Project-based learning uses interaction, inter-connectivity

VAN WERT - It was loud.

No teacher stood at the front of the room, leading the class.

At times, the experience felt like it bordered on organized mayhem.

And it was most likely the most interactive and engaged the students would be in a class all day.

On Thursday, The Times Bulletin sat in on a project-based class at the Van Wert Middle School. Project-based classes have drawn a lot of local attention lately as the Van Wert City Schools move toward a new Tech High School and a curriculum based around the teaching method.

In its simplest form, project-based learning is exactly what it sounds like: students are taught by using specific projects, usually combining multiple subjects, to learn the classroom object. In reality, it takes what many people consider classroom teaching from when they were in school and tosses it out the window.