Around the World in 1 Semester

Project-based learning, which often raises the stakes for students by incorporating outside audiences in their assessment, aims to challenge students with problem solving and collaborative work. In geography class, Nathaniel Marin's students feel the pressure at the end of the semester as they finish a model of a major landmark, prepare a 4-course meal for the judges, make a video, and create a map of their chosen country. Then, geography students field questions about their country as judges and visitors tour their work in an exhibition during the last week of the semester.

Senior Madi Uhrik and her team chose Turkey and created a model of the Hagia Sophia. She found the exhibition stressful but learned a lot about teamwork and planning throughout the semester. “Having judges come encouraged me to strive higher in order to impress people I didn’t know. You imagine they have higher expectations of you. They don’t know about all the hard work it took to get that final project done, they only see the project itself,” she said.

This is the 4th year Marin has invited judges to help assess the students' work at the end of the semester. He agrees that the learning environment provided by project-based learning is preparing our students for the 21st century workplace. Reflecting on the switch to group collaboration and authentic audiences, he said, “The improvement in quality and learning has been amazing.”
 
The final exhibition also allows students to celebrate their efforts. “It’s good for them to be able to show off their hard work, and it’s good practice for them to be asked tough questions by an older, more experienced person,” said Erin Johnson, a judge at the exhibition.
 
Second semester geography class will be giving presentations in May.

This senior geography team proudly stands behind their model of the BMW plant in Munich, Germany.

These seniors dish up their homemade Turkish delight, ready to take to the judges as part of their 4-course meal.