The INCP is fully engaged with all three aspects of Cluster Learning: interdisciplinarity (the course asks students to use their perspectives from their major fields of study to inform an integrated team approach), open education (the course wants students to have access not only to knowledge, but also to knowledge creation), and project-based learning (PBL). In fact, this course is fully a “project-based” course. Consider two things:
- PBL is different from just “doing projects.” Read more about PBL on this FAQ page from the folks at the Center for Project-Based Learning, one of the places that informed our original INCP faculty designers.
- Because projects are student-driven, it means we can’t always plan our courses as tightly as we would in a traditional course; we don’t always know where our students’ work and ideas will take them and the class! This doesn’t mean we don’t plan or design our courses, but just that we have to be more nimble and creative as we write our syllabi, design our weekly plans, and scaffold assignments with students. Read more about emergence in course design in this piece by Mary Stewart.
- Here’s a short video made by one of our longtime INCP instructors, Elisabeth Johnston, which discusses her experience with PBL in the course.
Workbook Question #5
Think about how the shape of a PBL course will differ from more traditional courses that you might have taught in the past. How do you think you will do with a more emergent approach? What techniques or tricks might you use to help yourself offer structure to students without pinning the course into a preconceived shape or predetermined project outcomes? What worries you about PBL or facilitating an emergent course like INCP?
