Al Raja School’s Community Project-Based Learning programme partners Grades 3-5students with local businesses to solve real workplace challenges. Students follow a fivestageCreative Sequence (Observation, Investigation, Incubation, Solutions, Validation) overone semester, culminating in presentations to authentic business audiences for a genuineproblem-solving experience.

Please share a brief background of your innovation.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a program that enables students to work through a Creative Sequence to help solve a Driving Question. The students are partnered with a business that presents them with a Driving Question. This question is a challenge that the company would like the students to solve.

How was the innovation planned?

The course was planned for 1 school semester. The students participating were in Grades 3, 4, and 5. A select number of students from this age group met once a week during an extracurricular class. A partnership with a business had to be established before the class began. As an Entry Event, thestudents visited the business.

They got an overview and tour of how the business was run. Next, the students were presented with achallenge, a Driving Question, that the business would like to have the students solve. Each week, the students engaged in a “protocol” for one of the stages of the Creative Sequence. The 5stages are Observation, Investigation, Incubation, Solutions, and Validation. At the end of the semester, the students presented their solutions to the Driving Question to a panel of adults (Authentic Audience). The audience offered their feedback to the students on their presentation skills and their solutions.

What were the challenges faced during implementation?

Challenges were faced when students had difficulty generating ideas for their solutions. At times, anotherchallenge was students working flexibly and collaboratively with their group members.

Give us a brief assessment of your results.

Assessment for this programme came in the form of feedback from business partners. The partners wereextremely impressed with the students’ ideas and their presentation skills. If the business implements the group’s ideas, we will know that the work exerted was valuable.

In hindsight, what were the most valuable lessons learned while implementing theinnovation? Could things have been done differently?

The most important lesson learned by the students occurred during the visits to the businesses. The students were able to see how different businesses were organised and the different career opportunities they could explore. Presenting in front of a group of adults also benefited the students. They gained confidence and leadership skills. Lessons were also learned while working through problems and decidingon a final solution in a small group. One thing that could be improved or changed in this class was how often the students met. Work could be more productive for the students if they met more than oncea week, and the project lasted 9 weeks instead of a semester.