Gregory+Sucre

I am interested in leveraging asynchronous discussions and project-based learning to stimulate higher order thinking among middle school students. I believe that the promise of online learning is to provide a richer learning experience enhanced by the ability to work on authentic problems and incorporate reflection and collaboration. While this is an area that may be well studied among college level learners, I think that there needs to be a focus on younger learners. What we have learned from studying older learners may not be generalizable to younger learners. I wonder whether younger learners have the intellectual tools to maximize the potential of project-based learning and asynchronous discussions. I also wonder whether researchers can evaluate these practices among teachrs if they have not been specifically trained to implement such measures. What are the skills teachers need to employ such initiatives and how easily can teachers be trained to utilize these skills? Also, what is the impact of this type of teaching on how well students on those prevalent, objective, decontextualized standardized tests?
 * Research Interest **

**Theoretical Foundations **