Scaffold Difficulties
Scaffolding Misconceptions
Facilitation Strategies
Focus on Teachers
Facilitation and questioning strategies used in helping students meet their goals will primarily consist of open-ended/Socratic questioning. During group work/research time, as well as lab time, the teacher will be constantly circulating and asking the students how they are doing, where they are in their process, what steps they are following, what they have planned to do next, if the questions they are asking (and to which they are finding answers) will help them to answer the driving question, etc. Questions such as the following will be asked:
What do you need to know?
How would you find that out?
Will that tell you what you need to know?
Will that help you answer the question?
What do you already know about that? How could you find out more?
Will that be enough information?
How else could you explore that?
Collaboration with the students will consist in large part of the methods mentioned in the preceding paragraph. However, the teacher will also meet with students individually or in their small groups as needed.
As students are gathering information and data, they will need to be sure that what they gather is: 1) valid information, 2) helpful in working toward an answer to the question, and eventually, 3) sufficient to make a decision about what the answer should be. To help students with this, the teacher will post in the room a list of questions for group members to ask each other on a regular basis. As with so many things, the teacher will also regularly remind students that they need to ask those questions of each other.
To help the student groups set and agree upon goals, a group contract form will be given to the students on Day 3 when groups are formed. Students can use the form as is or modify it as they wish. Part of the introduction to forming the groups will include a discussion of how to set and agree upon goals for the group.
After discussion and practice on how to work together as groups throughout the school year, students will form their own groups for this PBL unit. Group size will depend upon class size. Optimum numbers will be four members per group. Once formed, group members will discuss group leadership and responsibility roles. For example, project leader, presentation speaker, artist/illustrator, and lead researcher. The student in charge of each role understands that they are in charge of this role, in being responsible for completion of this component of the project. Students sign a contract with their group members listing each individual’s role.
For whole-class discussions and debriefings, desks or tables will be moved together to form a horseshoe shape, with the opening facing the front of the classroom where the teacher’s desk/table is located. Individual desks/tables can be pushed together for small group work.
Horseshoe setup
For guest speakers and tests, the desks will be in traditional rows. Ideally, classrooms should be arranged to allow for one side of the room to have student desks/tables while the other side has lab tables or larger tables where lab activities can be conducted. This classroom arrangement allows students who are not engaged in lab activities to continue working on projects and conducting research via laptops or alternative technology.
Traditional setup
Group work setup
The unit time line or project calendar will include space for the group members to schedule project goals. The unit time line/project calendar will be used by the group members at the beginning of the unit to plan their goals, break goals down into actions, and schedule time deadlines. The teacher can guide students in this process through questioning strategies. The teacher can have the groups hand their time line/calendar in at the beginning of the project to check that the students’ goals are realistic and within the scope of the unit. Time lines/calendars can be graded formally. The teacher can assist the group by checking in with each group each day. To help the group work effectively, the teacher will check in with each group throughout the project time and see how the group feels their work is going. The students will be provided with a unit time line or project calendar so that the group members can plan their goals, break goals down into actions, and schedule time deadlines.
At the introduction of the project and the driving question, each group member will choose a group role. Each student is in charge of that role or responsibility for the group, although the students know that they each contribute to all stages and aspects of the project. Group members are shown the rubric for group participation and will have a chance to rate the contribution of themselves and of each student in their group after the final project is complete. This way each individual knows that they will hold each other accountable for their equal participation in the project.
Focus on Students
The very nature of a PBL project promotes inquiry. Students develop their own approach to answering the Driving Question, decide which information is needed, and are then responsible for collecting, analyzing and presenting that information, along with their conclusions. Student engagement is maximized by the “voice and choice” students have in the process.
Direction of inquiry and conversations will be guided by the teacher, primarily through the use of questions. On the first day of research, students will be given a list of Guiding Questions to use.
Socratic-type questions, along with questions for clarification, will be asked as the teacher reviews the students’ project journals. Questions used will be similar to these:
What do you need to know?
How would you find that out?
Will that tell you what you need to know?
Will that help you answer the question?
What do you already know about that? How could you find out more?
Will that be enough information?
How else could you explore that?
The teacher will also monitor the interpersonal dynamics of the group and participation levels of each individual. Suggestions will be given for how the group could interact and work together better, but the teacher will be prepared to intervene, refocus or redirect as necessary.
In this PBL unit, a fair amount of the debriefing is done in teacher-led, whole-class groups but students also debrief themselves in their small groups, and debriefing is done in the individual journals as well. The teacher will give reflective questions (see exit questions) to be answered in the individual journals on a daily basis. These questions will include topics such as project progress, group process and content.
Prior to the process of group formation, the teacher and class will discuss group process and the specific individual roles needed by the group as a whole. As the groups form, students will self-select the roles to be filled by each member. Student reflection on their group process and their individual roles and performance will be done in their journals, following teacher questions as stated in the prior paragraph. Final assessment of performance and individual effort will be assessed at the unit’s end via the Teammate Assessment rubric.
Focus on Teachers
Facilitation and questioning strategies used in helping students meet their goals will primarily consist of open-ended/Socratic questioning. During group work/research time, as well as lab time, the teacher will be constantly circulating and asking the students how they are doing, where they are in their process, what steps they are following, what they have planned to do next, if the questions they are asking (and to which they are finding answers) will help them to answer the driving question, etc. Questions such as the following will be asked:
What do you need to know?
How would you find that out?
Will that tell you what you need to know?
Will that help you answer the question?
What do you already know about that? How could you find out more?
Will that be enough information?
How else could you explore that?
Collaboration with the students will consist in large part of the methods mentioned in the preceding paragraph. However, the teacher will also meet with students individually or in their small groups as needed.
As students are gathering information and data, they will need to be sure that what they gather is: 1) valid information, 2) helpful in working toward an answer to the question, and eventually, 3) sufficient to make a decision about what the answer should be. To help students with this, the teacher will post in the room a list of questions for group members to ask each other on a regular basis. As with so many things, the teacher will also regularly remind students that they need to ask those questions of each other.
To help the student groups set and agree upon goals, a group contract form will be given to the students on Day 3 when groups are formed. Students can use the form as is or modify it as they wish. Part of the introduction to forming the groups will include a discussion of how to set and agree upon goals for the group.
After discussion and practice on how to work together as groups throughout the school year, students will form their own groups for this PBL unit. Group size will depend upon class size. Optimum numbers will be four members per group. Once formed, group members will discuss group leadership and responsibility roles. For example, project leader, presentation speaker, artist/illustrator, and lead researcher. The student in charge of each role understands that they are in charge of this role, in being responsible for completion of this component of the project. Students sign a contract with their group members listing each individual’s role.
For whole-class discussions and debriefings, desks or tables will be moved together to form a horseshoe shape, with the opening facing the front of the classroom where the teacher’s desk/table is located. Individual desks/tables can be pushed together for small group work.
Horseshoe setup
For guest speakers and tests, the desks will be in traditional rows. Ideally, classrooms should be arranged to allow for one side of the room to have student desks/tables while the other side has lab tables or larger tables where lab activities can be conducted. This classroom arrangement allows students who are not engaged in lab activities to continue working on projects and conducting research via laptops or alternative technology.
Traditional setup
Group work setup
The unit time line or project calendar will include space for the group members to schedule project goals. The unit time line/project calendar will be used by the group members at the beginning of the unit to plan their goals, break goals down into actions, and schedule time deadlines. The teacher can guide students in this process through questioning strategies. The teacher can have the groups hand their time line/calendar in at the beginning of the project to check that the students’ goals are realistic and within the scope of the unit. Time lines/calendars can be graded formally. The teacher can assist the group by checking in with each group each day. To help the group work effectively, the teacher will check in with each group throughout the project time and see how the group feels their work is going. The students will be provided with a unit time line or project calendar so that the group members can plan their goals, break goals down into actions, and schedule time deadlines.
At the introduction of the project and the driving question, each group member will choose a group role. Each student is in charge of that role or responsibility for the group, although the students know that they each contribute to all stages and aspects of the project. Group members are shown the rubric for group participation and will have a chance to rate the contribution of themselves and of each student in their group after the final project is complete. This way each individual knows that they will hold each other accountable for their equal participation in the project.
Focus on Students
The very nature of a PBL project promotes inquiry. Students develop their own approach to answering the Driving Question, decide which information is needed, and are then responsible for collecting, analyzing and presenting that information, along with their conclusions. Student engagement is maximized by the “voice and choice” students have in the process.
Direction of inquiry and conversations will be guided by the teacher, primarily through the use of questions. On the first day of research, students will be given a list of Guiding Questions to use.
Socratic-type questions, along with questions for clarification, will be asked as the teacher reviews the students’ project journals. Questions used will be similar to these:
What do you need to know?
How would you find that out?
Will that tell you what you need to know?
Will that help you answer the question?
What do you already know about that? How could you find out more?
Will that be enough information?
How else could you explore that?
The teacher will also monitor the interpersonal dynamics of the group and participation levels of each individual. Suggestions will be given for how the group could interact and work together better, but the teacher will be prepared to intervene, refocus or redirect as necessary.
In this PBL unit, a fair amount of the debriefing is done in teacher-led, whole-class groups but students also debrief themselves in their small groups, and debriefing is done in the individual journals as well. The teacher will give reflective questions (see exit questions) to be answered in the individual journals on a daily basis. These questions will include topics such as project progress, group process and content.
Prior to the process of group formation, the teacher and class will discuss group process and the specific individual roles needed by the group as a whole. As the groups form, students will self-select the roles to be filled by each member. Student reflection on their group process and their individual roles and performance will be done in their journals, following teacher questions as stated in the prior paragraph. Final assessment of performance and individual effort will be assessed at the unit’s end via the Teammate Assessment rubric.