Project Zero and Teaching for Understanding

The Teaching for Understanding was a five-year research program designed to develop and test pedagogy of understanding. The project targeted the middle and high school years and focused on teaching and learning in four subjects (English, history, math, and science). Since the project's inception, researchers and practitioners have collaborated to develop, refine, and test the pedagogy.

During the first three years, the collaborators developed a framework that stresses in-depth learning.  If a student understands a topic, the students can not only reproduce knowledge, but also use it in unscripted ways. For example, a student in a history class might be able to describe the gist of the Declaration of Independence in her own words; role-play King George as he reacts to different parts of it; or write out parts of an imagined debate among the authors as they hammer out the statement. These are called performances of understanding because they give students the opportunity to demonstrate that they understand information and apply it in new ways.

In addition to performances of understanding, the framework highlights three other key concepts: generative topics, understanding goals, and ongoing assessment. For teachers, attention to each of these aspects of instruction helps ensure that they will be focusing their time and energy on helping students to learn about those concepts, ideas, and skills that are most important to understand. For the students, this approach to teaching and learning enables them to apply their knowledge and skills flexibly in a variety of situations.

References:
Project Zero. History. Retrieved from: http://www.pz.harvard.edu/ProdServ/Products.htm