Preparing the project mural in the classroom

The project mural is a fundamental element for building a learning culture in the classroom as it helps students to take ownership of their learning and their work. Having a dedicated space in which the students can see what is being learned and how, and where they can follow the progress of the project, fosters self-management and the assumption of responsibilities, thus reducing dependence on the teachers. The project mural can also serve as a useful reference for visitors to the classroom, as it immediately explains what the students are doing and why.

Although teachers can organise their own project mural in the way they wish, most murals include the following:

• A diagram showing the steps of the project process
• The results of the learning
• A question or challenge to guide the research
• A list of the aspects we know and those we need to explore
• Timetable
• Evaluation criteria or rubrics
• Terminology: key words and other important content
• The students’ level of progress ¥ Examples of results
• Student observations and tasks

Timetable

Organising time is essential for the successful completion of the research. Once the topic, research question and methodology have been defined, a list of actions to carry out at each stage must be drawn up, giving clear deadlines for each one. Communication is the last step in the process, so deadlines are often tight. For this reason, we should allocate a little more time than expected to the communication tasks in our schedule.

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