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Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING


Genre Analysis: Website and One-to-one Interview
Aileen Tapia
The University of Texas at El Paso
2/27/15

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015

Nowadays, educations is becoming an essential tool to success, and in many cases it is


given for granted. America is facing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) crisis,
in which not many students are graduating in those fields. Additionally, the way students learn
those fields is not the most effective one, and once they are working as a full-time employee, is
hard to adapt into that fast paced, hands-on environment. Project Based Learning is an
instructional method that can be implemented in any field to make students learned through
hands-on projects, which encompasses: research, communication development, professional
development, and the incorporation of the goals within the project. This genre analysis will
discuss two different genres: a website about project based learning and a one-to-one
interview with a UTEP Professor, Mr. Manuel Hernandez, that applies project based learning to
this instructional method.
There are two main different audiences in this analysis, one for the website and one of
the students who are being the audience of Professor Hernandez, who is interviewed. The
audience for PBL.org are mainly teachers, school administrators, and professors. As stated in
the main page of the website, Why are so many educators across the United States and
around the world interested in this teaching method?, which clearly shows who is the
intended audience for this website ("Why is Project Based Learning?" 2015).This audience
knows teaching techniques, but they are willing to research on different ways to engage their
students in their learning process, through Project Based Learning. They will spend at least an
hour minimum in this genre; browsing through the website and looking at different articles and
videos. The purpose is to inform the audience about Project Based Learning, through articles

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015

and videos, and persuade them to implement this into their teaching model since it has been
proven that it is very effective with students. On the other hand, Prof. Hernandezs target
audience is his Graphic and Fundamentals Mechanical Engineering Course students. The
students of this class are mostly freshmen and are unfamiliar with the NX 9 software. Students
want to know about this Computer-aided design software, where they can design and create
whatever they want to do in a sketch model. The audience of students will at least spend all the
semester learning the software and maybe still use it in their future careers. The purpose of the
class is to inform the students about NX 9 which will help them in their technical skills and is a
software that is similar to many other modeling software.
The first of information of credibility for the first genre is that this website is a .org
website rather than a .com (which is a commercial website). The Buck Institute for Education
has been also established for 25 years. The genre highest priority is to help teachers prepare
students for successful lives meaning that they are attempting to inspire teachers and
educators to better themselves in their teaching in regards to their teaching style. Their staff is
highly qualified and research has been done to support their claims, making them valid and
reliable at the same time. The credibility for the second genre is created because the professor
has taught the course in the past and he is currently pursuing this PhD. Evidence comes from
past experiences of have taught this class in the past. It is valid but only somewhat reliable
because every student is different from one another. The book that is used for the class is
called Basic to Advanced Computer Aided Design Using NX9 Modeling, Drafting, Assembli: A
Project Oriented Learning Manual can help as evidence of the different features used within

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015

NX. The name of the book itself states that is a project oriented book, fair to state that the
students will learn through projects themselves.
The website is orderly organized by different resource tools you can look up, such as
videos, articles, and examples on how to implement PBL. The online limitation I can think of is
the method many educators learn, since this is only a resource tool of information, they are not
experiencing this research through a personal basis. The challenge would be the method the
educators learn, personal learning VS. Online. It gives freedom because many of resources can
be found in one place rather than looking all over the internet. For the second genre, the
structure aids its purpose because it is separated in blocks of information that aids to the user
find the information they might be useful. The information of the interview is why, what, how,
and when/where. Since the interview mainly will only answer the questions asked, it will limit
the amount of information taken from the interview. If it was more like an open forum it will
have more freedom to express different believes about project based learning. The structure of
the interview facilitates to stay on track of what the information that needs to be extracted
from the interview.
The vocabulary is consistent through this genre, lacking acronyms and special terms,
since its audience its all over the world and is wanting anyone with the need of the information
to be able to understand it. However, mainly it is a formal language since its targeted to an
educated audience. Text is in different colors and it has a user friendly interface with different
tabs to divide the distinct features found in the website. Also, there are different blocks that
help determine the users needs such as videos, planning guides, online classes and other tools.

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015

Common language is used to be able to communicate in the second genre. The language is
mostly informal between Prof. Hernandez and students. Professor tries to empathize with
students to gain their trust by saying things such as Good morning everyone! How was yalls
weekend? (M. Hernandez, personal communication, February 6, 2015). Also, Prof. Hernandez
relates with his students, because being approachable is very important for students to have
the confidence to speak up when in doubt or questions. Prof. Hernandez uses white board to
show diagrams and visuals in the computer to aid students to follow with the tasks that are
being explained.
In conclusion, education has become an essential tool globally, but there has not been a
standardized way as to how to deliver instructional material. Project based learning, in my
opinion is by far the most effective way to assure that the students are learning, through a
hands-on engaging way, in which they are not only learning the learning objectives, but are
developing certain other essential skills needed to succeed when working in the work force.

Running Head: PROJECT BASED LEARNING

February 27, 2015


References

Why Project Based Learning (PBL)? (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://bie.org/

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