Project-Based Learning

An overview of what PBL is and is not, from former JCPS Deeper Learning Symposium Keynote Speaker John Spencer. 

Project Based Learning, from the perspective of the students at Doss High School.

This is a secondary example from right here in Kentucky! Lexington teacher Coleman Marshall walks us though how he planned and facilitated a project aimed at designing a Lexington flag reflecting the culture of Lexington.

Read here about how using project-based learning helps teachers create learner-centered, learner-driven strategies. Our own Justin Elliott addresses to the "Whys" of PBL.

This article debunks 5 romanticized myths regarding the process of PBL. It offers practical advice on how to use your classroom practice and routines to avoid anarchy when using PBL.

This article outlines Adria Steinberg's 6 A's of Project Design. The 6 A's provide the foundational framework for most current PBL models in the U.S.

This is a description of the PBL design qualities that leaders at BIE outline and describe as their "Gold Standard" of PBL design. These elements are helpful when considering and improving projects. 

Read about the workshop model's use in project execution. Here, our own Maddie Shepard discusses the nuts and bolts of making PBL happen when you are using workshops. 

Ever find yourself thinking, "PBL might be good for some students, but my kids couldn't handle it"? Here, a teacher forces the underlying equity issue by addressing head-on some misconceptions about PBL and who its for. 

Edutopia's Project-Based Learning page includes articles, starter's guides to PBL, and videos of projects in action.

High Tech High is a landmark on the project-based learning landscape. These sample student projects are useful for inspiring your next design.

Magnify Learning, a leader in project based strategies, hosts this blog in which teachers discuss topics such as cross-curricular integration via PBL, the design of projects, and more.

Think PBL is a new trend? Read here an early description of the Project Method published by Teacher's College, Columbia University in 1918. In it, Prof. Kilpatrick describes the Project Method as a way to engage students in "purposeful acts", and as necessary for developing the democratic dispositions of students.  

Towards the end of this post, there is a list of 50 ideas for interdisciplinary projects that you can use to jump-start your own plans.

Trouble-shooting project based learning? These 20 Tips for Managing Project-Based Learning will help you in the implementation of PBL in your classroom. It covers topics such as how to handle slackers, the use of power and empowerment, and differentiation. 

This is a collection of end products that show the result of projects. Learning in Hand and Tony Vincent have included other tools and links, as well.

Find sample projects to use as models for your own designs using Buck Institute's Project Search. They are organized in BIE's Gold Standard design template.

At Expeditionary Learning, teachers have a bank of searchable products focused on clarifying the questions of: What is high quality student work?

Get a look inside Seneca High School's PBL planning with this bank of Project Cards. This collection will surely spark ideas for ways plan engaging, authentic work for your own students.

Here is a bank of over 100 project cards from High Tech High. These cards are one-pagers that describe many imaginative and interdisciplinary projects. Use them for inspiration or to spark your own creativity.

In this article, you can find 4 projects that are approachable for new teachers in an elementary context.

PBL Consulting provides here a large bank of resources around planning and improving project plans. You may need to sign in with an email address.

The PBL planning template includes all components of a high-quality PBL as well as JCPS Success Skills.

This project planning template includes an overview, driving questions, day by day planning template, and scaffolded assessment template.

Find rubrics around creativity and other student dispositions, rubrics to assess teacher-designed projects, and others using BIE's Rubric bank.

This project rubric, adapted from Steinberg's 6 A's by the New Tech Network, is a helpful way to reflect on and improve projects.

This tuning protocol is used to help teachers give each other critical feedback on project plans and designs.