How do Projects fit into my curriculum?

As a former science teacher, I had many opportunities to incorporate projects. I started small, allowing students to create models of volcanoes or conducting experiments on topics we were studying. After I gained confidence, I began shifting more and more of the learning activities toward a more hands-on, student-centered style of instruction. Students were more motivated and interested in the topics and seemed to do just as well, or better, on end-of-unit tests. The process of becoming more of a facilitator than an instructor is a slow and sometimes painful process and I am still learning.