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I really like the idea of a student made rubric for their self assessment.

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http://bie.org/objects/cat/rubrics
http://de.slideshare.net/cedecite/documents
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
http://bie.org/object/document/project_design_rubric

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I often use peer assessment in my classroom: for example, pupils must switch their exercises and correct a work by someone else, or they make a general assessment of the products realized, for example via poll/survey.

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I don't think italian teachers are really free to assess students the way they like. We have a law about (numerical) assessment, we are invited to share rubrics with others, we have to make common tests. I think PBL needs a descriptive assessment rather than a numerical one.

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Module 3. A definition of Design Thinking

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Module 3. A definition of Design Thinking

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Design thinking... what is that?

I have this image of Allen Samuels permanently emblazoned on my brain. This goes back to college. With his usual amazing energy and unrestrained passion, this deeply passionate design professor is explaining to us why the process of design that we are learning is so important. Any profession, he suggests with conviction, medicine, law, choreography or politics can benefit by employing design thinking and achieve better results. Although we all heard and believed then what he was saying, it has taken a great while for the potential of his words to find purchase in a business environment willing to accept his hypothesis.

Although Design is most often used to describe an object or end result, Design in its most effective form is a process, an action, a verb not a noun. A protocol for solving problems and discovering new opportunities. Techniques and tools differ and their effectiveness are arguable but the core of the process stays the same. It's taken years of slogging through Design = high style to bring us full circle to the simple truth about design thinking. That it is a most powerful tool and when used effectively, can be the foundation for driving a brand or business forward.

Basically Design thinking consists of four key elements.

1: Define the problem

Sounds simple but doing it right is perhaps the most important of all the four stages. Another way to say it is defining the right problem to solve. Design thinking requires a team or business to always question the brief, the problem to be solved. To participate in defining the opportunity and to revise the opportunity before embarking on its creation and execution. Participation usually involves immersion and the intense cross examination of the filters that have been employed in defining a problem.

In design thinking observation takes center stage. Observation can discern what people really do as opposed to what you are told that they do. Getting out of the cube and involving oneself in the process,product,shopping experience or operating theater is fundamental. No one's life was ever changed by a PowerPoint presentation.

Design thinking in problem definition also requires cross functional insight into each problem by varied perspectives as well as constant and relentless questioning, like that of a small child, Why?, Why? Why? Until finally the simple answers are behind you and the true issues are revealed. Finally, defining the problem via design thinking requires the suspension of judgment in defining the problem statement. What we say can be very different to what we mean. The right words are important. It's not "design a chair", it's..."create a way to suspend a person". The goal of the definition stage is to target the right problem to solve, and then to frame the problem in a way that invites creative solutions.

Question; How many designers will it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer; Why a light bulb?

2: Create and consider many options

Even the most talented teams and businesses sometimes fall into the trap of solving a problem the same way every time. Especially when successful results are produced and time is short. Design thinking requires that no matter how obvious the solution may seem, many solutions be created for consideration. And created in a way that allows them to be judged equally as possible answers. Looking at a problem from more than one perspective always yields richer results.

Many times we are not aware of the filters we may be burdened with when we create answers to problems. In this stage opportunites appear. The trick is to recognize them as opportunities. Multiple perspectives and teamwork are crucial. Design thinking suggests that better answers happen when 5 people work on a problem for a day, than one person for five days. Designers have an advantage in the use of 2D and 3dimensional tools to demonstrate solutions and new ideas - tools which are almost always far more effective to demonstrate what is meant, than words.

3: Refine selected directions

A handful of promising results need to be embrace and nurtured. Given a chance to grow protected from the evil idea-killers of previous experience. Even the strongest of new ideas can be fragile in their infancy. Design thinking allows their potential to be realized by creating an environment conducive to growth and experimentation, and the making of mistakes in order to achieve out of the ordinary results. At this stage many times options will need to be combined and smaller ideas integrated into the selected schemes that make it through. Which brings us to stage 3.5.

3.5 Repeat (optional)

Design thinking may require looping steps 2 and 3 until the right answers surface.

4: Pick the winner, execute

At this point enough road has been traveled to insure success. It's the time to commit resources to achieve the early objectives. The byproduct of the process is often other unique ideas and strategies that are tangential to the initial objective as defined. Prototypes of solutions are created in earnest, and testing becomes more critical and intense. At the end of stage 4 the problem is solved or the opportunity is fully uncovered.

While of late, there has been quite a lot of discussion regarding what Design thinking is and how businesses can leverage it, as suggested in the introduction to this piece this is not a new or unproven idea.

From Wikipedia: Herbert Simon, in the "Sciences of the Artificial" (MIT Press, 1969) has defined "design" as the "transformation of existing conditions into preferred ones" (p. 55). Design thinking is, then, always linked to an improved future. Unlike critical thinking, which is a process of analysis and is associated with the 'breaking down' of ideas, design thinking is a creative process based around the 'building up' of ideas. There are no judgments in design thinking. This eliminates the fear of failure and encourages maximum input and participation. Wild ideas are welcome, since these often lead to the most creative solutions.
Everyone is a designer, and design thinking is a way to apply design methodologies to any of life's situations.

Simon goes on to describe a seven step process: Define, Research, Ideate, Prototype, Choose, Implement, Learn.

Whether the protocol is outlined in a seven, four or even three stage process, see - shape - build, it all comes from the same place a proven method that always delivers. And it doesn't matter what opportunity or problem is put into the front end of the process.

The end result of this simple yet highly effective protocol can be a better mousetrap, symphony, or dry cleaning service. Implied in design thinking is an objective view and a warm embrace of risk and new ideas.

That said, the outline above is a structure and while it may seem counter intuitive, structure can be one of the key elements to enhancing creativity in problem solving. Design legend Charles Eames once famously said: "design depends largely on constraints". This is very true; sometimes you need to draw the box in order to know what to break out of. After that, the manner in which options are considered, ideas are refined and selections are executed are the key.

Design thinking describes a repeatable process employing unique and creative techniques which yield guaranteed results - usually results that exceed initial expectations. Extraordinary results that leapfrog the expected. This is why it is such an attractive, dynamic and important methodology for businesses to embrace today.

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I have this image of Allen Samuels permanently emblazoned on my brain. This goes back to college. With his usual amazing energy and unrestrained passion, this deeply passionate design professor is explaining to us why the process of design that we are learning is so important.

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Module 3. Student resilience can be weakened...

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Module 3. Student resilience can be weakened...

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A teacher can weaken the resilience of students:
1) Highlighting their failures
2) By setting too simple goals
3) Creating teaching situations divorced from a practical fallout

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Module 3. Scaffolding students' resilience.

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Module 3. Scaffolding students' resilience.

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It is not always easy to sustain a student-driven activity: it depends on the context. In some contexts/areas students are so needy and careless towards the school, or taken from their family problems and economic and social ones, so they do not participate in any activities. These students should be followed by step-by-step teaching. When students have good families behind, then the teacher can step aside and often I got amazed with the extent of their independence.

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When I started with Iaido, about three years ago, I felt very stupid because I couldn't remember movements and I also was a bit gawky. My teacher kept on encouraging me and now I can say I'm not so bad with Iaido.

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Module 2. Finding collaboration partners outside the classroom.

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Module 2. Finding collaboration partners outside the classroom.

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One way to involve external actors is interact with parents. Many of them have professional activities and/or a network of knowledge from which to draw. Moreover, even the alumni can be important for this.

I usually collaborate with my students with Google Classroom, but even via email or Twitter and ClassDojo. Anyway TeamUp seems very good, I surely will have a look.

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Teaching Group Work: Building Student Collaboration and Agency

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Module 2. Collaboration in my Classroom.

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Module 2. Collaboration in my Classroom.

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I can improve collaboration in my classes: it is true that my students mainly work in groups, but I do not have the habit of always assign specific responsibilities within them, and I also have to strengthen their decision-making autonomy (too often I propose semiguidate activities) and also enhance the fact that everyone's work is useful to the overall result.

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5 Strategies for Fostering a Collaborative Culture in a PBL Classroom

As a middle school teacher I understand that my students are at a developmental crossroads. They want to be seen as independent, responsible adults but at the same time still need guidance in order to be successful. This makes this age both challenging and rewarding to work with, as it allows me as a teacher to help them as they become the independent students they see themselves to be.

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5 Strategies for Fostering a Collaborative Culture in a PBL Classroom

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5 Strategies for Fostering a Collaborative Culture in a PBL Classroom As a middle school teacher I understand that my students are at a developmental crossroads. They want to be seen as independent, responsible adults but at the same time still need guidance in order to be successful.

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How can you explain to your parents how the European Union affects their daily lives?

I would propose this project to second-graders (12 years old students), because in Geography they should study European Union and its main countries. I want my students to acquire some information about the genesis of the European Union, its historical evolution, its current governing bodies and related skills.

It would also be educational for their parents, in a local context where the European Union is seen as increasingly distant by people and whose consideration is getting worse and worse.

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I really like the idea of non-Googleable question in order to outline a good driving question when designing a PBL lesson.

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-Real world basis
-Core to learning
-Structured Collaboration
-Student driven
-Multifaceted Assessment

The challenge to me is to involve students that are less followed by families and those with behavior problems. Assessment can be another problem: the law tells us one thing, common teaching sense another one.

DRIVING QUESTION: the question should be open-ended, engage and inspire students by creating curiosity, be aligned to your learning goals, and at the same time be non-Googleable.

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5 Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning

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I commonly use a flipped classroom strategy. I set up a Google Classroom account in my school and my pupils study at home the basis of the work we will make at school. Theory to watch at can be a videolesson, some slide or a pdf to read, some quiz to answer to and mostly many of this things together.

What do I do most of the time in the classroom?

In the classroom I let the students do practical exercises and team working. My activities bring into practice things that pupils studied at home and they are oriented towards the realization of a product: a billboard, a script, a podcast, the questions of a test, a video, a concept map ...

What do the students do most of the time?

At home, students prepare their lessons and perform an online prerequisite check quiz. At school they work in group to apply through a product the theory they studied. At the end there is also a moment of individual assessment of learning. Each phase of the work has a weight in the evaluation and the guys understand that each is important: homework, group work at school and individual assessment.

My approach is already a PBL one. In most cases, students are happy with this approach and participate with interest both at home and at school. I encounter some problems with those that have uncollaborative parents about computers/Internet at home and with disadvantaged students with behavioral disorders, who are often irresponsible in the proposed activities.

I will keep on with a PBL approach, especially in History and Geography where “cultural products” are more easily achievable for students. I really like products such as podcasts or videos realized by the students themselves.

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Module 1. And maybe PBL is not so used due to...

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Module 1. And maybe PBL is not so used due to...

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In my country,  one of the problem that stops us using PBL is our teachers age and mind. They have accustomed to give pupils just a knowledge and forget to give motivation about practical usage of theory. Younger teachers are more creative and  understand student needs in a better way. Of course there are always exceptions.

I would add that many teachers are not so open minded. Teaching is just another way to earn their bread, so PBL is rejected as it take a lots of time in designing and planning.

SOLUTION:
School systems should spend more time on teachers' initial training in order to grow a new generation of PBL-oriented teachers.

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I'm already using PBL, but I always search for new ideas about it. Above all, I wonder how to encourage other colleagues to use it, because I meet a lot of cultural resistance. PBL requires more time and preparation.

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The school I work at is quite big and it is disseminated among three buildings.

There are about 1,000 students aged 6-14: Primary school and Middle school, that ages 11 to 14. I teach in this second level.

My students study Italian Language, English, French, History, Geography, Maths, Science, Music, Technology, Art, Gym and R.E. too.

Class sizes range from 20 to 25 and there are lessons until late in the afternoon from Monday to Friday.

Most of them have  chance to access the Internet from a PC/Tablet/Smartphone.

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Hi everybody! My name is Giampaolo. I live in Turin, Northern Italy, where I teach Italian, Hystory and Geography @ Istituto Comprensivo "Umberto Saba".

I'm keen on technology, which I have long been trying to implement in my teaching practice.

In my school I work also as "Digital Catalyst". In  Italy, "Animatori Digitali" were recently launched to support digital innovation throughout their school and workmates.

My hobbies are reading and photography; I like swimming and iaido, too. I am also a great basketball fan and supporter of AuxiliumCUS Torino, my hometown basket team.