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Planning Your PBL Unit
Planning Your PBL Unit
Planning your first PBL unit may take time, but the process gets easier the more you do it. This page of the Google Site will help you to Frame your PBL Idea before starting to develop your map of student learning. A few things to remember:
Plan your PBL around content standards. No matter how cool an idea is, ask yourself, "Can students learn my content standards by solving this problem or challenge?"
Beyond your course content standards, you can also integrate other course standards, concepts or skills. This is not necessary, but it can help students make connections between subjects. We recommend keeping your first PBL simple. When in doubt, focus exclusively on your course standards.
The temptation is to plan big PBLs. We recommend starting small, such as a 1-2 week PBL. Consider which PBL Powerful Practice you really want to "dial up" as you plan your PBL unit.
Plan your PBL in phases. While the PBL Planning template lays everything out in one document, it is not meant to be completed all at once. This page will help you frame your PBL Idea (pages 1 - 4 of the PBL Planning Template).
Determine your content standards
Determine your content standards
Identify the standards you want students to learn in this PBL unit. These will form the basis for your Map of Student Learning.
When choosing the right standards, look for standards that interconnect and can form a unit of study.
Look at the verbs in the standards. Standards with the verbs such as "Design, Analyze, Evaluate, or Create" are great starting points for planning PBL Units around.
Revisit your PBL idea brainstormings or research and ask yourself, "Can students learn my content standards by solving this problem or challenge?"
Consider what employability skill you might also develop and assess students in this PBL: Communication, Collaboration, Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Project Management, etc.
Consider if you want to integrate other course content standards, skills or concepts.
Consider what the "Big Idea" is for your unit of study. In 10 years, what you you want students to have remembered about these standards? What is the core idea of this unit?
Use pages 1 - 2 on the PBL template to claim these decisions.
Planning for Authenicity & Community Partnerships (PBL Practices 1 & 6)
Planning for Authenicity & Community Partnerships (PBL Practices 1 & 6)
We want to make PBL units and experiences as authentic as possible, page 3 of the template gives you an organizer for thinking through different ways to up the authenticity of your PBL.
Capture the problem or challenge students will solve through this PBL and provide as much information as possible. What will students need to know to start solving this problem?
Consider what career roles might be involved in solving this problem. Having students take on career roles within a PBL makes it more real for them while also building their knowledge about careers, what they do and how they work together.
Determine what workplace or authentic routines students might engage in as part of this project. Examples include:
Use of a design process to support problem solving and creativity
Scrum boards or Gantt charts to develop project-management skills
Scientific experimental design to develop scientific tests for a prototype or solution.
Dividing students into workshop groups for peer support and feedback.
Consider what community partners you might leverage for this project and how you might use them within the PBL.
Developing your Driving Question
Developing your Driving Question
The Driving Question provides the focus and reason for doing the project. A well-written DQ can also excite students to engage in the project. Ideally, it will connect the problem/challenge of the PBL to your content.
Resources:
Tubric - A tool for writing a driving question (Or use this Google Slides Version)
Major Product/s
Major Product/s
The major product is the thing or things students will ultimately turn in to show you they have answered the driving question, solved the problem and learn the content. This does not have to be tangible, like a physical model or device. It can be anything from a written product to a production.
Resources:
Write Your Project Scenario
Write Your Project Scenario
The final step in framing your PBL idea is to write your Project Scenario (or Entry Document). This is a one-page description of the project. What is the challenge? What information to they need to start solving the challenge? How will they show you they have solve the challenge? You may also want to include major steps in the PBL or a timeline (this can be edited later).
A key component of this is to write it as though you are talking to the students. You want to set them up in the roles you want them to take on and make this document as authentic as possible. Be Creative!
We suggest the following language as a starting point: "You are a <insert career role>. You are faced with <describe the problem and any criteria or constraints they need>. You will <describe the basic process they will take and give any important due dates>."
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