AN EXAMINATION OF PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENT SELF-CONCEPT
File(s)
Date
2010-05Author
Fisher, Lowrie
Advisor(s)
Rylance, Billie Jo
Skoning, Stacey
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A small U.S. school district explored Project Based Learning (PBL) in response to the problem of disengaged high school students, uninterested in traditional school coursework, structure, and environment. The district implemented PBL to provide an inquiry-based curriculum that focused on individual student interests, autonomous investigative activities, and the development of 21st Century skills that supported communication and interpersonal connections. The participants in this study were high school members of an intact group of students enrolled in a small charter high school. Eighty-six percent of students were eligible to receive free or reduced lunch. A quasi-experimental one-group, pretest-treatment-posttest pilot study examined the possible impact PBL exerted on student self-concept. The Piers-Harris 2 Children's Self-concept Scale measured students' self-perceptions before and after implementation of the 18-week treatment condition (PBL). Seven students participated in the treatment. Results indicated that all students' TOT self-concept scores were higher on the posttest as compared to the pretest. Other increases were found in the Intellectual and School Status subscales for some of the children in the study.
Subject
Educational technology
Project method in teaching
Self-perception
Learning strategies
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/47142Description
A Thesis Submitted In Partia] Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Education Special Education