enhancing education about sense of humanity through applying project based learning in teaching english for the grade 10 students at nguyen xuan on high school

TABLES OF CONTENT PART I INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study II Aims of the study III Methods of the study IV Scope of the study V New features in the study PART II CONTENT I Theoretical background 1 Sense of humanity 1.1 Definition of sense of humanity 1.2 The importance of sense of humanity 1.3 Which parts of humanity students should have 2 Project-based Learning 2.1 Definition of Project-based Learning 2.2 Principles in teaching Project-based Lessons 2.3 Steps in teaching Project-based Lessons 2.4 Benefits of Project-based Learning 3 Research context 3.1 Setting and Participants 3.1.1 Setting 3.1.2 Participants 3.2 Textbook and materials 4 Data analysis and discussion 4.1.1 Students’ attitude towards project – based lessons 4.1.2 Students’ difficulties in learning project – based lessons 4.1.3 Students’ attitude towards sense of humanity II Solution 1 Activities to stimulate students’ kindness 1.1 Sample 1: stimulate students’ kindness to themselves 1.2 Sample 2: stimulate students’ kindness to family 1.3 Sample 3: stimulate students’ kindness to community 2 Activities to stimulate students’ respect 3 Activities to stimulate students’ understanding and sharing 1 III Results and comments PART III CONCLUSION 1 References 2 Appendices 2 PART I INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study In 2019, Ministry of Education and Training enacted the new education program with new textbook which is focused on five attributes and ten competences The purpose of this program is to help students to master general knowledge and effectively apply it to life; self-study and form a good personality One of the five attributes that students are expected to complete is sense of humanity, an important factor to become a good person At school, students almost learn sense of humanity at certain subjects such as Literature, Civic Education, History and so on English seems to be a subject which is unclearly emphasized on it Students always believe that they will learn about something related language such as listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in English, not about something to form sense of humanity to be a good person As an English teacher, I personally think that I need to do something to make English become one of the subjects mainly focusing on sense of humanity as the requirement of Ministry of Education and Training in the new education program Besides, many of students show their emotionlessness with life, even with bad things For example, students at my school were very emotionless in school violence In spite of advising or preventing their friends from fighting, they were eager to cheer and encourage In addition, students nowadays feel more interesting in virtual life than real life Some of my students always spent much more time on searching Facebook and playing games than doing something meaningful in life They seem to be more indifferent to themselves, their family and community As a result, lack of humanity is gradually formed in their attitude These things made me worried and thought that it is educating students’ humanity that is an extremely important factor to emphasize in every lessons in general and English lessons in particular It is undeniable that Project Based Learning offers students more opportunities to apply their English to real life Students are expected to synthetize knowledge from various fields of study and use their creativity to get more practical experiments through implementing projects They can actively search the information, work in groups with friends, make presentations and evaluate issues which happen in reality Therefore, Project Based Learning is the most potential method to help improve students' sense of humanity By taking its advantages, I can combine teaching language skills with improving my students' sense of humanity For the reasons above, I have carried a study which has changed the ways we used to teach project lessons with the topic “ENHANCING EDUCATION ABOUT SENSE OF HUMANITY THROUGH APPLYING PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN 3 TEACHING ENGLISH FOR THE GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT NGUYEN XUAN ON HIGH SCHOOL” It is hoped that this study will provide classroom English teachers with a deep understanding about the importance of humanity in educating students and help our students to become kinder, more respectful, understanding and sharing with their community, their family and themselves II Aims of the study This study is aimed at giving solutions to emphasize on educating students’ sense of humanity by using Project-based learning method The activities are adapted to offer students opportunities to learn about sense of humanity and apply it in the real life Besides, each task was designed to be suitable with the topic and the reality in local areas and hot facing issues in society From that, it is expected that students will change their attitude toward educating sense of humanity and learning project lessons and adjust their behaviors themselves in real life Simultaneously, English teachers will fully comprehend the importance of humanity in educating students and using effectively Project – Based Learning to enhance it III Methods of the study The study was based on the basis of material collection, survey questionnaire and class observation to discover whether combining Project-Based Learning with educating sense of humanity has a positive effect on students and promote their motivation of becoming a good person Data collection instrument was used to gather information about the students involved and evaluate how the progress of the students was and how much they changed when they were educated much more about humanity in project lessons IV Scope of the study In this writing, I would like to share my suggestions that have been gathered in my during preparing lessons, on adapting activities in 5 project lessons in Tieng Anh 10 textbook The aim is to use Project Based Learning to educate sense of humanity for 10A2 students at Nguyen Xuan On high school within the duration of seven months, from the beginning of the school year to the middle of the second term V New features in the study My study is carried with a wish to help students become kinder, understand and share with others’ difficulties, respect the differences in gender by using Project Based Learning as a tool to express their thinking, belief and awareness and also to display their improving behavior My innovation is emphasizing educating students’ sense of humanity in English lessons, which has not been highly focused so far This is also one of the integrated approaches to meet the target of the new education program enacted in 2019 by Ministry of Education 4 5 PART II CONTENT I Theoretical background 1 Sense of humanity 1.1 Definition sense of humanity Humanity means three different things: a species; a behavior, and a global identity In this study, I want to emphasize on the second meaning - a behavior Humanity in this sense is human’s behavior that cares for other humans and treats humanely in relationships of mutual respect It is a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion and not be a robot or alien Sense of humanity is defined to base on the above meaning of humanity, related to understanding, sharing and kindness toward other people It is also used to describe a person's capacity to offer care, respect, show love, forgiveness, as well as the ability to promote genuine harmony and continuity throughout the wider human system 1.2 The importance of sense of humanity Sense of humanity is always considered as an important part not only to develop and complete a person but also to measure of civilization and social progress In Vietnam, it has always been a precious tradition, which passed from generation to generation Sense of humanity is the main standard of morality that helps shape the ethical foundation At school, the students well educated sense of humanity will implement their responsibility in their best ways and become good students contributing greatest to their family and society Moreover, educating sense of humanity has played an extremely crucial part in forming student’s awareness, emotion and behavior Especially in the current state which has many more complexing situations of morality of young people, emphasizing sense of humanity is one of the most urgent duty that teachers need to do 1.3 Which parts of humanity students should have Students are expected to achieve some core values of sense of humanity when they are studying at school They are: - the value of kindness - the value of respect - the value of understanding and sharing 2 Project-based Learning 2.1 Definition of Project-based Learning 6 According to Robert Schuetz (June 01, 2018) in ‘Project-Based Learning: Benefits, Examples, and Resources’, Project-based learning is an instructional approach designed to give students the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills through engaging projects set around challenges and problems they may face in the real world Project-based learning, or PBL, is more than just projects Project-based learning or PBL, is a learner-centered method of learning It uses problems or projects to help learners to rise from the low levels of learning to the high standard of learning which include analysis, synthesis and evaluation It uses projects to facilitate learning and assess students' competence It is a kind of independent learning Students use technology and inquiry to respond to a complex issue, problem or challenge It is not a teacher-based learning method PBL focuses on student-centered inquiry and group learning The teacher plays the role of a facilitator, adviser and checker Projects vary in length, from several days to several weeks or even a semester PBL can be effective at all grade levels and subjects, and in career/technical education, after school and alternative programs Project-based learning method emphasizes long term learning objectives This approach is less structured than traditional, teacher-led classroom activities In a project-based class, students often must organize their own work and manage their own time Within the project-based learning framework, students collaborate working together to make a sense of what is going on Teachers can use PBL as a method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge 2.2 Benefits Project-based Teaching Method Applying project-based learning benefits students a lot with a greater depth of understanding of concepts, broader knowledge base, improved communication and interpersonal/social skills, enhanced Leadership skills, increased creativity and improved writing skills Students can work together to solve real-world problems in their schools and communities Successful problem-solving often requires students to draw on lessons from several disciplines and apply them in a very practical way The promise of seeing a very real impact becomes the motivation for learning Project-based learning is good for teachers as it can help prevent teacher burnout – a very real condition that affects teachers all over the world It can be more rewarding for teachers to see students take ownership over their work and watch them develop their own learning habits Teachers are also able to express their own creativity and encourage them to be more innovative when coming up with project 7 concepts For certain students, determining whether they are developing at the same rate as their peers and acquiring the skills required can be a challenge In the scope of education students’ sense of humanity, Project Based Learning offers students with many opportunities to bring the humanity task to the real life, get their practical experiment which is more valuable than just reading or do something on papers It helps students to improve in teamwork, problem solving, research gathering, time management, information synthesizing, utilizing high tech tools which are 21st century skills It is also an efficient tool to support their ability of planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity For teachers, Project Based Learning provides them with a deep understanding about the student’s 2.3 Principles in teaching Project-based Lessons According to John Larmer, Suzie Boss (ASCD 2015), there are some essential principles in teaching project-based lessons - The project is learner-driven and gives learners choice It is vital that teachers trust in their learners’ ability to complete the project and that they provide positive reinforcement and support to learners Giving up a measure of control is essential if the learners are to fully benefit from the experience and claim ownership of the project Learner-choice does not imply total learner freedom as the project operates within the expectations of set outcomes and standards of work Within these parameters learners are encouraged to explore their own solutions and ways of working - The project is realistic The project and the methods employed to reach its resolution should relate to authentic, real-life scenarios The problem or question may be directly relevant to the learners’ life, that of their wider community or their potential future lives Our driving question was one that was relevant to the learners’ academic and future professional lives The method of obtaining and communicating the information, a research project leading to a public poster presentation, was based around real-life scenarios that the learners will encounter in their upcoming undergraduate studies - The project embraces teamwork and collaboration PBL is a team-centered activity which encourages learners to form communities of enquiry to answer their question or solve their problem Successful teamwork requires many skills and attitudes and implicit in the nature of teamwork is that different 8 members bring different attributes to the team and the project leading to its success The team-based nature of the project and its outcome need not stop the individual assessment of learners and certainly some will bring more to the project than others It therefore needs to be considered how the information will be captured to make these assessments and the rubrics produced should reflect this - The project requires high quality work There is an expectation in PBL, reinforcing the message of the growth mindset, that learners expand effort and apply themselves to produce work that leads to high quality outcomes Teachers should positively reinforce these virtues and acknowledge the positive outcomes that result and should trust in learners’ abilities to achieve them The public, real-life nature of the outcomes is another driving factor encouraging high quality work Project rubrics should emphasize the expected quality of the work, teamwork and crucially the public nature of the outcome - The project provides a public forum for the project outcome Learners are asked to apply themselves to the project over an extended period of time, to produce an authentic, high quality outcome It is only fitting, and motivating, that their work and application be acknowledged and celebrated publicly and the learners are able to present work that they can take pride in This is the authentic outcome of an authentic task The public display and recognition of the work also shares the message that the teachers and the institution value the principles of learner-centeredness embedded in the project 2.4 Steps in teaching Project-based Lessons There are 4 steps in teaching Project – based lessons Step 1: Preparation for the project Teacher’s activities Student’s activities - Design a project based on the topic and -Work in groups to discuss a project topic the reality of the students - Make a project plan - design the tasks for students - Identify tasks, expected time, materials, - Prepare documents as well as conditions expense, methods, and team assignments in practice to support students to - prepare reliable sources of information implement the project for project implementation - discuss with the teacher to find out the evaluation criteria 9 Step 2: Implementing the project Teacher’s activities Student’s activities - Monitor, guide and evaluate students in - Divide the tasks for each team members the implementation process to implement the project - Prepare facilities and create good - Collect and analyze the collected conditions for students to implement the information project - Form product or report - Initially adopt the final products of the - Contact, find help if necessary groups of students - Regularly feedback and inform teachers and other groups Step 3: Reporting the project Teacher’s activities Student’s activities - prepare facilities for the project report - Choose the groups representatives to - observe and evaluate project products of present the results of their team's project implementation groups - score the project - Other groups observe to discuss, exchange, comment, and contribute opinions to the results of group's work Step 4: Evaluating the project Teacher’s activities Student’s activities - Sum up every evaluation process consisting of a self- - listen and take note for evaluation, team’s performance and teacher’s experience evaluation (evaluation and final product reviews) to give conclusions about the final results of groups and each student - give comments about the attitude of groups and individuals - give comments on the product quality of the project implementation groups - give the points to each group; Bonus points for the individual who has excellent 10 Students visited Mr and Mrs.Tich, one of the most disadvantaged people in Dien Thang village, to encourage and share with their difficulties in life III Results and comments 1 Results After seven months applying Project-Based Learning to educate sense of humanity, we achieved considerable success The effect of these projects help my students realize how important sense of humanity is They recognize that they should be kind to themselves, their family and community; be sharing and understanding with the difficulties in their community by good works Their actions gradually change in positive ways They find the volunteer work at school is meaningful; not formal and required as they thought before More importantly, my students recognized what kind of people they will become The survey was carried out again at the middle of the second term The same questions were asked to the students in class 10A2 at the aim of finding how effective the adapted activities were and how much the students’ attitude changed The result can be obviously shown in the chart below Chart 5: Students’ attitude towards the importance of humanity and how much they learn humanity through English lessons before and after applying Project – Based Learning 40 2 Comments: The survey shows the change of students’ attitudes and awareness of humanity and the effect of apply Project-based Learning in educating Student’s sense of humanity in a seven-month process After applying the adapted activities, I have found that the students are not only recognize the importance of humanity but also develop their sense of humanity They think that it is necessary to learn about humanity in English lessons Besides, Project based learning brought them the interest and motivation in learning English and learning sense of humanity As a result, they found the ways to act with kindness, sharing and understanding to themselves, their family and their community 41 PART III CONCLUSION I started the study at the very first days of this school year when my colleague and I began to get acquainted with the new education program and the new textbook There are too much questions formed in my mind about the way to teach students to learn languages effectively and the way to educate students successfully Besides, the rising violence at my school made me extremely worried This urged me to action positively by putting the value of humanity into each lesson and creating a real environment for students to practice And Project Based Lesson is what I totally laid my belief on At first, it is really challenge for students and teacher to find a good way to carry Not all of students are good at English while the teacher has just been familiar with new teaching method However, with the flexible time in project based lesson, students had more time to prepare and their skills as a result, became better and better Besides, because of the fact that the main purpose of lesson is sense of humanity, what I want to focus on is not what skills students are good at It is how and what they learn to become a good person with kindness, respect, understanding and sharing Students are encouraged to do more than say That is the way I evaluate their progress through seven-month implementing My study could be fulfilled thank to the advanced technology in finding useful information and the enthusiastic support of my colleague and students which I highly appreciated With the main purpose of educating sense of humanity have been suggested in this study, the project based lessons in the textbook have been completely adapted They are not general activities anymore They become closer to students’ real life Therefore, the effect in educating students’ sense of humanity has been remarkably raising Besides, using Project Based Learning helped teachers to evaluate exactly the progress in student’s awareness thank to its ability to offer students many practical opportunities to bring the values of humanity they have learned to real actions Actually, students have tried and carried out the project significantly They have truly understood the value of kindness, respect, understanding and sharing Consequently, they have gradually changed their behaviors in real life The result of the study is a good channel of information for teachers to apply in learning a foreign language With the hope of bringing to the colleagues a better and a useful way in teaching project based lessons and educating students’ sense of humanity, I make a lot of effort, however, the study has shown some unavoidable mistakes and shortcomings due to the my limited experience and knowledge I wishes to get more suggestions from the readers and others teachers to make it more completed 42 1 References 1 Tiếng Anh 10- Student’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson 2 Tiếng Anh 10- Teacher’s book - Education Publishing House and Pearson 3 Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning: A Proven Approach to Rigorous Classroom Instruction, by John Larmer, John Mergendoller, Suzie Boss (ASCD 2015) 4 Robert Schuetz (June 01, 2018) Project-Based Learning: Benefits, Examples, and Resources 5 https://www.schoology.com/blog/project-based-learning-pbl-benefits-examples-andresources 6.https://www.studyinternational.com/news/project-based-learning-schoolsbeneficial/ 7 https://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-guide-importance 43 2 Appendices APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed to get statistics for the study “EDUCATING SENSE OF HUMANITY THROUGH APPLYING PROJECTBASED LEARNING IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT NGUYEN XUAN ON HIGH SCHOOL” I am very grateful for your statements and cooperation in truthfully completing the questionnaire Your information you share will be in strict confidence Thank you very much! Please circle and write answers which is true in your situation 1 A 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 A 6 A 7 A B C D E F How is project lesson important to you? Very important B rather important C little D no What do you think about project lesson? interesting B boring C difficult D normal Which one do you find it difficult to learn Project lesson? Time B Ideas C Skills D Means How is sense of humanity important to you? Very important B Important C Normal D Little How can you learn humanity through English lessons? Little B Normal C Much Do you find it necessary to learn sense of humanity in the class? Unnecessary B necessary C very necessary What do you expect from your teachers to help you overcome difficulties? Encourage you to do carry out project to get practical experiments Offer you as many chances to express your sense of humanity Provide you with more time and more detailed information to do projects Suggest you some necessary skills to implement project Adapt the project task in the textbook to be more flexible with your ability and interest Others (please write in detail): …… …… Thank you very much for your cooperation! 44 APPENDIX 2 PROJECT GROUPWORK PLAN Group:…….………………………………………Class:…………………… Project Name:………………………………………………………………… Due Date:……………………………………………………………………… Name of the members who took the The Task enthusiasm responsibility and effect of (Activities need to be (Students must be the member’s done) identified for each work action step) Timeline (An expected completion date) 1 2 3 4 5 6 45 APPENDIX 3 VIDEO RUBRIC Group’s name: ……………………………………………………… Class:………………………………………………………………… Beginning 1 Developing 2 Accomplishe d Distinguishe d 3 4 Content & Not organized Organization Difficult to follow Poor quality shows poor effort Portions may be poorly documented and/or organized Hard to follow the progressions of the story Explanation shows some effort Fairly well documented and organized Format is easy to follow Good explanation shows good effort complete, easily followed story; Well documented and organized; Excellent, well thought out explanation shows superior effort Usefulness – Project’s usefulness is in question Does not inform; does not stay focused on the topic Project demonstrated development of computer technology; has problems staying focused on topic Project is focused and informative; promotes the use of computer technology to create the video to deliver information Project is focused and very informative; promotes the use of computer technology to create the video Creativity & Use of Elements of elements Design detracts from video Too Minimal use of design elements No transitions Good use of graphics and/or other design elements Excellent sense of design Effective camera Score 46 many or too gaudy graphics; transitions, too many clips, backgrounds and/or sounds detract from content Sound is lacking or inappropriate or scratchy Some pictures or video clips may be out of focus or “shaky” Some transitions are inappropriately placed Sound quality is OK Video clips or pictures are clear and in focus techniques used for the video and pictures Video and pictures are I focus and of good quality Mechanics – Includes five or mare grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors; sources are not documented Includes 3 – 4 grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors; some sources are documented but not correctly Includes 2 – 3 grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors; sources are documented and correctly Grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization are correct; sources are documented correctly Oral Presentation s Skills Great difficulty communicatin g ideas Poor voice projection; no eye contact; no introduction; mispronounced words; stopped or had long pauses; confused Some difficulty communicatin g ideas Poor voice projections; some eye contact; no introduction; mispronounced a few words Fairly fluid delivery Communicates ideas with proper voice projection; perhaps one mispronounced work; made eye contact; introduced self and project Wellrehearsed Voice, eye contact and pacing hold interest and attentions of audience; introduced self and project Total score _/2 0 18-20: Excellent, 16-17: Good, 13-15: Satisfactory, 10-12: Unsatisfactory,