Incorporating Student Voice into Project Reflections

As our project end date draws closer, we have been brainstorming various ways in which to share our learning in regards to place-based project work and the use of SET-BC technology.  In addition, I have been approached by our District Support Teacher, Courtenay McGeachy, about presenting our Synergy project at an upcoming SD 79 District Showcase of Learning in May.  I decided that discussing the SET-BC report and Showcase of Learning with my students might be one way in which to gather the required information while allowing their voices to be shared.  While technically at this point in the semester this is more of a mid-project review for my students, their input at this stage can certainly be used in our final report for SET-BC.

We have decided to share students' thoughts on the project via interviews using our GoPro Hero5 technology which is being edited on our SET-BC MacBook Pros using Adobe Premiere Pro, a program requested by a few of my more tech-savvy students, and iMovie.  Our class headed to the Somenos Marsh earlier this week to record our interviews.  A few of my students have been editing footage to be used for reporting out about our project.  While Adobe Premiere Pro is not as intuitive to use as iMovie, and quite frankly beyond me at this point in time, one of my students has been really eager to try it out.  Ultimately, he has switched back to using iMovie for ease of use at this time.  Adobe Premiere Pro was recommended to my students by professionals in the television industry, however, without substantial practice and support from those more familiar with the program we decided that iMovie would suit our purposes better.  I have posted the beginning of the video below.

Students recording observations at the Somenos Marsh

In addition to our interviews, I have also asked my students to submit a Mid Project Review to me.  This is helping to inform our final project report as well as serve as a sample of writing and group process that I am using as an assessment piece.  Students had the option of writing, typing or orally sharing their learning.  I have posted the questions and a few student writing samples below.

The guiding questions I gave students in order to compose their Mid-Project Reviews

Examples of student reflections in their Mid-Project Reviews (still in draft form)

Overall, I think incorporating student voice into a project review such as this is extremely valuable.  While we as educators have a vested interest in the success and implementation of such a project, students see things differently and are able to provide insight that we teachers may not have come up with ourselves.  This allows for improvements and considerations when planning for future projects.

While my students really enjoyed getting outside and exploring the Somenos Marsh, as well as meeting and visiting numerous experts in the community, they were challenged by the lack of information available on the Marsh.  Additionally, this particular class learned a lot in regards to conducting interviews, composing emails, making professional phone calls and doing meaningful research, all tasks that most students found challenging.  From my perspective, getting our technology so late in the first semester made the initial plans for the project difficult to achieve.  In addition, it would have been helpful to have arranged some tutorials on the various equipment and associated programs provided by SET-BC.  Furthermore, delving into a project such as this with the challenges that come with connecting with community experts, visiting sites and finding pertinent information means that such a project is time consuming.   This is an important consideration when planning for a similar project in the future.  If replicating this project, I would have tried to devise a calendar in advance of the project that includes a time frame for submission of important group documents, in addition to trying to reach out to busy community members well in advance of when we might need to connect with them.  Overall, if adequate time is spent planning such a project and there is flexibility built into a schedule that can change from day to day, a place-based project such as this can be extremely successful.  Place-based learning provides students with meaningful learning experiences that allow students to learn valuable life skills in addition to forming connections with their local community.