Taking ownership of a project is a key benefit of project-based learning.  Proponents say that ownership leads to engagement, which leads to a deeper level of learning.  But there is another side of the coin: what if students don’t take ownership?  Do they really want to be responsible for the project?  In this exercise, you will ask your students and find out how they feel about their learning.

Hold a classroom discussion.  Use these questions:

A) In all of your years of school, what academic activity do you think you learned the most from?  Why?  What caused you to learn more during that activity than in other classes? 

B) Think about a time when a teacher, parent, or coach has given you responsibility for a project.  Did you do better or worse work than if the teacher had given explicit instructions?  Why or why not? 

C) Take a few minutes to think about this question, then write down your response.  If you were going to teach a class of 2nd graders how to count money, how would you do it?

After the responses are written, ask the students to share their answers.  Then ask the class to summarize the main points from the discussion regarding learning.  Be sure to draw out the concept of ownership.  Is that important in learning?  Why or why not?