Phenomenon-Based Learning (PhenBL) can be a game changer in the way students learn science and other subjects. When done right, PhenBL fosters deeper learning and the development of transferrable 21st Century skills our students can use to thrive in their future lives and economy.

However, Phenomenon-Based Learning requires careful consideration and preparation.

First, you need to plan out the core idea and the supporting facts students need to learn.

Second, you need to choose an appropriate phenomenon for your PhenBL lesson.

Third, you need to make sure student investigations into this phenomenon lead them to learning what they need to learn. This is where you, the teacher, comes in and this is what this article is about.

Phenomenon First… then what?

In the last post, I used a High School Social Studies phenomenon - the Omaha Beach D-Day Landing movie clip from Saving Private Ryan accompanied by this question: 2,400 US soldiers died storming Omaha Beach on D-Day. Why was the US willing to enter WWII and sacrifice so many lives in mid-1944 after staying out of the war for nearly 5 years? The main purpose of using this phenomenon is to lead students to discovering and learning why the US entered WWII, other than the standard “Pearl Harbor, duh!” (final straw) answer.

Here are the next steps I would take to set up student investigation into the phenomenon:

1. Ask students to make claims and write down questions related to these claims: Working in small groups, ask students to compile two lists. First, they write down a list of possible reasons that might answer the phenomenon question using logic and prior knowledge only. Second, students go through the list and write down any questions that come to mind related to each reason. Ask them not to use their textbook or technology to look things up yet.

2. Facilitate a class discussion: Ask groups to share their claims. To aid this process and avoid superficial responses you might want to use a few thought-provoking questions such as: What do you know about US participation in WWII? and How did the war affect the US and its citizens prior to D-Day?

3. Create a class concept map: As students share their claims, capture these ideas and questions by writing something like: Possible Reasons for US Entering WWII in the center of the class board and adding student provided claims around. Combine similar claims and stick to 3-5 claims including 1-2 false claims students will have a chance to debunk while investigating later. Then, claim by claim, ask students to volunteer some questions each brings to mind.

The completed concept map provides a framework for student investigations and can serve as a scaffold you use at the beginning of the school year and remove as students become more comfortable and proficient with planning their own investigations, which ultimately leads to them becoming more self-directed; a valuable life and work skill.

Now that the general plan for the student exploration into the phenomenon and the topics relevant to it is hashed out, it is time to turn it over to the students. I always have my Earth and Space Science students work in groups of 4-5 as I rotate from group to group to check on their progress, keeping the core idea and the supporting facts in mind (or on a sheet of paper) to help students regain focus should they stray too far from the lesson objectives.

As students investigate using online resources - we have a class set of textbooks we almost never use - they find evidence to support and debunk the claims they previously made. Then, they explore further to answer the class-generated questions related to each claim and the questions they must ask and answer to explain their claims in depth. To ensure students did deep, I ask questions that force students to explain the whys and hows of the whats they are investigating and lead them to connecting the phenomenon to the core idea.

Phenomenon-Based Learning involves creating a storyline. The phenomenon begins the story and everything that follows is scripted in a way to lead to the desired end - meaningful learning and skill building through real-life problem solving. The teacher is the script writer, the director, and the editor, and, yes - that’s a lot of hats to wear, but if you’ve been in the teaching game for a while you’d expect nothing less.

Did you find this post helpful? The next one will dive into Breaking Down Phenomena to make student explorations easier. Sign up for my Teaching Tips, Resources, & Ideas Newsletter to get it when it drops. It’s totally free.

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