I have had teachers that assign research projects and create time lines and due dates for the different parts of the project. I think that this had both good and bad results.
For the unorganized and procrastinating students, creating a form of organization for them may be a good thing. It may seem to them like you are giving them more assignments to complete over time but they will be happier when it comes to the night before the project is due and they have a lot of it done. I would also help give students a sense of grade level as they complete different parts of the project. Feedback from the teacher would be very valuable.
For the high achieving and organized student, they might be practicing setting up time lines for their major projects anyway. If they have the technology at home and feel that they understand the assignment, they may work ahead of necessary. This would not be a bad thing unless requirements for the project change and they have to redo their work.
I think that setting time lines where different parts of the project are due and graded at different times are good for k-12 students. If I was teaching a college level class I may post a suggested time line for major projects but ultimately it would be up to the student to pace themselves.
Fianl PBL Project
15 years ago
I generally feel that setting deadlines and timelines is a good thing. Students need to know what is expected of them and when it's due. But you make a good point in that some students don't require timelines. If you're teaching a gifted and talented or an advanced honors class, is it really necessary to assign specific milestones for these students to reach? I don't think so; they'll certainly be able to get things done in a proper manner.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for regular classes, and procrastinating students or underachieving students in particular, timelines are important to set as they will imbue students with specific parameters for project completion and possibly help teach them time and project management skills which will certainly be beneficial to them in many ways.