Students going to survey the marsh, students making their own personal house online or doing their taxes in consumer math. These are all examples of PBL or project based learning.

“One of the big differences between doing project work and doing project based learning work is that there is not a preset outcome and the learning takes place through the base of the course of the project.” said PBL proponent and THS principal Patrick Kelley ” It’s not what you would typically invision where you learn a topic and then produce a project as your product of learning at the end.”  

Mr. Kelley is a new face for Triton High school and has brought new ideas to the school. He is one of the main activists in pushing for more PBL in the school system. PBL is the idea of replacing standardized testing with more projects to increase students problem solving skills. 

One person who agrees with Kelley about project based learning is Mr. Thomas Horsley environmental and marine biology teacher. Horsley’s aim is to give students the opportunity to put classroom content in a real – world and meaningful way.  

“ I want you all to experience Environmental Science and Marine Biology as if you were working in those fields. As many of you are considering pursuing those kinds of careers, I believe its critical for you to leave me classroom with the skills you’ll need to be successful within that context. Furthermore, it’s fun and engaging!” said Horsley

The goal of most teachers is to prepare students for the field of learning and work that you will be going into. Like Horsley, Mr. Matt Haley high school math teacher is a strong believer in PBL in the school system. Although Haley is confident about PBL he says that he doesn’t think that PBL should be completely switched over to replace standardized testing. 

“I would not switch completely, partly because note-taking and practice are academic skills that allow students to construct knowledge. I like how PBL emphasizes real-world connections and applications, and so even if I don’t switch to PBL I will continue to connect math to real-world problems.” Said Haley

PBL dates back all the way to the early 1900’s when the idea came from John Dewey. Dewey was a philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, he supported the idea of “learning by doing” which is very important to the development of PBL. Statistics show that PBL improves your likeness to enroll into college and improves problem solving skills. 

 A  new study by the University of Texas says that PBL improves a  students ability to get a higher education.  

“Comparing the PBL school with a more affluent school that also teaches all courses through PBL showed that graduates from the PBL school of focus in this research were significantly more likely to enroll in 2-year institutions of higher education and just as likely to enroll in 4-year and private institutions in Texas as the more affluent school.” according to the University of Texas