Problems of Practice

SPACE is designed to address central challenges in successfully implementing projects in classrooms. These challenges include establishing consistent practices across classrooms, organizing differentiated instruction, and providing opportunities for students to manage their own learning and to collaborate.

Lack of consistency in project-based instructional practices
Schools often do not have a systematic practice to support project-based work across classrooms. What students learn in one classroom about project work may not support their learning in a different classroom. Also, project-based activities too often lack a developmental orientation. Teachers re-teach the identical project process in every grade rather than gearing their instruction to build students' meta-cognitive skills over time.

Lack of differentiated instruction
Project-based activities tend to require teachers to differentiate instruction. The activities are complex and students differ markedly in their progress. Yet, both students and teachers deemphasize the multi-step processes of feedback, inquiry, and revision, and focus on the final product instead. Teachers cannot readily access the ongoing information they need about student progress to move students forward in their work, which exacerbates the problem.

Lack of student participation
Students are too rarely active participants in their own learning and the learning of their peers. Though shown to be effective, ongoing classroom opportunities for self and peer-assessments are limited and fragmented (Black et al., 2004).

Limited access to student work and opportunities for student collaboration
In project-based work, teachers and students are overburdened with the volume and organization of paper work and assessments related to each project. Teachers have limited access to on-going student work and difficulties monitoring individual student progress. Limited access to student work also restricts the level of student collaboration and opportunities for peer assessments.