Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. In Gold Standard PBL (Buck Institute for Education), Project Design Elements include:

• Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills - The project is focused on student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and self-management.
• Challenging Problem or Question - The project is framed by a meaningful problem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge.
• Sustained Inquiry - Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking questions, finding resources, and applying information.
• Authenticity - The project features real-world context, tasks and tools, quality standards, or impact – or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests, and issues in their lives.
• Student Voice & Choice - Students make some decisions about the project, including how they work and what they create.
• Reflection - Students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles and how to overcome them.
• Critique & Revision - Students give, receive, and use feedback to improve their process and products.
• Public Product - Students make their project work public by explaining, displaying and/or presenting it to people beyond the classroom.

Project based learning is a powerful teaching method that has the potential to:

• Motivate and engage students.
• Prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship.
• Help students meet standards and do well on tests that ask students to demonstrate in-depth knowledge and thinking skills.
• Allow teachers to teach in a more satisfying way.
• Provide schools and districts with new ways to communicate and to connect with parents, communities, and the wider world (Larmer, Mergendoller & Boss, 2015).

However, it is important to remember that PBL is not a magic solution. Although research supports the potential for PBL to get us to some of these outcomes, it requires us to change the way we teach. Students, in order to be successful, need support and guidance, especially when new to PBL. Projects need to be carefully constructed with an eye to the requisite skills and knowledge students will need to have to be able to complete the project successfully. Units need to be backwards planned. New teaching strategies need to be developed and integrated into day to day teaching.

Importantly, in order to really impact student learning and engagement, PBL cannot be thought of as something you do occasionally or at the end of a unit. Instead, PBL is a way of planning, teaching, and assessing learning.

References:

Larmer, J., Mergendoller, J., & Boss, S. (2015). Setting the standard for project-based learning: A proven approach to rigorous classroom instruction. Alexandria VA: ASCD.

The Editors. (February 5, 2019). What is Performance Assessment? Education Week. Retrieved from: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/02/06/what-is-performance-assessment.html