Costs of College
Problem Based Learning
Based on your college major, how much will it cost you to go to college?
1) Driving Question
The driving question does warrant in-depth study. The students will have to really think about the major they are wanting to eventually go to college for. The students will also need to decide on a college they want to go to. This is very relevant to the students because they are coming to the age that they need to start to think about what might they want to do. The students will need to think about if they plan on getting any scholarships, or if they will have credits going into the college already. This driving questions allows for each student to have a different choice. There is so many answers that could be for this question. If there is any students in the class that do not want to go to college, I think they should still come up with a major and a college.
Does the DQ warrant in-depth study?
Is the DQ an authentic and relevant issue/problem for my students?
Is there more than one plausible solution to the DQ?
Does the DQ provide opportunities for students to evaluate, analyze, present, and defend their solutions? - Provide a brief introduction to your question as well.
2) Grabber
This video is called “What could you buy for the price of college?” I think this is very relevant to the driving question. This will hook the students and make them think about how expensive college really is. I think the grabber will possibly cause some high emotion or stress for the students. They will see how expensive it is and all the things that you could be doing with that money instead of going to college. This grabber will be used to get the students thinking about how expensive it is and how they could possibly go about trying to decrease the cost as much as possible.
Does the story, article, video, announcement, or role play other resource hook the learner into asking more questions about the topic?
Does the grabber capitalize on novelty and / or high emotion situations?
Does the grabber establish authenticity & relevance?
Make sure to explain how this grabber would be used.
3) Culminating Activity
The students will need to do some research of what major they want, where they want to go to college, how long they will have to go, the costs it will take to go to the school, and if there are going to be any scholarships or help to decrease the total cost. The students will be able to do this activity on their own. I will be able to see that students have learned about the costs of college and what kind of ways students can get help to pay for it. The activity will be able to help students defend their answer of how much it will cost for them to go to college. This total project will take about a week. This gives the students plenty of time to look into all of their options and decide on a total amount.
How is the activity authentic?
Does the activity provide students with the opportunity to present and defend problem solution?
Does the activity require student collaboration?
How will I judge what students have learned from the activity?