Problem Based Learning - KIPP Style

  

  Last year I had the opportunity to introduce the Autodesk DesignkKids curriculum to teachers at the KIPP Summit Academy. (KSA) is a free public middle school founded for historically underserved students and families in and around San Lorenzo, CA.  The acronym KIPP stands for Knowledge is Power Program; the activities that KIPP students have worked on using DesignKids underscores the value in acquiring knowledge through relevant, real-world experiences. I’ve been giving the notion of Knowledge a lot of thought and it strikes me that there is a huge difference between knowledge and the acquisition of information. Knowledge involves a type of learning where students take ownership by making connections between school and applications to the world around them. I’ve been thinking that there are four major factors that come into play when we try to create opportunities for acquiring knowledge. These four include Relationships, Evidence, Presentations and Assessment.  In the project depicted above, students developed relationships with the local city government to help develop new concepts for an outdoor skate park; their evidence was produced through virtual models generated with Autodesk Inventor and their presentations included 3d animations created with the software. The KIPP project teacher, Sylvia Gonsalves took this notion of relationships further, by inviting an engineering instructor for the local community college to evaluate the projects and offer students insights regarding careers in Engineering.  I’m convinced that this type of Project Based Learning (PBL) approach has to be seen as a critical element of school reform. In the next several blogs, I want to explore Project Based Learning using KIPP and several other educational programs as models.  In the next blog we’ll take a look at a project KIPP students worked on based on the TECH 2008 Challenge program sponsored by the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation. I’d encourage you to check out the Tech Museum website regarding the 2009 Challenge.  The presentation date for winning entries for that initiative will take place on April 26th.