Motivating students through project work Adam Stępiński

Motivating students through project work A few words about myself …

Motivating students through project work

Try to make your project different from students’ school daily routine

Motivating students through project work What do we need to bear in mind?

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work Boosting students’ engagement

Motivating students through project work Developing learners’ autonomy

Motivating students through project work Autonomous student motivated 29% responsible 19% self-confident 16% open-minded 13% creative 7%

Motivating students through project work Autonomous teacher supporting 29% flexible 23% innovative 21% enthusiastic 10% reflective 8%

Motivating students through project work What are the teachers like in your school?

Motivating students through project work What are the students like in your school?

Motivating students through project work What would you change in your school?

Motivating students through project work -What does learner’s autonomy mean for teachers?

Motivating students through project work -What does it mean for students?

Motivating students through project work - How can we promote and develop student’s autonomy in our projects?

Motivating students through project work -What can it be limited by?

Motivating students through project work Inter- disciplinary projects

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences The big number of learning areas / school subjects in an interdisciplinary project will result in...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences An autonomous environment will lead to...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences Forming specialised teams (groups of students) working on specified fields and acting as experts in that particular area will benefit because...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences If we link school / subject matters with ethic issues and students’ everyday experiences, this will...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences Students’ words ‘We are responsible for all the things we do / don’t do” mean that...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences Feeling the freedom from the constraints of the curriculum will lead to...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences When students face a challenge and they will successfully cope with it, they will...

Motivating students through project work Unfinished sentences A greater possibility of modification of the instructional methodologies incorporated in the project (including visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic) will result in …

Motivating students through project work Developing students' key competencies

Motivating students through project work communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression.

Motivating students through project work How often do you use a computer?

Motivating students through project work Do you have this at home?

Motivating students through project work New subjects in the future school Which would be useful to learn about?

Motivating students through project work I would like to become after graduation a person...

Motivating students through project work What sort of skills and competencies do students want for themselves? Are they really important?

Motivating students through project work Structure of an interdisciplinary project

Motivating students through project work

Clues from the comic strips

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work Balancing between the educational and enteraining dimensions of the activity

Motivating students through project work Use of media resources and attractive means of communication

Motivating students through project work 'Living Darfur' by Mattafix 'Zombie' by the Cranberries

Motivating students through project work IRIN Films 'Facing History and Ourselves'

Motivating students through project work films.com/

Motivating students through project work Some e- tools to motivate students

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work t-do-they-like/

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work The Exhibit tool An example:

Motivating students through project work The Timeline tool An example:

Motivating students through project work We need to ‘pump up’ students’ motivation all the time

Motivating students through project work Ice breakers from the Modules net/en/pub/inspiratio n/modules.htm

Motivating students through project work My beloved ice breakers

Motivating students through project work Unfinished statements Would you rather…or… TV interview

Motivating students through project work Some ideas for motivating projects incorporating History, Social Studies and Geography

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work

Motivating students through project work videos.com/

Motivating students through project work Some clues to consider while working on an interdisciplinary project: 1. when you decide on the topic, make sure that the project will stimulate your students to act creatively, 2. (in my opinion) it’s better when a project refers to different subjects and fields of learning, 3. make sure that the topic, activities, ways of communication are interesting for your students,

Motivating students through project work 4. while formulating the topic and deciding on the content: -try to make them simple and catchy, -try to refer them to your students’ life and experiences, -don’t concentrate too much on the educational aspects (the project should attract, not scary off) 5. give your students as much autonomy as possible, 6. your project should make a change (ways of work, ways of thinking, gaining new skills and abilities, establishing new relations),

Motivating students through project work 7. allow them to decide on the electronic media and technology they would like to use in the project, 8. make sure that the project will let your students brainstorm ideas and discover solutions by original thinking processes, 9. try to match all the things you do within your project with students’ interests,

Motivating students through project work 10. vary activities balancing carefully between the educational and the enjoyable ones, 11. divide your work into smaller chunks (stages), 12. try to follow some order: from specifics to more general matters or the other way round, 13. try to incorporate songs, documentaries, movies (the participants belong to ‘the media generation’),

Motivating students through project work 14. let them use various computer applications (your students are also called ‘the Google generation’), 15. make sure that all the participants work on/create something together (not just add their materials), 16. you can appoint your students as experts in their national issues (social matters, history etc.) while your partners will have a similar role in case of the issues of their countries,

Motivating students through project work 17. evalute your activities (e.g. on a special forum on the project site), 18. make sure your students create something of value, 19. inform parents about the project and see how to involve them,

Motivating students through project work 20. mix pupils from partner schools in pairs or in mixed groups to ensure that each pupil has at least one partner, 21. integrate the project into the curriculum by doing the work during teaching hours so that it is a natural contribution from pupils (and not perceived as extra work).

Motivating students through project work May your projects be motivational, inspirational, engagiging, creative and funny! Thank you for your attention Adam Stepinski