge Based Learning was my path.


It was with pleasure that I spoke to Will in June at ISTE.  I thanked him for challenging me, and told him that some teachers at Mercy were using our powerful technologies to do more that communicate information from teacher to student.  As we move into the school year, this is what I believe puts Mercy way ahead of the pack.  We have teachers who are redefining their students' experience.  Yes, our tuition is high, but I think this sort of "redefinition" is will truly prepare them to be successful in their futures.

CBLish

I had a nice meeting recently with a young English teacher who drove up to visit with me about Challenge Based Learning.  He'd been to one of my presentations and thought he would like to try this design in a new prep-- Business English. He had a strong understanding of the CBL model and terrific determination to innovate with the course. 

When discussing "rubber meets the road" issues like group dynamics, timelines, audience, and assessment;  I quickly introduced an MHS term-- "CBLish".  As I did so it occurred to me how undogmatic I have become about the CBL model.  Occasionally, I have run into adherents (usually higher ed) who have been startled, even disgusted by my heresy.   

After ten times around the block with CBL and a year of professional development teaching the process, I have found differences in time constraints, curriculum demands, and teaching styles call for modification and flexibility.  I am only interested in promoting projects which are organic to a school's curriculum. If someone wishes to promote community service or simply get students motivated to learn, one can follow this design in an all-out student-directed that allows them to even select the "big idea" that they will explore. 

On the other hand, "CBL" has been batted around so much in our school this year (a good thing) it's meaning has been severely stretched.  I assigned a video project for students which they completed in pairs.  The assignment was entirely prescribed.  I was very pleased with it.  It was not in any respect a CBL, but some of my students referred to it as such.   

So here is where I take my stand.  I am satisfied to call something CBL, if the activity. . . .


* Begins with an actionable challenge which affects the "community"


* A team of students determine its path toward a solution.


* The solution reaches beyond the classroom for an authentic audience


* At the end of the process the students reflects on the entire process.

And, hey, if a project has a couple of these elements, I am likely to deem it CBLish.  If this sounds wrong, I welcome the criticism, so long as its based on your experience using CBL.

Then and Now as an ADE

Flickr CC photo by John Biehler

I'm headed to Arizona to participate in the 2011 Apple Distinguished Educator Institute, hosted at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  I'm excited, but the experience is completely different from merely two years ago.  Then, I was really nervous about how I would "stack up".  I was so self-conscious at first that I'm not sure I took full advantage of the program.

Now,  I realize this is more about relationships and community.  Regardless of how wonderful the workshops and presentations may be, the collaborations and sharing are likely to be more sustaining.  Being an ADE allows me to stay close to creativity and innovation.

This year's focus appears to on producing educational resources for iTunesU.  I'm choosing a direction where I probably have more to take than to give-- school administration.  In terms of production values, some of us fall a little short of what our Apple mentors may be seeking.  This time, I'm not too concerned.  I'll learn more about education, professional development, and leadership regardless of what we whip up.

So I think I am prepared to get more out of the experience this time.  Nevertheless, it will be impossible to recapture the excitement of a first time.  I also became fascinated by CBL in 2009.  This led to an extraordinary two-year journey.  I doubt I'll catch that kind of lightning in the bottle, again.  But who knows.  One thing I'm sure of-- a blog post or two will be inspired by my week with Apple!

A Slew of CBL Challenges

Our professional development sessions produced several challenge based learning designs for next school year.  While some of these do not strictly conform to the CBL model, they will involve a ton of  students in a variety of courses.  Our main object was to cultivate the Seven Survival Skills that Tony Wagner outlined in his Global Achievement Gap, and I am confident that these (among others) will help do so:

*Measureably reduce your individual consumer waste output.

*Using social media, convince peers and policy makers about abortion's effect on one specific aspect of society.

"Nissan Qashqai Challenge London" by Richard Parmiter

*Create a web tool for other school students, especially Religious Education classes, that educates, informs and explores the Teaching of Jesus and their relevance to young people today.
*Using knowledge that you have gleaned from this class, make a difference.

*Persuade American teenagers that learning to communicate in another language, other than English, is a vital investment in the 21st century.
*Create designs inspired by Detroit manufacturing history.

*Create a virtual museum demonstrating how life has been both valued and devalued in the same episode of history.


*Take action to improve justice and peace in the city of Detroit.

Aware/Enable/Empower

This TedIndia video was passed along to me in an email that was shared with some Challenge Based Learning junkies. I can see why. Kiran Bir Sethi describes an initiative at Riverside School in Ahmedabad to make India's cities more child-friendly. Her design includes features what we strive for in CBL:

If learning is embedded in real world contexts-- if we blur the boundaries between school and life-- then children go through the journey of

AWARE (see the change)

ENABLE (be the change)

EMPOWER (lead the change)

She then describes a challenge issued to the children of 32,000 Indian schools (sent out in eight different languages):  Take One Idea, Choose One Week, and CHANGE A BILLION LIVES.  As a consequence, students devised solutions for "big ideas" like loneliness, literacy, alcoholism, fixing pot holes, and child marriage.




Oh, and there is no evidence that "academics" suffer at her school.  Performance on standardized testing is top echelon.

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Thanks, Katie Morrow, for including me in the mailing of this link.

Challenge Based Learning Pep Talks

I always enjoy hyping CBL projects with my students. I urge them to consider how important making a difference for our "Big Idea" will be.  I ask them to set the bar high and be willing to fail doing something important rather than settling for something ordinary.  I tell them that this is the special something they get by having me as a teacher.  I jump around a bit and shout.  I look them in the eyes and convince each student I am talking to her.

I think I do the motivating thing well.  But the best motivational efforts for CBL this year did not directly involve me-- it came from the students, themselves.  Lynn, Mike, and I were planning our "Fight Apathy!" event.  The two of them teach ninth graders and wondered how passionately some of them felt about the challenge.  They suggested that I send some of my sophomores across the hall to see if that sparked more enthusiasm.  This worked beyond my own expectations.  It was clear that the ninth graders were very locked in when the tenth graders were talking.  Though I did not ask them to prepare, one pair brought screen shots of their intended project solution.  Sarah, who did most of the talking in both classes, was well prepared and spoke to them very personally.  I learned more about my own students' approach to and understanding of their challenges.

These pep talks were ten/fifteen minutes of the best quality time I have experienced this year.  Good team work by all concerned!

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Flickr CC photo courtesy of M.V. Jantzen

Professional Development End Game

As I mentioned in The Other Side of the Coin post, I have heard repeated calls to assess CBL-- particularly our school's Dallas Team pilot.  On the one hand this is ironic, because no educational venture at our school has been more studied and transparent.  And on the other hand,  the call is premature since the majority of our teams have not even implemented their plans.  Don't get me wrong, I think CBL needs to be assessed-- but so should the rest of the curriculum.

Consequently, I am asking the teams of staff which are planning new CBL projects to participate in “CBL Pilot 2”at Mercy High.  Since we have plunged into CBL in order to address Tony Wagner's Seven Survival Skills for a New Economy, I have asked the teams to consider how those skills will be assessed by their new CBL projects.

I proposed that we help position our Curriculum Council with a framework for planning and assessing instruction for the Wagner Survival Skills.  The framework would invite assessment of CBL and other forms of instruction.  In other words, CBL would not be scrutinized in isolation.  If CBL does not accomplish what we hope to achieve then we need to change in more effective ways.  But change itself cannot be rejected merely by throwing stones at CBL.  If we are teaching the Survival Skills across our curriculum than any academic department should be able to demonstrate how they are attaining them.

You can see the "End Game" proposal to the CBL teams, below.  Next time, I will describe how we move from this to a (hopefully) serious contemplation of assessment.

End Game Proposal

Two of my students check out iPod touches.

The Other Side of the Coin

I admit to some fatigue with the PCG thing.  But I have revved up my engines for one last push after Easter Break.  Before I make that push, I want to reflect on an area of frustration.

It seems like some folks will take a swipe at CBL at every opportunity.  A portion of the skepticism and criticism is no doubt valid, but more than a tad is motivated by those who just want it to go away because it calls for changing old ways.

On the one hand, this frustrates me because it is hard to discuss the issues with CBL that I see, without opening a discussion up to the slings and arrows of those who resent anything related to our professional development efforts.  I hear myself becoming a booster rather than a problem solver.

However, my greater frustration comes from biting my tongue about seeing an elephant in the room when CBL is subjected to criticism: Why is CBL  subject to special scrutiny?  People want proof that it works and and assurance that it will not cut into more valuable activities.  I want to ask them to prove that those other activities work.  Can they show me that the students have attained mastery by all those homework assignments, lectures, and discussions?  Assessment is essential, but across the board.

I think I have fashioned a constructive way to  address this issue of assessing CBL.  That will be the subject of my next post.

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Flickr CC Photo by woody1778a