According to Boss (2013), there are four phases to a well designed project. These include:
Project Launch
Knowledge Building
Product Development and Critique
Final Presentation and Reflection
It's important that students, and you, are excited about the project. Start with a driving question and frame the project experience. As you start a project, it's important that you investigate it a little. According to Bass (2015), Robert Kolvoord states that one of the challenges of PBL is
not only finding a problem worth solving but finding a problem that's solvable. They have to consider the time that they have and the data that are available. Part of the problem-solving process is figuring out what the constraints are. That's where we push students on the critical-thinking front. (p. 19)
Of course, thinking "out of the box" is often important for a project. Eric Clause, a STEM educator in Hawaii worked with his students on an Entrepreneurial and Marketing project, that did not start out as that type of project. His students wanted to solve an environmental problem on the islands. In Bass (2015), he states
Although the project eventually got into marketing and entrepreneurial concepts, that's not where it started. 'My students wanted to do something to help our community. That was our initial inspiration for the project. It's a student-drive project that grew out of a real need. (p. 34)
When thinking of using PBL in the Business or Marketing Education classrooms, an area of inspiration might be your teacher colleagues or other classes your students are taking. Partnering with another class or teacher is a great way to build ownership and excitement around a project for students and teachers.
Another area to find project ideas that you and your students can search for are programs or projects in the school, school district, or local community. What's going on? How could your marketing class or business administration class help or be part of the project that could worked on in or outside of classroom? This is a great way to build citizenship and volunteering knowledge and values into what is being learned through the project.
Taking that driving question, students build their background knowledge. They learn new skills which help the building their understanding around the driving question.
Are there challenges, you might ask? Of course, there generally are challenges. It is important to think about and mitigate obvious challenges as you begin the project, and through the project. There are going to be some that you cannot anticipate.
Some challenges that you can anticipate include:
Content Coverage
Certainly, you need to ensure that your course objectives are covered while working on a project. But if you revisit the core ideas of PBL, you see that this can usually be done easily with some planning. "The inquiry project, framed by a driving question, is the centerpiece of instruction. It's not an add-on or hands-on activity wrapping up a unit of study. Instead, the project is designed with specific learning goals in mind" (Boss & Krauss, 2014, n.p.). It's important to review your objectives and standards to nudge and guide projects to ensure that those are covered. Boss (2015) states that "PBL doesn't mean putting more demands on your schedule; it means using learning time differently" (p. 52). PBL can and should "address important academic content in depth... and create[s] meaningful, relevant opportunities for students for acquire the new skills and literacies they need" (Boss, 2015, p. 52). Think about this - Besides covering essential content, "ood PBL make[s] content standards relevant. They makes learning more purposeful and concepts more memorable for students" (Boss, 2014).
Connecting with Outside Experts
This can be a problem at times, but not something that should stop your project. First, most Business Education and Marketing Education programs have an Occupational Advisory Council or Committee (OAC) that meet periodically to help determine the direction of the program. They help answer questions like, "What exactly should my program focus on if my students are to be employed in the area?" These OCA members, not only are experts themselves, but they also have other contacts that they can often put you or your students in touch with to get answers, be speakers, or help evaluate projects. Another place to find experts are through professional organizations or other colleagues. Just start asking around, and you'll often find that finding outside experts is not as hard as originally thought. Don't forget about students and parents that can also be a resource or help find experts and resources for the project.
Managing the "Messy Learning" in PBL
Walking a classroom that in engaged in PBL, can look crazy, messy, and disorganized. But with deeper inspection, you will often find that students are engaged and, hopefully, immersed in their learning. The challenge really is making sure that deep learning is taking place, right?
Block (2014) shares his approach to PBL:
Understanding the need for messiness, I attempt to structure class periods accordingly. The beginning of units and the final stages of projects are either times when we work as a unified class, or times when students and groups focus on specific, clearly defined tasks. Our goals are to establish background understanding of a topic or to build their project-based work to fruition. I plan these days so that everyone has clearly defined tasks to complete. (n.p.)
It is important to establish learning goals from the beginning, and share those with your students. It may be necessary to "chunk" the goals with the different phases of the project to make them manageable. Of course, Backward Planning helps to ensure the success of the project. We'll be reading about and discussing Backward Planning in the next few chapters.
Often, PBL takes place as a collaborative process. Teamwork is important, and how to work in a team may be an area where you need to spend some time with your students. Don't assume that if you put them in a team or workgroup, that good collaboration will automatically happen. It is important to regularly check in with the groups, get input from all members of the team as to their progress, help manage conflicts, and help the group share effective peer critiques.
Too often, students have not had opportunities for self-management. They have not been afforded occasions to be personally responsible for their own learning beyond "taking the test," or managing their learning. This is a time when you can step in and help students with developing strategies for learning and setting personal goals and objectives, time management skills, and develop persistence through an assignment or project, all culminating into success, with the immediate PBL project as well as lifelong learning skills.
Assessment and PBL
Boss (2015) explains that "Assessment is a ongoing process in PBL, from project kickoff until the culminating event and then post-project reflection" (p. 58). It is important for you, the teacher, to listen to what students are saying to determine prior knowledge. Using various strategies, such as concept maps, online surveys, class discussion, KWL charts (what I Know, What I want to learn, what I Learned), you can give a feel for where students are and decide what knowledge they need to be successful. Engaging students in identifying what knowledge is needed for the project is also important for ownership of the project.
As the project progresses, formative assessments need to take place. These need to be checks to ensure that learning is taking place. The types of assessments that you might find useful during this time are exit slips, Socratic seminars, journals or blog posts, short reflection videos, written proposals. As they head towards product development, assessments such as peer review and critiques, review of story boarding for video creation, feedback on drafts, etc. can help students develop a quality finished project. One thing that is often overlooked is the time it takes to complete a quality finished product. Several reviews and critiques may be required to pull together that quality finished project that should always be part of quality PBL.
A Final Note
Bass (2015), shares that through PBL,
Rather than wondering how education will apply to their lives, students are invited to bring their talents and current interests to projects. If they have a desire to make a difference in their community or in the larger world, they don't have to wait until a vague-sound someday to get busy making change happen. They can apply what they know today. Better yet, adults from both inside and outside the classroom are ready to encourage their efforts and provide the best kind of assessment: appreciation for work well done. (p. 59)
Students use the new knowledge and apply what they have learned to create or develop something new (such as a product, solutions, recommendation). This is when your students (and you) can line up the goals and objectives with the product being produced. It is important for you to be involved, help guide and facilitate discussions that will lead to a final conclusion.
Often it is hard to tell when Knowledge Building should turn to Project Development. The line can be very vague. This is when a constant review of the goals and objectives is encouraged between you and your students. Having regular check-ins and team updates can help guide and adjust timelines.
Students put a final presentation together to present, usually to an authentic audience. This can be other students, school personnel, parents, and community members. Often, a project might involve community partners. As stated in Bass (2015), Kolvoord says, "Students are empowered by the fact that adults take their work seriously. Their work is validated. In those interactions, students also start to see how professionals work and think. That's what we hope for all in our interactions with industry" (p. 21). Most Business Education and Marketing Education programs have an Occupational Advisory Council or Committee (OAC) that have leaders from the community. This is an excellent source to find a authentic audience.
It is important to give plenty of time to create the final presentation. Several critique sessions and practices usually need to take place to develop the final presentation. As students put together the final presentation, whether it is an individual project and a team project, you can continue with formative and summative assessment to ensure the deep content learning did take place.
A handful of tips to help teachers ease into PBL without getting overwhelmed.
Are you just beginning with project-based learning? Are you concerned about time? Are you wondering about how to engage students in their first project? Anyone getting started with PBL has concerns and questions about making it a reality in their classroom.
One of the things we stress for new PBL practitioners is, as I say, “Don’t go crazy.” It’s easy to go too big when you first start with PBL. I’ve heard from many teachers new to PBL that a large, eight-week integrated project was a mistake. It was difficult to keep momentum, and students often grew tired of the project itself. Teachers and students both need to consider their own scaffolds and a gradual release to more long-term and complex PBL projects.
Here are a few things to consider if you’re just getting started with PBL.
Projects and project libraries are everywhere. Instead of planning a full project with all the learning targets, milestones, and products, teachers can save time by renovating an existing project. *You will find sources of projects ideas listed at the end of this chapter.
As you search project libraries for ideas, remember to look at projects across all grade levels. Although you might want that very specific seventh-grade social studies project, you might find a relevant project in 11th grade that could be modified.
Be open to projects everywhere, find great ideas, and then modify.
The longer the project, the more students should learn. Therefore, a four-week project will no doubt target many standards that must be taught and assessed, which can be quite daunting for a first project.
Try to focus on two or three priority standards for your first project. Concentrate the learning on one subject rather than multiple disciplines. And aim for a two- to three-week project, or approximately 10 to 15 contact hours.
In addition to limiting the time, you might consider narrowing choice. Instead of many product options, offer a short menu. Allow students to choose how they want to work, but choose the teams for the project yourself. There are many ways to build voice and choice into a project, but these aspects can be limited.
By narrowing the scope of a project, teachers and their students can have short-term success that builds stamina for more complex projects later.
One of the challenges of PBL, but also one of the joys, is the planning process. In PBL, you plan up front, and it does take a significant amount of time. You need to plan assessments and scaffolds and gather resources to support project learning.
While you might be able to do some of this during scheduled planning time, ask your leadership for creative structures to carve out time for planning. Perhaps staff meetings can be used for this time, or release days can be offered.
It’s important to get ahead and feel prepared for and confident about a project. By using the backward design process, you can effectively map out a project that’s ready to go in the classroom.
Once you plan, you’re free to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of your students rather than being in permanent crisis mode trying to figure what will happen tomorrow.
When you have a great project planned, reach out to colleagues both digitally and in person to get feedback. This can be done through posting an idea on Twitter or having a gallery walk of ideas, where teachers walk your project gallery and leave feedback on Post-its. If you’re able, have a 30-minute conversation with a teacher colleague or an instructional coach.
It’s easy in a short-term project to fall into the trap of a “dessert” project that isn’t necessarily inquiry-based. With PBL, the project itself is the learning—it’s the “main course.” In fact, many teachers who think they’re doing PBL are actually doing projects. In PBL you’re teaching through the project—not teaching and then doing the project.
Use an effective PBL project checklist to ensure a high-quality experience while still keeping a narrow focus and timeline. It helps to make sure that you’re focusing on aspects such as inquiry, voice and choice, and significant content.
We’re all learners, and when we start something new, we start small, limiting our focus to help us master the bigger thing step by step. A key aspect of this is that when you finish a project, you should carve out time to reflect on it.
Consider journaling, having a dialogue with an instructional coach, or following a structured reflection protocol with a team of teachers.
Through reflection, projects become better and may live on for many years, so that reflection time pays off with time saved on subsequent runs through the project.
Miller, A. (Nov. 3, 2017). Getting started with PBL (Hint: Don't go crazy). Originally published (Aug. 6, 2012) © Edutopia.org; George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-getting-started-basics-andrew-miller
BizWorld.org (https://bizworld.org/) offers ready-made projects where students learn about Entrepreneurship.
The Network of Teaching Entrepreneurship (https://www.nfte.com/) offers professional development for teachers and a National Youth Challenge.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (www.gew.co) offers activities to encourage young entrepreneurs and has a global worldwide event.
DECA (www.deca.org) is a Career and Technical Student Organization and has resources for setting up school-based enterprises, student leadership experiences, challenges, and competitions.
Bass, S. (2015). Implementing project-based learning. Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
Common Sense Media (www.commensensemedia.org offers lessons and curriculum idea for digital literacy and citizenship.
The Media Education Lab (http://mediaeducationallab.com) has teacher resources and program to promote media literacy
The National Association for Media Literacy Education (http://namle.net) has established hub for media literacy resources.
Project Look Sharp (http://projectlooksharp.org) offers lesson plan and curriculum kit to promote digital and media literacy.
The Center for Digital Storytelling (http://storycenter.org) shares examples of stories and a wide-range of themes, sharing how storytelling can be a tool for change.
Digital Is (http://digitalis.nwp.org), offers ideas of using digital resources to produce and share writing and digital storytelling.
Mapping Media to the Curriculum (http://maps.playingwith media.com), provides a guide to digital media creation tools.
Youth Voices (http://youthvoices.net) is a platform for publishing student writing and media content, providing an authentic audience for students.
Expeditionary Learning Center for Student Work (http://centerforstudentwork.elschools.org)
Envision School Project Exchange (http://envisionprojects.org)
Project Based Learning University (http://pblu.org)
Projects at High Tech High (http://hightechhigh.org)
The Projects Approach (http://projectapproach.org)
Juliani, A. (n.d.). A project-based learning activity that can work in any classroom. Retrieved from http://ajjuliani.com/project-based-learning-activity-can-work-classroom/
References
Bass, S. (2015). Implementing project-based learning. Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
Block, J. (Jan. 7, 2014). Embracing messy learning [Weblog post]. Originally published (Aug. 6, 2012) © Edutopia.org; George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/embracing-messy-learning-joshua-block.
Boss, S. (Oct. 17, 2014). Time to debunk those PBL myths [Weblog post]. Originally published (Oct. 17, 2014) © Edutopia.org; George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from www.edutopia.org./blog/time-debunk-those-pbl-myths-suzie-boss.
Boss, S. & Krauss, J. (2014). Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects int he digital age (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
Miller, A. (Nov. 3, 2017). Getting started with PBL (Hint: Don't go crazy). Originally published (Aug. 6, 2012) © Edutopia.org; George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-getting-started-basics-andrew-miller