Teacher’s Handbook

Why Project-Based Teaching?

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Why project-based teaching? 

  • Benefits: TUTKIMUKSESTA 
  • Words of caution: 
  • 1: Projektityöskentely vaatii aktiivista tukemista: siksi oman kuormituksen optimointi ei esim. ole hyvä lähtökohta.  
  • 2: Tiimissä tekeminen ei opeta tiimityötaitoja 
  • Benefits and challenges of group projects 
  • Different types of projects 
  • Project topics 
  • what is being developed: lit rev. vs. product development 
  • Who defines the topic? (oma aihe vs. annettu, saako päätökseen vaikuttaa?) 
  • How open is the topic in terms of problem or solution 
  • How is work organized: everybody does everything vs. clear roles 
  • Amount of team autonomy 
  • What are the learning goals? 
  • Substance related: new competences vs. applying theory from past courses 
  • Generic competencies, work-life skills 
  • Single vs. multidisciplinary 
  • Course length, 1 period, 1 year 
  • è THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL STRUCTURE, but rather very different contexts 
  • However, there is perhaps certain key commonalities to take into account 
  • VOISIKO tÄSTÄ LÄHTEÄ SItTEN SUOSITUKSIA LIIKKEELLE? 
  • Teacher’s role in group projects 
  • Learning is less teacher led, more collaborative learning, opetus on dialogisempaa 
  • Teachers have more of a facilitator / advisor role. This is different from normal. Key question: when to give answers, when to encourage indepent thinking and information search & reflection (Kolmos & De graaf).  
  • What do group projects require from the teacher? 
  • Velvoite tukea tiimityöskentelyä 
  • Project goals and assignment  
  • Forming teams and fostering collaboration 
  • Assessment & Grading 
  • Requires some additional thinking compared to normal course, where you simply do assessment based on individually done assignments and exercises.  
  • How do you do assessment and grading when deliverables are done in a group?  
  • What do group projects means for students 
  • Oppiminen kollektiivisesti. Mitä yksilö oppii vs. mitä tiimi tekee mahdollisesti eri asioita.  
  • Yhteisen ajan löytämistä 
  • Erilaisten ambitio / taitotasojen kanssa toimimista.  
  •  
  • What are the common challenges in project courses? 
  • From delegation to teamwork 
  • Uneven workload and freeriding 
  • Seeking help 
  • Real-world examples from Aalto 
  • Example 1: Smaller subject-matter focused project (??) 
  • Example 2: Big interdisciplinary project course (PDP? similar?) 
  • Getting started with teaching project courses 

Back to the Front Page!

Students embarking on group project

Group Projects 101 - Getting Started

This is the landing page of group projects for teachers. This is test material.

Teacher’s Handbook
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