Project Tasks (CIA)

Project tasks should be CIA: Complex, Intentional, and Authentic.

• Complex: Project tasks should be complex or ill defined.Complex problems have multiple ways to solve the problems and multiple solutions. Performing such task requires multiple perspectives, knowledge, and skills.
• Intentional: Tasks should be intentional or goal-directed. Intentional tasks allow students to focus on intended goals and prevent them from deviating from learning objectives. Therefore, you should select academic standards first, and select your project task to address the specific standards.
• Authentic: Tasks should be authentic. Working on real-world issues lets students situate their leaning in a context, which will increase their application and retention of information.

Activities (CPR)

Students should perform CPR: Collaboration, Problem-solving, and Reflection.

• Collaboration: Working collaboratively lets learners interact with one another and engage in discussions where they build their knowledge and perspectives, resolve their misconceptions and internalize and solidify their knowledge. However, collaboration is often accompanied with undesirable intragroup conflicts and social loafing. In order to reduce undesirable intragroup conflicts and social loafing, you can have students discuss their roles, responsibilities, processes, and group norms upfront, and encourage students to productively resolve their conflicts. Also, research shows that the more group members you have, the more likely social loafing occurs. Therefore, three to four members in a group are appropriate.
• Problem-solving: Problem solving or decision making is a key activity where students apply their knowledge into a real context. Therefore, you should make sure there are multiple problem-solving/decision making activities, and you provide corrective feedback along the way so that they correctly construct their knowledge.
• Reflection: Reflection is known to be an essential component in CPBL. By reflecting what they have learned and the processes that they have taken, they can have a time to internalize any knowledge and skills that they have acquired. Reflection should take place during and after the project, preferably every time they engage in a decision-making process.

Remember the design principles: CIA performs CPR.
We will practice these principles at the next module.