Practical Guide #5 Developing a Project: Investigating and Representing

This practical guide provides an overview of Phase 2 of the Project Approach, during which students become researchers and investigators through fieldwork, interviews, representations, and more. Case studies and suggestions help educators situate students as active learners set to discover and make sense of what they learn.

The teacher’s role is that of a guide.  Students have some choice in what they engage in and how they develop their work.  The teacher’s guidance ensures the quality of the work and its value for the collaborative achievement of the whole class.

Examples are offered to show the kinds of representations students can work on to show what they have learned and how it relates to the topic of study.  Children are capable at different levels according to their age and experience, of making labeled drawings, drawing maps, making time lines, constructing buildings and roads, making collages and dioramas to show what they have learned.  As the students increase in age they are capable of greater detail and accuracy in their representations.

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