Welcome to Project-Based Learning at the Dr. Virgil Horn Field Kindley Technical Academy! This is our 3rd year in the building and we are excited to see what projects will be created this year. 

 

Project-Based Learning is a classroom environment in which the accountability to learn falls upon the student. Unlike the traditional classroom where the teacher plans assignments and projects around the required standards, things are FLIPPED in PBL. PBL students are mapping out, simplifying, and understanding their own standards so that they can create their own, individualized projects.

Another major change from the traditional classroom to the PBL academy is the grading process. At the technical academy students play an active role when it’s time to grade their projects. No longer do they simply have to wait to receive a grade assigned by the teacher.  PBL has an intensive grading rubric for every project turned in, with requirements that far exceed the content covered; things like: Reflections, Self-Grading, Standards met, E-Portfolios, etc. More impressive than the added requirements is the fact that the STUDENTS must provide evidence for their work in each of the categories on the rubric to gain their points.  Unlike a regular classroom, students must sit down with their teacher in 1-on-1 conversations and justify and validate the grade they believe they earned.