Having previously discussed some of mine and Mason’s experience within the classroom of Mr. Simms Psychology class to include much of our participation, I’ve been thinking about why PBL principles and in-class projects work in Mr. Simms psychology class.

At once the students seem to be near peers to Mason and I and yet much younger than ourselves. Nevertheless, I believe in the 3 visits to their classroom we have diminished any awkwardness between the disparity of our ages. I think they respect us and our opinions based on what I have personally shared with them in the classroom.

I think it is important for us to remain accessible to the students. Even though we don’t know much about what they’ve been learning, we can see how Simms is trying to get his students to learn especially through PBL when he has them working together in groups and discussions.

Our issue is that we lack perspective in the class and have only seen several projects and it is difficult to see where they fit in with the lesson plans. Given the dynamic of the class the students enjoy Simms class. He keeps them interested and engages their minds. His in-class projects are simple and easy for us to join. In a psychology class, or any class in general, it is important to allow students room to adapt and shape how they learn. Simms lets them choose topics to research or interests that they have which influences the direction their study moves. The students may not outright control the lecture, but the discussions in the class and their research is controlled by the students.

Independence allows students to feel in control of their learning. To a great extent, it is my observation that students feel more free and engaged and will most likely encounter concepts of learning faster and more readily when they are in control of their study or allowed certain freedoms to choose their topics or presentation type, for example.