An 11th-grade physics class working on a Hot Wheels lab

Photo credit: Cyrus Arjomand, 11th grade

The vision at GCDS is a progressive curriculum with projects at its core that leaves behind traditional, rigid teaching methods with the goal of promoting the development of the skills a student needs to succeed in college, such as group work and independent research. However, is GCDS currently truly project-based? What are the ups and downs that come with a project-based curriculum, and to what extent should and does GCDS stick to its vision?

According to Mr. Lash, the “[project-based] vision is evident throughout the school” and “projects are happening everywhere.” However, “there are still elements of other assessments like tests.” Although GCDS is not completely project-based, a balance may benefit students more than a curriculum based solely on either projects or assessments. As Jack, an 11th grader, says, “some classes, at least for me, are better with fewer projects. One example of this is math.” Mr. Bowes also says that “we include more projects than many schools and yet we have not yet met our aspirations to be as project-based as we would like to be.”

In reference to the pros and cons of projects and tests, Mr. Lash explains that “there are a lot more opportunities to challenge students in different ways with projects versus traditional tests, but I think tests can be an effective way to have students learn,”. He adds that projects “can allow you to emphasize more skills than some tests might.” Similarly, Mr. Bowes says that projects require him to figure out a way for students to “figure out information in a dynamic, skill-building way.”

There are also inherent drawbacks that come with projects. For instance, Adam, an 11th grader, says that “the positives are creatively thinking across subject matter and the collaboration with peers, but there’s a flip side, that being uneven distribution of work.” He further expresses that “there are few things more frustrating than when a student in a project group fails to complete their work, thus compromising the final product for everyone.” 

Calder and Jesse, 10th graders, collaborating on a project

Photo credit: Tito Miguens, 11th grade

Similarly, Mr. Lash states that “there’s the challenge of trying to make sure every student really is contributing and also at the same time learning from that process.” From a teacher’s perspective, Mr. Lash feels that “projects can tend to be a little easier to fake than tests from a student’s side in terms of showing your knowledge.”

As Adam notes, “applying a fully project-based model to the diverse curriculum we offer is an incredibly difficult task,” but “our school uses project-based learning where applicable and effective.” 

It seems that both teachers and students recognize the unequal amount of projects across certain classes, but view it as necessary. In Adam’s experience, “the humanities classes tend to use projects for student work more than the S.T.E.M. ones.” However, this may not be a negative, as Adam ultimately concludes, “this makes sense, as the concrete types of answers one expects in math and science classes are hard to model in a dynamic project…the model our school has is effective.” Jack seems to share a similar train of thought regarding the topic. He says, “being situational is important because projects will not always work for every class.” From a teacher’s perspective, Mr Bowes also notes that “for some classes, it’s harder” to integrate project-based learning into the curriculum.

Mr. Bowes says that “some subject matter lends itself to project-based learning more easily.” Mr. Bowes further explains that “if there’s a good project for a particular curriculum… all the teachers that are teaching that class should be doing that project.”