CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE A Project Based Learning Curriculum Promotes Executive Functioning Skills in Students A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Education, Elementary Education By Sarah Chistolini May 2016

The graduate project of Sarah Chistolini is approved: Sarina Fierro Date Dr. Joyce Burstein Date Dr. David Kretschmer, chair Date California State University Northridge ii

Table of Contents Signature Page...ii Abstract...v Chapter 1: Introduction..1 Project Based Learning...1 Executive Functioning Skills...4 Project Based Learning and Executive Functioning Skills...8 Chapter 2: Literature Review.....14 Project Based Learning..14 Executive Functioning Skills.18 Chapter 3: Project Design..23 Chapter 4: Project Proposal...26 Chapter 5: Conclusion...39 References.41 Appendix A....44 Appendix B...45 Appendix C 46 Appendix D 47 Appendix E 48 Appendix F.49 Appendix G 50 Appendix H 51 iii

Appendix I.52 Appendix J.53 Appendix K... 54-55 Appendix L 56 Appendix M...57 iv

Abstract A Project Based Learning Curriculum Promotes Executive Functioning Skills in Students By Sarah Chistolini Master of Arts in Education, Elementary Education The proposed curriculum explores the executive functioning skills of a child and how a Project Based Learning (PBL) approach is a highly effective way to promote a student s Executive Functioning Skills. The purpose of this PBL curriculum is to show that it allows students to develop their executive functioning skills. The importance of implementing a PBL education is discussed, as well as effective PBL teaching approaches. These effective teaching approaches are directly connected with the Executive Functioning Skills. Executive Functioning Skills are defined and explained. Teachers who understand the Executive functioning skills of their students can more effectively teach their students. The proposed PBL curriculum allows students to create a restaurant, throughout the unit, the students will utilize all of their executive skills. After completing the PBL unit, the students will gain stronger executive skills and long-term retention of all of the content discussed. This curriculum focuses on knowledge of the real world, promotes critical thinking, and focuses on how the individual student learns. This curriculum satisfies several of the Common Core standards, Art standards, and the v

California History- Social Science Content Standards and allows students to collaborate, while enhancing their executive functioning skills. vi

Chapter 1 Introduction Project Based Learning Project Based Learning (PBL) approaches have been utilized for years. PBL is a dynamic classroom approach that encourages students to explore real-world problems, which allow them to acquire a deeper knowledge of a topic. According to the Buck Institute of Education, PBL is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks. This process can last for varying time periods and extend over multiple content areas. With PBL, projects are open-ended, giving students a choice to show what they understand. Students collaborate with their peers and work in a small group setting in order to complete the project at hand. According to psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, PBL stems from his Social Constructivist theory (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Vygotsky s article, Interaction Between Learning and Development, he states that Social Constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge that is constructed through interaction with others (30). This theory, heavily relates to a PBL curriculum because an entire PBL unit is based on the interaction of students. Vygotsky believed that everything someone learns must come from prior knowledge, thus coining his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). A ZPD indicates what level a student should be taught at that is challenging for them, but not too challenging. Any learning a child encounters in school always has a previous history (Vygotsky, 32), so it is important for teachers to always pull out the prior knowledge of students. Each individual has a different ZPD, so teachers must be aware of the knowledge and skills of each particular student in order to cater to properly challenge them. Learning comes from interacting with one another and using those interactions to 1

advance one s learning. In a constructivist classroom, collaborative learning methods are utilized to develop teamwork skills. Students work in small groups and are held responsible for a certain job within the project. Working in a collaborative setting is interactive for the students and they will expand their knowledge because of their intercommunication. According to Marx et. al, Project-based instruction often has a driving question encompassing worthwhile content that is anchored in a real-world problem; investigation and artifacts that allow students to learn concepts, apply information, and represent knowledge in a variety of ways; collaboration among students, teachers and others in the community so that participants can learn from one another; and use of cognitive tools that help learners represent ideas by using technology (1994). A PBL lesson is fostered with an open-ended question that allows students to investigate, research, observe, and construct their own solution. With a Project Based approach, students gain opportunities to solve real world problems and enhance their social development by working in a group setting. In a PBL unit, students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. The project is focused on student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and self management. The PBL unit is always framed by a meaningful problem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge. The students in a PBL unit engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions, finding resources, and applying information. The project features real-world context, tasks and tools, quality standards, or speaks to the students personal concerns, interests, and issues in their lives. Students have the ability to make decisions about the PBL project, including how they work and what they create. The students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and project 2

activates, the quality or student work, and how to overcome obstacles. Throughout the project, the students give, receive, and use feedback to improve their process and products. With PBL, students make their project work public by explaining, displaying, and presenting it to people beyond the classroom. Although PBL methods have been utilized in certain schools for years, they have recently been implemented in a broader range of schools. Teachers and Administrators are adding more PBL based units within the curriculum because of the positive results from students and families. With PBL, projects are open-ended, giving students a choice to show how they understand the topic. A PBL lesson is fostered with an open-ended question that allows students to investigate, research, observe, and construct their own solution. With a Project Based approach, students gain opportunities to solve real world problems and enhance their social development by working in a group setting. According to Thomas (2000), PBL projects are central, not peripheral to the curriculum; are focused on questions or problems that drive students to encounter and struggle with the central concepts and principals of the discipline; involve students in a constructive investigation; are student-driven to some significant degree; and are realistic, not school like (3-4). PBL necessitates collaboration between students to address and find solutions to the problem. In order to have an effective PBL approach, one must understand the essentials for constructing a PBL lesson. Meaningful projects must fulfill an educational purpose and be engaging to the students. Every project must start with a hook to gage the interest of the students. This hook should be able to bring out the prior knowledge that the students have on a topic to show them that the information is not completely brand new to them. In order to introduce the project a teacher must have a driving question, or a hook; a question that captures the essence of the project, while still keeping it open ended. Once the interest of the students has peaked, the students share their opinions and 3

discuss ways that they can solve the problem and answer the question effectively. Students will use inquiry and innovation to seek their answers, and then approach the teacher for feedback, and then begin the revision process. At the end of the project, students will present their solution or answer to the rest of the class. This could serve as a formal assessment because it shows the deeper level of thinking that the students used to solve the open ended question. According to Livingstone and Lynch, Many educators feel PBL projects consist of busy work, but PBL lessons involve meaningful inquiry that engages student s minds (221). Executive Functioning Skills Executive Functioning skills refer to the brain-based, cognitive processes that help us regulate behavior, make decisions, and set and achieve goals (Dawson 2009). All Executive Functioning skills are developed in the frontal lobe of our brain and do not reach full maturation until the age of 25, but it is extremely important for teachers to work with students to promote these skills. Focusing on a child s Executive functioning skills can help them have stronger executive skills in later years of development. It is extremely important to understand a child s executive functioning strengths and weaknesses, so that they can learn in a way that is best suited for them. Students with weak executive functioning skills can be disorganized, forgetful, have trouble staying on task, or get distracted easily. Some children with weak executive functioning skills may not know how to begin homework assignments, may forget assignments at home, or make several careless errors. Dr. Peg Dawson, from Stanford, explains each executive skill and develops ways to boost any child s executive functioning skills in her book, Smart but Scattered (2009). According to Dawson s book, the executive skills are emotional control, flexibility, goal directed persistence, metacognition, organization, planning/prioritization, response inhibition, stress tolerance, sustained attention, task 4

initiation, time management, and working memory. All of these executive skills are utilized within a classroom setting, and a PBL curriculum or a constructivist classroom allows students to practice these skills simultaneously. Emotional Control: The ability to manage emotions in order to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior. A young child with this skill is able to recover from a disappointment in a short time. A teenager is able to manage the anxiety of a game or test and still perform. Flexibility: The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information or mistakes. It relates to adaptability to changing conditions. A young child can adjust to a change in plans without major distress. A high school student can accept an alternative such as a different job when the first choice is not available. Goal-directed persistence: The capacity to have a goal, follow through to the completion of the goal, and not be put off by or distracted by competing interests. A first grader can complete a job in order to get to recess. A teenager can earn and save money over time to buy something of importance. Metacognition: The ability to stand back and take a birds-eye view of oneself in a situation. It is an ability to observe how you problem solve. It also includes selfmonitoring and self-evaluative skills (e.g., asking yourself, How am I doing? or How did I do? ). A young child can change behavior his response to feedback from an adult. A teenager can monitor and critique her performance and improve it by observing others who are more skilled, which ties into Vygotsky s ZPD because the child knows what is challenging for them and how they can reach their full potential. 5

Organization: The ability to create and maintain systems to keep track of information or materials. A young child can, with a reminder, put toys in a designated place. An adolescent can organize and locate sports equipment. Planning/Prioritization: The ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or to complete a task. It also involves being able to make decisions about what s important to focus on and what s not important. A young child, with coaching, can think of options to settle a peer conflict. A teenager can formulate a plan to get a job. Response Inhibition: The capacity to think before you act this ability to resist the urge to say or do something allows us the time to evaluate a situation and how our behavior might impact it. In the young child, waiting for a short period without being disruptive is an example of response inhibition while in the adolescent it would be demonstrated by accepting a referee s call without an argument. Stress Tolerance: The ability to thrive in stressful situations and to cope with uncertainty, change, and performance demands. We generally reserve our discussion of this skill to adults, since it seems more relevant with this population. We find it helps people understand the kind of work environment they do best in. Sustained Attention: The capacity to maintain attention to a situation or task in spite of distractibility, fatigue, or boredom. Completing a 5-minute chore with occasional supervision is an example of sustained attention in the younger child. The teenager is able to attend to homework, with short breaks, for one to two hours. Task Initiation: The ability to begin projects without undue procrastination, in an efficient or timely fashion. A young child is able to start a chore or assignment 6

right after instructions are given. A high school student does not wait until the last minute to begin a project. Time Management: The capacity to estimate how much time one has, how to allocate it, and how to stay within time limits and deadlines. It also involves a sense that time is important. A young child can complete a short job within a time limit set by an adult. A high school student can establish a schedule to meet task deadlines. Working Memory: The ability to hold information in memory while performing complex tasks. It incorporates the ability to draw on past learning or experience to apply to the situation at hand or to project into the future. A young child, for example, can hold in mind and follow 1-2 step directions while the middle school child can remember the expectations of multiple teachers (Dawson 2009). In order for a teacher to best understand executive functioning skills, it is best to reflect on oneself. Dawson provides a short survey that can show what someone s executive strengths and weaknesses are. The survey can be completed by adults and children. Once a teacher is able to reflect on himself or herself, they will have a better understanding of the students that they teach daily. It is important for teachers to have the students (or parents, depending on the age of the child) fill out the executive skills questionnaire because it allows the teacher to see the executive strengths and weaknesses of the entire class. As a current second grade teacher, I have found that the best way to complete the survey is to have the parents and students fill it out together. 2 nd grade students are too young to fill the survey out on their own, but are mature enough to explain parts of their thought process to their parents, who know them extremely well. Students in upper elementary grades, middle school, and high school can fill out their 7

Executive Skills survey independently. Based on the executive skills of the students, the teacher is able to put the students in the best group possible for success, adjust assignments to fit everyone s needs, and know each child s strengths and challenges. It is important to have students with a variety of executive skills and weakness within a group setting because the students will be able to learn from each other. A student with weak task initiation will benefit from working with a student with a strong task initiation because they will see what they need to do to begin their work. Each student has executive strengths and weaknesses, so essentially all students will be able to model a strong executive skill for their peers. Project Based Learning and Executive Functioning Skills Knowledge of executive skills is extremely beneficial to a teacher. While executive functioning skills are not fully developed in the frontal lobe of one s brain until the age of 25, the teacher is in a position to impact these executive skills. Depending on the grade level, there are some executive functioning skills that are physically impossible for a student to fully employ because they have not developed that particular executive skill. Students utilize all of their executive functioning skills when it comes to a PBL curriculum. The executive skills of students will improve a student s ability to engage in a PBL assignment because students will be able to resist impulses, plan ahead, stay focused, follow through on tasks, be organized, improve their memory, work collaboratively, learn from their mistakes, and be resourceful. PBL requires complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems, that involve students in design, problem-solving, decision making, or investigative activities; give students the opportunity to work relatively autonomously over extended periods of time; and culminate in realistic products or preservations. 8

In any PBL unit, students will be working in a group setting and will use their executive skill of emotional control. Emotional control is the ability to manage emotions in order to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior. A young child with this skill is able to recover from a disappointment in a short time. Students who work in a group will not always get their way and they need to be able to recover from disappointment within a short time. Emotional Control can be addressed in a PBL lesson either with group interaction, or a failure in a project and having to start over again. Students working in a group setting have to be flexible as well, especially when working on a PBL lesson. A student that is flexible has the ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information or mistakes and can adapt. Students need to be able to revise their project if it does not work out the first time. Flexibility can be extremely hard for some students because of the cognitive skills that they have developed. Flexibility is the only executive functioning skill that is fully developed in young children. By the age of 7, one can see how flexible a child is, and that will carry on into their adolescent and adult life. Many children are not flexible and teachers need to understand that it is not something that they can automatically control. A PBL curriculum requires students to be flexible because of the open-endedness and the trial and error approaches that go along with it. Teachers need to be aware of the students that are not flexible and explain to them that they will be revising plans and will have to adapt to the new ideas as the project continues to unfold. A teacher cannot change the flexibility of a child, but a teacher can prepare an inflexible child to adapt to new conditions. Goal Directed Persistence goes hand in hand with a PBL unit. Students with Goal Directed Persistence have the capacity to have a goal, follow through to the completion of the goal, and not be put off by or distracted by competing interests. It is important for the teacher to start a PBL project asking the essential question that will peak the students 9

interest and be age appropriate. In a PBL project the students have a problem to solve which is their goal. They can reach their goal any way they choose, which is the true beauty of a PBL unit. Metacognition is an important executive skill for a PBL lesson because it allows students to take a step back and observe the process of how they are solving the problem. Metacognition is one of the executive skills that develop later in childhood, so it is important for the teacher to be the facilitator of this during a PBL lesson. A teacher can serve as a metacognitive guide for students by asking questions such as why did you do this? Why is that a challenge for you? or What challenges are you experiencing These questions prompt students to see how they problem solve, the main component of a PBL lesson. A PBL unit or lesson usually takes place throughout a school week or even longer. It is important for students to be able to organize themselves and stay organized throughout the project. Organization comes natural for some students, and for others it does not. For teachers, it is very difficult to teach organization. A new organization tactic can be implemented, but for someone who is not organized, it will not work for a long period of time and eventually a new method will need to be implemented. Throughout a PBL lesson, it is important for students to stay organized and on track. Even if the student is not an organized person, they will have the ability to maintain a system to keep track of the materials throughout the duration of the project. The students will be placed in heterogeneous groups based on ones executive functioning skill strengths. Since a PBL unit takes is open ended and is taught over an extended period of time, students need to be able to plan and prioritize in order to successfully complete a project. Student s need to be able to work within a group setting and create a plan to create their project. An elementary school teacher may need to facilitate this by fostering 10

a student s ideas and guide the group in the right direction. In order for students to successfully complete a PBL assignment, the group must be aligned, have a plan, and understand what their priorities are. Students, who work in a group setting, like a PBL lesson need response inhibition. It is important for students to think before they act which is not always the case when it comes to a group project. At the beginning of a PBL unit, groups are assigned and students begin by throwing out ideas or brainstorming. Students may use the DOVE model to gather their thoughts. The DOVE model allows students to D-defer judgment on any one else s ideas or comments, O- opt for the unusual and creative, V- generate a vast number of ideas, and E- expand on the ideas by piggy backing off others. The DOVE model is a great foundation for students to begin gathering their thoughts. It is important for a teacher to monitor the response inhibition of the students because some students may be highly disruptive, while others may not say anything. Throughout a PBL lesson, students cope with uncertainty because they are unsure if their project will be the solution to the problem. Because of this, stress tolerance is a key executive skill for students to possess. Most people associate stress with adults, but elementary school students can easily become stressed about a certain situation, so it is important for teachers to know how to cope with a student that becomes stressed easily. Teachers need to be aware of students with low stress tolerance and find in what type of environment a student works best in. Students with a low stress tolerance can find relief when they understand the work environment they strive in. Working on a PBL unit can trigger stress for some students. Students can become stressed by the amount of work, topic, open-endedness, or even working within a small group. Teachers need to be aware and be willing to work with students to help them maintain their stress levels. While completing a PBL lesson, it is important for students to have sustained 11

attention. Sustained attention varies depending on the age and cognitive levels of an individual student. Teachers need to gage how long the class as a whole can sustain their attention and make modifications along the way for some students who cannot sustain their attention as long. Teachers need to take this into account while planning a PBL unit. During the PBL unit, students with different attention levels will be working together, and this will challenge the students who cannot sustain their attention as long and help them improve. Students who are completing a PBL assignment need to work as a group to start the project. Task Initiation is vital for students to complete a PBL assignment. Students use their task initiation skills to develop an idea and get started right away on the assignment after the questions are posed. Students understand that it is important to start their PBL project right away to find the answer. If the PBL question is prompted correctly, students should feel excited to begin their task. During a PBL project, the teacher sets the guidelines for time management by allotting the students a set amount of time per day to complete the project. Time management is one of the later executive skills to develop, so it is important that the teacher serves as a facilitator to help students manage their time throughout the PBL unit Working Memory is an essential PBL component that students constantly use. In a PBL lesson, students recall past learning experience or their prior knowledge of a task and concepts that may play into the project, which is essentially their working memory. According to Peg Dawson, individuals whose weakness is organization, tend to have a very strong working memory. This is important for teachers to understand because it can apply to several students (Dawson 2009). Since the PBL unit is usually a week or longer, the memory of the students will increase due to the fact that they will be adding more to their project each day. 12

A PBL unit deeply relies on all of the executive functioning skills. It is important for teachers to understand the basic components of executive functioning skills to understand what an individual student is capable of. As explained earlier, these executive functioning skills (with the exception of flexibility) do not fully develop until an individual is 25 years old. It is unfair for a teacher to assume that every student has mastered all of the executive skills. For students that have weak executive skills, there are always modifications that can be made. That is why it is important for a teacher to know the executive strengths and weaknesses of each student. A teacher can give students opportunities to utilize their executive strengths, and aid them with executive weaknesses that they may have. A PBL unit will not only further a child s knowledge, but also strengthen their executive functioning skills. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of PBL on student achievement, examine if PBL promotes Executive Functioning Skills, and discover what cognitive thinking skills are utilized in a PBL unit. 13

Chapter 2 Literature Review Project Based Learning In examining information regarding a PBL curriculum, a few common threads emerged; such as content knowledge, collaborative skills, engagement, motivation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and that a PBL curriculum leads to long-term retention of new information and concepts. Long-term retention of a concept shows that students understand the material, rather than simply memorizing it. With a PBL curriculum, students work with one another and teach the new information to each other. Collaborating with others naturally helps students promote their executive skills, such as emotional control, flexibility, response inhibition, and stress tolerance. The National Training Laboratory (2013) conducted a study researching how students retain the most information. The study shows that those who teach information, on average, retain up to 90% compared to those who learn the information by reading who retain only 10%. Social Constructivism and PBL heavily relies on collaboration, and students working together and teaching others the material. Matthew Etherington (2011) conducted a study using pre-service elementary school teachers and had them design and create their own PBL science lesson. The goal of Etherington s study was to help pre-teachers see the common misconceptions they might have about science education, and show an effective way to teach science, using PBL, which Etherington concludes, promotes long term science learning. After the lessons were conducted, the results showed that the students and teachers had a more positive view towards science. The students were able to answer the essential questions and Science became alive (56), as one pre-service teacher noted. The higher value they now placed on teaching science was compatible with the positive recommendations of Selcuk (2010) for instructors to consider combining a PBL mode of learning with the 14

teaching of science. Selcuk suggests that a PBL science curriculum does not only enhance the long-term learning of the students, but also sparks the interest of teachers. Selcuk explains how essential a PBL unit is to gain long term retention of content. This shows that PBL engages the students, and helps them retain the information, by increasing their executive skills by socializing and working with teachers and classmates as they enhance their learning. It is critical for teachers to understand that students learn most and retain more information longer by doing activities and teaching others, as seen in figure 1. Collaboration is essential among students not only to increase their long term memory, but to practice social situations as well. Students can retain up to 90% of information that they learn by teaching others, and 75% by practicing what they are learning. Students who are learning something through lecture or readings, only retain up to 10%, according to the Learning Pyramid, figure 1. The Learning Pyramid suggests that students who are participating in a PBL curriculum are retaining more information because they are working in groups, teaching each other and practicing what they are learning by completing the project. figure 1 Similarly, in 2009, Johannes Strobel conducted a study to find out in which context PBL is more effective. Strobel compares PBL to traditional forms of instruction, such as a lecture-based class. His findings indicate PBL was superior when it comes to long-term retention, skill development and satisfaction of students and teachers, while traditionalized approaches were more effective for short term retention as measured by 15

standardized board exams. (Strobel, 2). The findings show that when students take a standardized test, with multiple-choice answers or true and false options, students who have been taught science using a traditional approach achieve higher scores. When the questions require the students to think critically and answer questions such as how or why, the students who have learned the material using PBL achieve higher scores. Standardized tests that evaluate skill-oriented application of knowledge favor a PBL curriculum. This relates to Vygotsky s Social Constructiveness theory and enhances executive skills of students because Strobel noted that the students are able to work with each other and ask themselves thought provoking questions. Although PBL is a well known and widely used instructional strategy, it remains extremely challenging to apply into an elementary classroom. In 2012, Chun-Ming, et, al. conducted an experiment in Taiwan to compare PBL to a more traditional teaching method. As a result, it was determined that PBL paired with digital storytelling can enhance the student s motivation, problem solving competence, long term retention, and achievement. These outcomes show that PBL does promote executive functioning skills. This study is vital because it truly compares two homogenous student groups learning the same material, delivered in different methods. PBL gives the students the chance to work with each other to learn more information they do from traditional teaching methods. In another study conducted in a Business Analysis class, Nargundkar, et al. (2014) conducted a study to show how a PBL approach impacts critical thinking. PBL was implemented by using a Reversed Textbook, a textbook that presents problems, such as higher level thinking math questions and has blank spaces for students to solve them. This textbook allows student s to develop their own theories for how to solve the problems, rather than list all of the information. This form of a textbook sparks conversations about concepts and theories amongst students and allows the teacher to 16

serve as a guide. The results of this study show that the PBL method motivated learning and improved student performance on a departmental final exam (Nargundkar, et al., p. 95). The improvement in long-term retention through PBL was statistically significant because the students in the class were challenged to think critically and answer thought provoking questions after the unit was completed and the students gave insightful answers and made deep connections. In their article, Learning History In Middle School by Designing Multimedia in a Project Based Learning Experience, De La Paz and Hernandez-Ramos (2009) examined the effect of PBL in a Social Studies setting. This study observed two middle school classrooms that taught the same Social Studies unit. Each classroom was given the same amount of days and time per day to teach the unit. One classroom used a traditional lecture based approach, while the other classroom used a PBL approach. At the end of the study, students in the PBL classroom scored significantly higher on the unit test, and scored higher on the state tests that occurred months later. This shows that students who learn by doing (PBL) understand the material in a deeper level and retain the information much longer. These studies show that a PBL curriculum is effective at promoting long-term retention of information. All of the studies discussed agree that a PBL based unit is an effective and enjoyable way for students to learn and develop deeper thinking. PBL is more engaging for students compared to traditional teaching methods and it improves student learning. Based off of research, PBL is effective in teaching students at a range of educational levels, including elementary schools, but unfortunately not all schools have adopted PBL. Many educators view PBL as a lot of work in preparing for instruction and do not agree with the element of working in a small group. According to the Journal of Geography in Higher Education s article titled Group Project work and Student- 17

centered Active Learning: Two Different Experiences, authors Livingstone and Lynch (2002) believe that lazy students are able to hide from faculty and provide unequal contributions from team members that could adversely impact on their grades. At times, high achieving students are not sufficiently credited for their contributions. Many PBL educators disagree with this statement because group work allows students to develop leadership skills and social skills. Teachers who structure PBL lessons appropriately, do not have students that hide in a group setting because every member of the group has a specific role and tasks associated with these roles. A PBL curriculum also allows students to be accountable. A student in a PBL classroom is not only responsible for his or her academic success, but also the success of the group, which in turn motivates students to strive for academic success. Executive Functioning Skills Human beings use high-level cognitive functions called executive skills. Executive Functioning skills are formed in the frontal lobe of the brain and allow humans to organize their behavior over time. Executive skills helps connect past experiences to present actions and the skills are used daily, meaning that it allows us to grow and develop how we carry out our tasks. Executive skill research indicates that even though executive skills are not fully developed until around age 25, a teacher is still able to impact a student s executive functioning skills. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare s book, Smart but Scattered (2009), discusses all of the executive skills and shows parents and teachers how to boost a child s executive functioning skills. Dawson and Guare provide several techniques to help any child get organized, follow through on tasks, resist impulses, learn from mistakes, stay focused, use time wisely, solve problems independently, plan ahead, and be resourceful. According to Dawson, every child has executive skill strengths and weaknesses. Some 18

children are unconsciously aware of these and rely on their executive strengths to maintain balance. For example, a student with weak working memory often is very organized because the organization skills a student possesses helps him or her keep track of belongings and other items. A student who is unorganized often has a strong working memory. Many students are able to rely on their executive strengths. However, there are some students that have weak executive skills and need guidance from a parent or teacher to help strengthen these skills. Dawson and Guare have developed a series of principles for teachers or parents to use to help improve one s executive functioning skills. These skills can be used at home and in a classroom setting. They are routine-oriented and allow a child to be rewarded after a task is complete. Young children who exhibit greater executive functioning skills in the classroom setting also achieve more academically. Fuhs et al., 2015 conducted a study to examine the unique contributions of direct assessment in children s executive functioning skills and compare it to their academic achievement. The teachers reported that students with higher executive skills tend to score higher on assessments. Teachers can help raise everyone s executive skills by giving them opportunities to think critically and collaborate with others. This study also shows that executive skills accounted for the largest proportion of variance in math achievement gains. As a student s executive skills increased, their assessments, especially their math scores tend to increase as well. Karasinski (2015) examines elementary students with a language impairment because she noticed that several students with a language impairment also have deficits with executive functioning skills, attention, and behavior. After completing a standardized, cognitive, and computerized assessments, results show that skills aid children in modeling good behavior in a classroom and help children stay with a routine. 19

PBL units are routine oriented, and staying with that routine can help a child with weak executive skills improve on task initiation. This study shows that students can utilize their executive skills in a classroom and end up increasing those skills. Similiarly, Kalashnikova and Mattock studied the maturation of Executive Functioning skills on Elementary School aged children in 2014. They researched a group of elementary school aged children to see if our Executive skills mature naturally or if we can control or impact them. They have found that emotional control is the first cognitive component that can gain advantage in students. They also found that bilingual students outperform monolingual students on increasing their executive functioning skills. Kalashnivoka and Mattock state that being bilingual is an advantage for the development of social cognition and executive functioning skills due to the extensive process of two linguistic systems. They also suggest that all students have the potential to increase their executive functioning skills by collaborating with students who are working towards the same goal. When students collaborate with one another, like in a PBL unit, PBL encourages the development of emotional control, flexibility, and sustained attention. Students also improve their metacognition simply by finding the answers on their own or with a group, rather than being told what the answer is. Teachers can implement a number of strategies to help promote Executive Functioning Skills in students (Dawson et al. 2009). In order for a teacher to instill executive skills in students, he or she must be familiar with the executive strengths and weaknesses of the students. One way to instill cognitive executive skills is to modify the environment. A teacher can physically modify the classroom environment to help students by taking away clutter, or by playing soft music in the background to relax the students. A teacher can also teach executive skills to students by playing games that enhance memory or creating a checklist for students to hold them accountable. Teachers 20

can assign each student classroom jobs that rotate frequently. Having a job such as door holder or light monitor will improve a student s task initiation because they will be accountable to perform these jobs multiple times a day when it is needed. A student with the job of supply manager or desk checker will improve their organization skills because they are in charge of keeping the supplies organized and helping the other students stay organized. These jobs will hold the students accountable for something and the job rotations will allow each child to perform each job, while being flexible to the change. From researching the effects of a PBL curriculum and Executive Functioning skills, it is evident that using executive skills are vital in a PBL unit. The research shows that a PBL unit promotes long-term knowledge of a given topic, but that long-term knowledge will not be achieved without the executive skills of the students. A PBL curriculum relies heavily on trial and error, thereby promoting student s persistence in completing a task. Students completing a PBL unit must create a plan thereby exercising their task initiation skills and metacognition. A teacher serves as a guide to students, while they work in small groups to solve a problem, practicing their flexibility, stress tolerance, emotional control and goal directed persistence. A PBL curriculum will enhance the working memory of a student because there is constant recall of prior knowledge and the student will be making connections within the unit in order to complete the project. A PBL unit, prepares students to problem solve in the real world and gives opportunities to enhance each executive functioning skill. It is important for a teacher to provide the right amount of support to students to allow them to succeed in a PBL unit. The teacher support within a PBL unit will aid the students with their sustained attention and organization. The teacher needs to scaffold the unit so that the students stay engaged and challenged within their ZPD. This will improve 21

the executive skills of a student because they have to socialize with other students, think for themselves, create a plan and follow it to find the answer, and recall their prior knowledge that they have on a topic, utilizing their working memory. Executive skills are needed to complete a PBL unit, and a PBL unit will enhance a student s executive skills. 22

Chapter 3 Project Design In order to have an effective PBL curriculum, the project must be focused on student learning that involves problem solving, collaboration, and self management. The project must be framed by a meaningful problem with an appropriate challenge level. The appropriate challenge level relates to Vygotsky s social constructivist theory. It is vital that a PBL project must be within a student s ZPD in order for them to grow and develop. The PBL project must keep the students engaged and applying information that they have acquired. The project must be authentic and relate to real-world context and the students must have the ability to make choices about how they work and what they create. Teachers must set up an environment that allows students to reflect on their learning and gives them the opportunity to overcome obstacles. Keeping all of this and executive skill growth in mind, I have designed a PBL curriculum for my 2 nd grade classroom. The students in my class will create their own restaurant. The restaurant that they create will not only include menu items and pricing, but also nutrition information, location of the restaurant, paying rent, and ordering items that will be needed to create the restaurant. I currently teach 2 nd grade at an independent school and I feel that this project will spark interest in my students. This project is perfect for my students to complete at the end of the school year because it is a compilation of several things that they have learned throughout the school year in math, health science, nutrition, art, language, and social studies. This PBL project will rely heavily on math because the students will have to create a budget for their restaurant. It will also touch on Social Studies because students will have to choose what type of community their restaurant will cater to, and choose food based on nutritional information that they have already learned about. 23

The students in my class have a vast knowledge about communities and how goods are made and brought to us. Earlier in the school year, they completed PBL projects in which they created an urban, rural, or suburban community. These communities included places where people who live there can live, work, play, and solve problems. The students also created toys in the form of an assembly line and participated in a relay race, where they learned how the toy would be sent from the factory to the store. Students transported the toy by acting out the motions of a plane, ship, train, or truck. In math, the students have a strong understanding of addition and subtraction problems to the ten thousands place, including money. They also have a basic understanding of fractions and can find the area and perimeter of rectangular and square shapes. The prior PBL units that have been completed will allow students to complete this PBL unit, yet still challenge them to their full potential. This unit is intended to take several weeks to complete. It is not structured by days or lessons, it is divided by activities. Each group will work together to complete each activity. Some groups will take a couple of days to complete a certain activity that takes other groups one day to complete. This PBL unit should take about six weeks to complete, but depending on the class it may take longer or shorter. This project is specifically catered to my class because it reflects on material that we have been exploring throughout the school year. This project could be done in other schools, but some discussion may need to take place about certain activities or topics. For instance, part of the project has the students mapping out their restaurant on graph paper. I decided that for my class it is best that each square on the graph paper represents one yard. There is a worksheet that asks the groups questions such as what fraction of your restaurant is the kitchen?. We have briefly gone over how to simplify fractions, but not to this extent. I expect my students to answer with fractions such as 12/100. 24

I would love to complete this project at the end of the school year as a culminating activity because not only does it utilize several different concepts, but it also is a unit that groups can complete independently. The students in my class have participated in PBL projects before, but this one will be longer than any other project that they have completed. This project will show the teacher and the students themselves how much they have grown as a student and as a collaborator. This project meets several second grade standards in math and social studies. It also gives the students a chance to work with each other and promote their executive functioning skills by completing this project without much aid from the teacher. While completing this PBL project, students will access all of their executive skills. They will be working and socializing in small groups, meaning that they will have to make decisions about their restaurant together. They will have to be goal oriented, and stay organized as a team. Students who participate in this PBL unit, will not only gain knowledge with their math and social studies, but also promote their executive skills. 25

Chapter 4 Project Proposal This proposed curriculum is a PBL unit that will utilize every Executive Skill. This curriculum is designed for 2 nd grade students and gives students the opportunity to create their very own restaurant. Students will utilize several math concepts that they have learned throughout the school year, such as complex addition and subtraction problems, area, perimeter, measurement, and fractions. Students will also refer to their social studies lessons about community, nutrition, and how goods are made and brought to us. Throughout this unit, students will work together and strengthen all of their executive skills. The students will work in groups for several weeks to answer the essential question what does it take to successfully create and open a restaurant? This unit follows a PBL approach in that the students will be completing a series of projects to create their restaurant and answer the open-ended question. The teacher will serve as a guide, but will not give away the answer; instead the students will use inquiry and problem solving skills to create their restaurants. At the end of the unit, the students will have a grand opening of their restaurants, and invite the school community to come visit the different restaurants that the class has created. The goal for this unit is to have students promote their executive functioning skills while understanding that the math and social studies concepts can be applied to real life situations. Grade Level: 2 Essential Question: What does it take to successfully create and open a restaurant? Subquestions: How much money will it cost to open your restaurant? Will your restaurant make enough money to stay in business? How can you keep track of the money needed for your restaurant? 26