Teachers instinctively know that projects are worthwhile, even if they do not understand every facet of a good project or have experience supporting project-based learning. For too many students, the term “project” means any activity that is not worksheet-based or takes longer than a 42-minute class period. I have seen too many instances of unimaginative assignments turned into projects just by giving students weeks for completion. That five paragraph essay about caribou is transformed into a project when students are given two months to obsess over it. The inevitable procrastination leads to increased stress and an imperceptible improvement in quality.

The protean nature of computers as constructive material with which you may explore powerful ideas and express yourself in a myriad of ways makes a wider range and depth of projects possible like never before. The Constructivist Consortium is committed to using computers in creative ways in which interdisciplinary projects demonstrate student competence and connect knowledge domains. Open-ended software supports learning diversity and allows multiple entry points into a sea of ideas. Seymour Papert once said, “If you can make things with computers, then you can make a lot more interesting things.”

Making things is better than being passive, but making good things is better still!

The Constructivist Consortium believes in Papert’s theory of constructionism; the idea that the best way to construct knowledge, or understanding, is through the construction of something shareable, outside of a student’s head. Those artifacts are commonly thought of as projects, even though the project development process is where the learning occurs. Such artifacts are evidence of learning.

Purpose and Relevance. Is the project personally meaningful? Does the project prompt intrigue in the learner enough to have him or her invest time, effort, and creativity in the development of the project?

Time. Sufficient time must be provided for learners to think about, plan, execute, debug, change course, expand, and edit their projects. Class time affords students equal access to expertise and materials; projects may also need sufficient out-of-school time.

Complexity. The best projects combine multiple subject areas and call upon the prior knowledge and expertise of each student. Best of all, serendipitous insights and connections to big ideas lead to the greatest payoff for learners.

Intensity. Children have a remarkable capacity for intensity that is rarely tapped by the sliced-and-diced curriculum. Projects provide an outlet for the exercise of that intensity. Think about how long kids can spend mastering a video game, reading a favorite book series, memorizing the attributes of Pokemon, or building a tree house, and you have a good template for successful project-based learning.

Connected. During great projects students are connected to each other, experts, multiple subject areas, powerful ideas, and the world via the Web. The lessons learned during interpersonal connections that are required by collaborative projects last a lifetime.

While there is some merit in organizing student groups to “teach” collaboration, I prefer a more natural environment in which students collaborate (or do not) based on their own needs.

Collaboration may consist of observing a peer, asking a quick question, or by working with the same teammates for the duration of a project.