Supporting Science Learning in Context: Project-Based Learning

What kinds of science understandings should students develop in school? Does school help learners develop understandings that are useful for their lives? Does school help students develop understandings that they can use to predict and explain? What does the learning environment look like that supports students developing understanding? In this chapter, I first explore the types of understanding most students develop as a result of regular school science. The chapter continues with a discussion of the type of understanding we would like to see students develop. As described below, the understandings students develop by learning science in context is substantially different from science learning in typical classroom situations. Next, I introduce a model of learning that supports students developing these types of understandings. This chapter focuses on an instructional model, project-based learning, that matches science learning in context. The next two chapters bring these theoretical ideas to life.

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