Impacting the world with Tech-Infused PBL

Andrea Harris
Graduate School of Education, Touro University California

Introduction
National trends show that some Latino and African American males
are at the highest risk of school failure as measured by high dropout
rates, and low levels of success in high school. These students are
increasingly disengaged and disenfranchised from the high school
learning experience resulting in low performance and limited career
opportunities. This problem demands a critical look at how we are
teaching our underrepresented/At- risk students.
Efforts to change the learning experience
include 21st Century strategies, such as
technology-infused Project Based Learning
(PBL) and innovative teaching practices.
This action research project looks at the
question: Can tech-infused Project Based
Learning increase student engagement in
Latino and African American middle school Figure 1. Students engaged in
Technology -Infused Project
males?
Based Learning

Figure 2. Students engaged in Project Based Learning.

Background and Need (contd)

Figure 4 Science,
Technology,
Engineering and
Math (STEM)
workers are highly
sought after in all
fields.

Research Data
Ethnically diverse population
10.8
10.8 %
% African
African American
American

11.4%
11.4% Pacific
Pacific Islander
Islander

33%
33% Latino
Latino
33.5
33.5 %
% Asian
Asian American
American
11.4%
11.4% Caucasian
Caucasian

Figure 7. Chart above represents the ethnically diverse survey population

Factors such as these and the failure to

meet the needs of the students
increase classroom disengagement,
school dropouts, increase the risk of
courtroom involvement and juvenile
detention. These students are ill
prepared to succeed in 21st century
jobs such as in demand STEM jobs.
Ignoring, turning a blind eye,
not training boys of color,
educating youth will hurt
economy.

Results or Findings

Figure 5 Expected Job Growth 20182.4 million jobs will be unfilled in the most
influential occupations

The pre survey reflected the level of confidence the student had at the
beginning of the year in the language objective areas of reading, writing,
speaking and listening skillscross discipline Common Core standards.
The post survey reflected the level of confidence after engaging in PBL.
The findings revealed that the skills of all of the groups improved;
However, the Latino boys confidence changed the most. Their reading
and writing skills improved the most.

Pre and post survey

Extremely
confident

Background and Need

The achievement gap continues to persist among White and Latino and
Black males. The "school-to-prison pipeline" refers to the practices
that push schoolchildren, especially our most at-risk children, out of
classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. This
pipeline reflects the prioritization of incarceration over education.
Fastest growing population, but will be ill-prepared. For 21st C jobs.
For a growing number of Latino and African American males, the path
to incarceration includes many enablers.
Some schools lack culturally responsive practices in their teaching
strategies. Some teachers and administrators are not comfortable
working with students due to the lack of knowledge about cultural
differences that exist among the Latino and African American
families .Moreover, schools may even encourage dropouts due to lack
of school resources and pressure from NCLB Act of 1981.

Conclusions
Touro University Graduate School of Education, Innovative
Learning concludes that educators and administrators need to change
their teaching practices to include tech-infused PBL and under
represented minorities in the bigger piece of innovative learning.

Literature cited

Capps, R., McCabe, K., Fix, M. (2012). Profile of immigrants in Napa County. Washington DC: Migration
Policy Institute

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The Flat World and Education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Average
confidence

Ferreira, M., & Trudel, A. (2002). The Impact of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on Student
Attitudes Toward Science, Problem-Solving Skills, and Sense of Community in the Classroom.
Journal of classroom interaction, 47(1), 23-30.
Goodnough, K., & Cashion, M. (2006). Exploring Problem-based Learning in the Context of High
School Science: Design and Implementation Issues. School Science and Mathematics, 106 (7), 280295.

Not
confident

Figure 8. Bar graph above represents the pre and post student survey results.

Improvement

The rates of suspension and expulsion are much higher among

Latino and African American boys compared to their peers.

The research groups population will grow faster than other groups in
the US. Educators need to implement enabling measures to further
shrink the achievement gap among racial/ethnic groups. School
administrators need to block and stop the school-to-prison pipeline and
make the education of all youth a priority. They need to prepare
underrepresented students in areas such as math, sciences, engineering
and technology since these will be the most sought after candidates to
fill 21st Century jobs. Technology-Infused PBL is an effective strategy
to capture student engagement. When students are hooked into by
Inquiry-Based Learning they are more connected and take ownership
for their learning.
The students in this research improved their reading skills after
working with tech-infused, high quality PBL. They demonstrated their
passion to want to experience the learning from themselves. They
desired to be connected to a larger cause of which they felt a part.
They made connections to the solution of the problem and culminating
event. Learning through the process of inquiry, experience and
discovery impacted long term learning. The students learned by
creating their culminating product. Learning through discovery was
purposeful, meaningful and effective. Tech-infused PBL fostered
high levels of student engagement and deeper learning.

Chappell, B. (2015, March 4). NPR . For US Children, minorities will be the majority by 2020.
Retrieved June 6, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390672196/for-us-children-minorities-will-be-the-majority-by-2020-census-says

Research and Design

The teacher studied 187 sixth graders using a pre and post survey
process in language objectives. She disaggregated the data by ethnic
group and gender to look for trends in engagement and academic skill
level. The study looked at student engagement before and after
implementing Project Based Learning units of study.

Conclusions

https://echo.newtechnetwork.org/?q=ntlp/library
http://www.adeccousa.com/employers/resources/Pages/infographic-stem-skills-aredriving-innovation.aspx
http://i1.wp.com/www.dailycal.org/assets/uploads/2013/11/GAPS-graphs_online900x316.jpg

Acknowledgments

I thank God, my husband and my family for supporting me and maintaining the
patience for putting up with me. I especially thank NapaLearns for affording me
the incredible opportunity to research this capstone project. I appreciate Napa
County Unified School District and Napa County of Education for their professional
development support. so I may be able to implement the learnings on campus.
Together we will make it possible to impact education for students not just in Napa
County, but for students all over the world.

Figure 6. Traditional classroom with a project vs Technology- infused PBL

process

Figure 3 represents the Achievement Gap among race/ethnic groups.

The figure on the top represents the process for a project in the traditional
classroom (linear). The figure on the bottom represents components that
can be researched simultaneously. One group may complete an activity
then move to a discussion. Another may have a discussion then the need
arises for the teacher to move to model a mini lesson for that group.

For further information

Please visit www.harrislearningcafe.weebly.com More information on this and

related projects can be obtained at www.HarrisLearningCafe.Weebly.com
Figure 9 The bar chart above shows the change in confidence in skills --the
impact that the PBL experience had on the groups confidence in speaking,
writing, reading and listening skills.

A link to an online, PDF-version of the poster is nice, too.