This article and its links originally appeared on http://www.designworlds.com/techscape/Sherm_ArticleLinks.html
PBL IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
A CASE STUDY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sherman Rosenfeld
and
Yehuda Ben-Hur
Department of Science Teaching
Weizmann Institute of Science
Rehovot, Israel
Project-Based Learning (PBL) is “a teaching and learning model that focuses on the central concepts and principals of a discipline, involves students in problem-solving and other meaningful tasks, allows students to work autonomously to construct their own learning, and culminates in realistic, student-generated products” (Thomas, et al., 1999).
Despite the educational potential of PBL, it is clear that without providing proper attention to teacher development and school change, actualizing this potential will remain a dream (e.g., Marx, et al., 1997).
Our case study focuses on one approach to the professional development of science and technology in regard to PBL. First, we present the rationale and goals of our approach. Next, we describe the context, population and methods of our case study.