Project-Based Learning With a Twist and a Turn

Another student transformation resulting from project-based learning was Hayden, a boy who had been pretty disengaged in his classes. An 8th grader, he had not been performing to his potential and often required redirection to stay on task — because he was too distracted by his Rubik’s Cube.

Then along came Genius Hour at his school in Ottawa, Ontario. Interestingly, he chose as his topic of learning a passion close to his heart — the Rubik’s Cube. He also explored the following conundrum: If you were able to do one turn on the Rubik’s Cube every second, how long it would take to go through every combination of the cube?

Hayden created an incredible video that wove together mathematics, science and a futuristic story to explain the immense changes on the planet that would occur before all the possible turns of the cube had been fulfilled.

Hayden explained where he had come up with the idea. “I’d always been interested in the Rubik’s Cube, but the teachers didn’t really see it as a way of expressing myself,” he said. “Not really important. But this project opened up the chance for me to show that this was something that was important to me and something that I was passionate about.”

Imaginative Display

What struck Hayden’s teachers was the incredible amount of research that went into his project before he could even contemplate creating the video.

Hayden’s mother, Maria, spoke of what really impressed her about the video Hayden produced. While she was fascinated with the mathematical understanding he demonstrated, that’s not what she focused on.

“I felt the part of what he was trying to do was to tell a story,” she said. “When you see the video and you think of creativity, there is very much a creative and imaginary part to it as well. So, for example, he tells a story about going into space. I think it lent to his interest in the mathematical side, but what I enjoyed about the project was his storytelling.”

The Rubik’s Cube experience had a significant impact on Hayden’s school experience. His teacher summed it up like this: “Hayden took these ideas and all of his research about the Rubik’s Cube and he turned it into this fabulous stop-frame animation video that had every person on the edge of their seats. Since then he has completely turned around academically. He received validation from his parents, from staff, from people across the system — all of a sudden he realized he had a lot to contribute. I think it gave him this new sense of confidence that he was able to speak up, contribute and be engaged.”