Passion Projects ARE Standards Aligned

A common reason I hear for why teachers don’t incorporate passion projects into their classroom usually has to do with not having the time. Yes, teachers have standards to cover. But, passion projects can easily be aligned with course standards. These projects can be a vehicle for allowing learners to see how performance standards apply to their lives outside of that specific course. So, there is power when the projects can actually be used by learners to explore a path that not every student takes. The projects will help make these standards more relevant.

This is the 4th year my students have been asked to complete a term project. Andelee Espinosa (my co-teacher of 10 years!) and I developed a physics-based passion project after attending PBL World in 2015. We asked students to analyze the physics of a sport they had a passionate for. They were required to apply at least 3 specific physics concepts to their sport. Eventually, they created a product to share out. But, the product was not truly shared out beyond the 28 other students in the class other than putting it on YouTube without much fanfare.

The following year, Andelee and I had the idea of trying to find a better way to share out these projects. At a conference we attended, we learned how Kettle Moraine High School had nights where students presented their projects to parents and the community. So, we decided to have our students have an expo night for their projects. Since I do this project across all of my physics classes, that means 90 student projects being presented. It has been a success in terms of making students communicate their work and a great way to end the course. A true celebration and sharing of student work connected to their interests.

The expo is run in two halves. Half of the students have a presentation station the first part and the other walk and observe the projects of others. Then, they switch roles for the seconds half. All parents are invited to attend and I am always pleased by how many are able to show up! I honestly believe they learn more about their child’s work and interests than they would at a parent teacher conference.

Last year, Andelee and I changed the project up a bit. Initially, all projects had to have a direct connection to physics. But with the adoption of our new state science standards we realized that there was a greater focus on science practices than just content. The new state standards are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards which include the following science practices:

1. Asking questions and defining problems 
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions 
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

These are skills that every student would be expected to use in their daily lives. So, we decided that students should be given the opportunity to explore an area of their interest while applying several science practices. So we designed four different project paths that students could apply to a topic they have a passion for or were curious about. Each path has specific science practices that are incorporated into the project.

Path: Learning New Skill

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Path: Design & Build Something

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Developing and Using Models
• Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Path: Deep Research

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Path: Experimentation

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Giving students true freedom in their choice of topic really opened up what we saw as final projects. This year we had over 100 different projects shared out. In terms of sharing out what they learned, this year I banned poster board and trifold. If students wanted to make a poster, I had them create it in Google Slides and we printed them out poster size. I also encouraged students to think about creating poster alternatives using CoSpaces and Thinklink. When possible, though, I encouraged students to make their presentation as interactive as possible. Here are some examples of what we saw this year.




I think giving students an opportunity to apply these practices outside of our normal physics content is important to help learners make that connection between what science looks like in practice beyond what they may think of as traditional science environments. In addition, I think that this goes a long way to show that passion projects actually do incorporate course standards. Passion projects require students to put standards into practice. So when teachers say that don’t have time for these projects because of the standards they need to cover, they need to realize the projects are a way to have students meet those standards. By look at the practices and skills standards, I hope to continue refining how I assess these projects.

The biggest failure of the last projects was the process piece. To be honest, a number of students didn’t do much project work after their initial pitch. Many of them were doing lots of work that final week of class and it showed in their projects. By writing this post, I’m hoping to call myself to action to continue to refine the progress piece. While I am very happy with where we end up, I feel like there is a lot of room to grow in terms reflection and assessment during the process rather than only at the end. I hope to build in checkpoints that are not simply progress checks, but standards assessments. I’ve got some ideas that I hope to flesh out. As we start our new projects in a couple of months, I plan to hold myself accountable for implementing those changes.

I would love your input into how you help learners manage projects and hold them accountable.