Project & Problem-based Learning:
Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning are teaching methods in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
The students use their academic knowledge and skills to tackle real-world problems, thereby, giving them firsthand experience on how professionals approach problem-solving on a daily basis. As a culminating activity, the students publicly present their project by explaining, displaying, and/or presenting it to people beyond the classroom. One PBL project that occurred this year in Ms. Amanda Newton’s 7th grade Math class had the students create “Games of Chance” in their exploration of probability. Students addressed the question, "How can we, as game of chance designers, create a probability model that yields the greatest profit margin for a carnival?" They created a game of chance in which they played and calculated theoretical and experimental probabilities. They chose an appropriate cost to play the game and prize for winning the game based on their probabilities to yield the highest profit margin. As you can see, this project helped the students develop a deeper understanding of probability as a result of developing their games of chance. |