PROJECT WHALEBOAT

A Constuctivist Model for Student Centered Learning

High school students built an authentic 19th century Beetle Whaleboat - launch date was June 1997.
The whaleboat serves as a theme for learning in other academic areas.
Each student is assigned a teacher coach who oversees individual learning contracts through weekly meetings.
Pre-service teaching interns from the University of New Hampshire assist students with daily learning solutions.
Students are expected to develop an essential question about issues related to their subject area and to develop a multimedia project for presentation.
Research in pursuit of answers is done with computer technology as well as print materials.
Assessment is accomplished through multimedia presentations done before an assessment panel consisting of teachers, interns, and other students.
Students are expected to reach for exemplary standards that describe world class learners in their subject areas.
Computer technology is integral to learning and is used as a means of helping students construct their own knowledge from their research.
The class is a heterogenous group of juniors and seniors.
The class creates its own academic and building schedule through a weekly student run meeting.
Students share academic and boatbuilding knowledge each Friday during our walkthrough.

The ultimate essential question:

Why build a whaleboat when you have