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A Tricky Part of PBL: Writing a Driving Question

We've noticed over the years of facilitating our PBL 101 workshops that one of the most challenging parts for teachers designing a project is writing the driving question. One reason is that it's a writing task, and not everyone is a writer. Many teachers are great at creating curriculum units and lesson plans, and many are great at working with students, but crafting the wording of a question that captures the heart of a project can be tricky.

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A Tricky Part of PBL: Writing a Driving Question

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We've noticed over the years of facilitating our PBL 101 workshops that one of the most challenging parts for teachers designing a project is writing the driving question. One reason is that it's a writing task, and not everyone is a writer

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Share your reflections with your classmates

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Do you need innovative ideas for projects that have creative end products to demonstrate learning? Sometimes we just need something to reference for final project ideas.

This blog post is a laundry list of interesting and creative project final product ideas that students and teachers can browse for inspiration.

I have seen students produce some pretty outstanding final products in my 15 years as a project-based educator. Many of those outcomes were produced by experienced project-based learners.

There is a learning curve with project-based learnin g , and it requires breaking some pretty strong habits that have formed from prior training in more traditional learning environments.

The biggest challenge for me has been getting students to think more creatively and authentically about how to demonstrate and share learning.

​Based on habit and ease, students naturally gravitate toward copy-and-paste poster boards and slideshow presentations.

There are many avenues for student choice in project-based learning, and one of those is choice in end product.

There are plenty of options to choose from, it's just a matter of getting students in the habit of thinking outside of the box.

Scroll down for a list of 100+ alternatives to copy-and-paste poster boards and slideshows! This list applies to all ages, just adjust your expectations.​

Interested in getting text messages from Experiential Learning Depot with exclusive deals, upcoming webinars, challenges, and more? Just text "Experiential" to (651) 390-9890 to opt in!

Poster Board Alternatives:

1) Create a magazine
2) Write trivia ( is a great online trivia game program)
3) Make an interactive exhibit
4) Make a board game
5) Engineer a moving model (ex: demonstrating synaptic transmission)
6) Write a song on a project topic
7) Write a poetry book
8) Create a photo journal
9) Make a scrapbook
10) Write and illustrate a comic
11) Paint a mural

If you are looking for a platform where you can organize personalized learning experiences, check out

12) Create a gallery (ex: photography, paintings, drawings, sculptures) 15) Make a video tutorial
13) Hand-make a craft/artifact
14) Design a lesson plan

​16) Start a Vlog

My students thrive off of anything video related. They love vlogging, making documentaries, creating video promotions and music videos. Truly anything that can get these 21st-century kiddos on video, they'll take it.

17) Write a blog 25) Make a calendar27) Make a 3D model42) Create a spreadsheet portfolio (appropriate for event planning for example)
18) Make a website
19) Produce a podcast
20) Write a screenplay
21) Create a storyboard
22) Choreograph an interpretive dance
23) Organize a debate
24) Work with local legislators to write a bill

29) Write a newsletter
30) Write a news article

26) Organize a mock trial 31) Write a lab report

​28) Make a documentary 32) Artistically perform (dance, song, etc.)
33) Craft Showcase (Ex: handmade bags, scarves, DIY projects, woodworking)
34) Make a video promotion
35) Put together a career portfolio (resume, work experience, reference letters, evidence pages)
36) Create a piece of artwork that illustrates the project topic
37) Slideshow about an experience (works well for volunteer experiences, field trips, school travel, etc.)
38) Make a quiz
39) Write a book (biography, short story, novel, etc.)
40) Create an awareness campaign poster
41) Create a Facebook page (works well for characters in books, business page, or group)

44) Design a t-shirt (school shirt, shirt that raises awareness on an issue, etc.)
45) Make a "Bloom Ball" (check out this fun example and ​ bloom ball template)
​46) Make a physical or digital map
43) Make charts and graphs (to illustrate survey results for example)

If you're looking for mapping inspiration, check out my blog post on Using Google Maps for Project Based Learning Final Products . Students can use Google Maps for a variety of angles including demographics, storytelling, timelines, and more.

47) Make a puzzle 49) Design a travel brochure 52) Write a journal or diary (on a personal experience such as a health plan) Write an instruction manual
48) Design an escape room

50) Make a business card (Ex: for a character in a book, for a business, for volunteering, etc.) 51) Make a flier

53) 56) Write a petition
54) Create a theme poster
55) Make a blueprint (floor plan for the setting in a book, one's dream school, interior design)

​Click here for project-based learning teacher tools and secondary resources . They make learning more engaging for students, teaching more exciting for you, and will save you a ton of time. You can also click the images below for those specific resources.

Text "eldfreebies" to get text alerts about all things experiential. And when you sign up you get access to my free resource library (Note: You will receive no more than 2 texts per month from me, and those texts will be worth it!)

57) Write a persuasive speech
58) Write a business plan
59) Record an interview and publish it
60) Create an online portfolio (for showcasing creative and/or professional work)
61) Create a billboard-style advertisement
62) Write and illustrate a children's book
63) Make a concept map
64) Write and perform a monologue
65) Make a simulation (digital, written, performance)
66) Make an animation
67) Create a timeline
​68) Make a diorama
69) Make a diagram
70) Write an informative speech
71) Make a fortune teller (a hand-made origami game - one of my students added information about her topic to each square on the game).

72) Make a graphic organizer 73) Make a postcard 82) Organize an event in the community

74) Compile a book of interviews
75) Organize and host a game show
76) Produce a news segment
77) Put together a time capsule
78) Make a collage
79) Put together learning stations
80) Design a set and give visitors a "tour" (great for a book project, ecosystems project, etc.)
81) Demonstration

83) Create a professional quality infographic
84) Make a music video
85) Put together a handbook
86) Claymation
87) Learning activity
88) Child-friendly translation of a convoluted concept
89) Design and make a usable product - Ex: If the topic is on natural disasters, the student might design and build a life-saving device. ​

Have you gotten your free PBL mini tool kit yet?! Go ahead and grab it!

You'll get a planner, implementation spreadsheet, and portfolio for showcasing experiences!

90) Write a jingle
91) Make a puzzle
92) Design an art installation
93) Create a brand
94) Write a proposal
95) Host a school event
96) Organize a speaker series
97) A "_____ week/month" program/schedule (Ex: theme book club schedule)
98) Host a fundraiser event
99) Create a Pinterest profile and add boards and pins directly related to your topic.
​100) Write an editorial
101) Create a memory book
102) Create a memory box (great for experiences - students build a box with visuals that highlight themes of the experience, then they fill the box with relevant information and artifacts from the experience).
103) Make a virtual museum
104) Create a learning activity
105) Design and create a greeting card
106) Write and record a kids show or movie
107) Make a moving model or diorama
108) Make a commercial
109) Host a conversation on Clubhouse
110) Create a Facebook group
​111) Create an interactive "tour" using Google Maps.
112) Scavenger hunt

Before you head out, consider innovative final products and widening the scope of the experience for your students.

Non-poster board final products are one of many elements that make project-based learning what it is. But just because you have your students create innovative final products, doesn't make the experience project-based.

I urge you to think about making the experience even more innovative and authentic by making it self-directed project-based learning.

​Grab the freebies above if you have not already. Then add my project-based learning tool kit to help you and your students get started on endless PBL possibilities. Check out the video below for details.

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to share your stories of project-based learning successes. I'd love to hear about some final products your students have used that weren't listed here! My eyes and ears are always open for new and exciting ideas. Thanks for reading!
PBL Resources for Student-Led Secondary Students:
Relevant Blog Posts:

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100 End Product Ideas to Demonstrate Learning

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How does one find project ideas for students? Even more so, how do you find project-based learning end products that are innovative, creative, and interesting? This catalog of final product ideas is a great tool for exploring final project ideas to demons

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Innovative final products can really help spice up a project or project-based learning experience . Rather than the tired poster board or slideshow presentation, kids can get really creative with final products.

Now more than ever, either because of project based distance learning needs , interest in building tech literacy, or the desire to go paperless, educators are in need of digital final product options. This blog post is an extensive catalog of digital final product ideas for demonstrating learning in innovative and creative ways.

Every year I get a handful of students that have a deep passion for cooking. One year, a particular student was interested in cooking, science, and educational travel . Together we designed a project-based learning experience that combined those three interests.

This student coordinated a fundraiser to raise money for a school trip that blended her love of science and cooking. She learned about chemistry concepts by experimenting in the kitchen. She then created a cookbook using with original recipes that demonstrated chemical reactions. She sold the cookbook to friends, family, and neighbors in the community.

This project inspired me to do kitchen inquiry with my own children last year, which I posted about in this blog. Check that out for fun kitchen science activities!

This student could have learned about chemical reactions, thrown some definitions and formulas onto a poster board, presented it to her class, and called it a day. Instead she applied the content to real-life and created a product that could be shared digitally.

With the onset of Covid related school closures, the need to create innovative final products is more important than ever. A while ago I published a post here with over 100 innovative end product ideas for project-based learners . Below is a list of ways to create and share each of those final product options digitally.

If you are new to project-based learning, or you are experienced but are looking for time-saving management strategies, grab my free project-based learning tools mini-bundle .

This free bundle includes a:
1) Digital planner
2) Self-directed PBL implementation spreadsheet
​3) Digital portfolio where students can showcase final products and PBL experiences.

Online Images (Ex: Canva, Photoshop):

Illustrate and write a comic book

Make a "mural" that can be displayed as computer wallpaper

Create a storyboard

Make a calendar

Write a newsletter (could also do this using a book creator such as FlipSnack)

Awareness campaign

Charts and graphs

Make a travel brochure (or any brochure for that matter)

Business cards

Fliers

Theme poster

Diagram

Infographic

Graphic organizer

Postcard

Collage

This is an example of an awareness campaign
made using , created by my high
school environmental science students.

Interactive Presentations (Ex: Google Slides, Wick Editor):

Create an interactive learning activity for a relevant audience

Make your own trivia template with moveable parts

​Create an interactive exhibit

​Design an interactive tour

Make a "board game" that can be played online (Try Game Structor and Wick Editor )

Design a moving model (simulates a concept such as neurotransmission with an interactive moving model)

Create an interactive storyboard

Interactive timeline Ex: RWT Timelines

Make an interactive map

Build an interactive puzzle

Advertisement

Interactive learning stations

Movie Makers (Ex: iMovie, Movie Maker, WeVideo, etc.):

Online tutorials

Time lapse videos (creating art work, animal behaviors, etc.)

Stop motion movies

Documentaries/mini-documentaries

Promotional videos

Host a vlog - create video content and air it on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc.

Choreograph and record an interpretive dance

Slideshows - Great for recaps of trips experiences, for example

Write and record a monologue

Produce a news segment

Video demo

Make a music video

Claymation

Video montage

​ Other digital movie making tools to check out: Screencast-O-Matic, PlayPosit, Green Screen by Do Ink, Animaker Class, Edpuzzle, Binumi, Adobe Spark, Touch Cast Studio

My students gravitate toward video because, let's face it, they are 21st-century kiddos. I have this video camera for my high school students and my own young kids at home. It's compact and affordable, which is really why I like it, but it's also just enough for what we need it for.

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them I will receive a small commission (at no cost to you). I only endorse products that I have personally used, benefited from, and support.

Online Books (Ex: FlipSnack, Book Creator):

Create a Magazine

Write a poetry book

Make a photo journal

Design a scrapbook (great for history projects)

Write a screenplay

Write a news article or editorial

Write a lab report

Short story

Novel

Biography (check out my guided PBL project on biographies)

Autobiography

Journal/diary

Instruction manual

Children's book ( is great, too!)

Book of interviews or personal essays

Write a proposal

All of these could be completed using a simple word processor such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, but tools such as FlipSnack offer options to insert images and video clips.
Audio End Products (Podcasting hosts, FlipGrid, Clyp):

Record a podcast

Write a song and record it

Start an online forum about the project topic

Coordinate a debate using something like FlipGrid or Google Classroom.

Organize a mock trial, again, using something like FlipGrid.

Write a jingle

Other digital audio tools to check out: Anchor, Beautiful Audio Editor, StoryCorps App, Toontastic 3D storytelling app, Explain Everything, Audacity, SpeakPipe.
Blogs/Websites (Ex: Weebly, Blogger, WordPress):

Create an art gallery to be displayed on a website or blog using online graphics and photo editing programs.

Create a virtual museum - student(s) can create craft items or "artifacts" that represent a time in history, for example, photograph them, and organize the photos onto a blog or website for visitors to "walk through".

Design lesson plans for teachers to use and add them to a website for easy access.

Showcase a product such as crafts, art pieces, or even class final products of another sort

​
Online Portfolios (Ex: Google Slides, Crevado):

Project-Based Learning Portfolio - An editable Google Slides portfolio for students to showcase ALL of their project-based learning final products and outcomes - get this for free from Experiential Learning Depot when you subscribe.

Create a career portfolio using something like Google Slides

Artistic portfolio showcasing any/all artwork

Design a t-shirt on a program such as Canva.

Make an organizer using spreadsheets

Create a fictional Facebook profile (great for book characters)

Blueprint/floor plan (Google Sketchup is a great free option

Write a petition using something like

Write a persuasive or informative speech and record it using the video tools mentioned above

Write a business plan

Host a gameshow using a video conference platform such as Google Meet or Zoom.

Create a time capsule using something like Virtual Time Capsule

Organize an online event such as a speaker series

Host an online fundraiser

Pinterest photo campaign

I would love to know what you are doing with your students in the virtual world! Although I have a lot of experience with in-person project-based learning, I am learning about how to make PBL meaningful and impactful digitally right along with you.

Tell us about the digital tools for demonstrating learning that you love the most! I would love to make this a continuous and growing catalog of digital end product possibilities. ​

Take a peek at these related project-based learning resources!

Looking for relevant blog posts? Look no further!

Are you interested in discussing Experiential Learning Depot's consulting options?

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90 Digital End Product Ideas for Project-Based Learning

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During this time of distance learning, the option to demonstrate learning in an innovative way digitally is essential. Check out this exhaustive list of PBL final product ideas that can be created and shared digitally.