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Intentionally Slowing Down to Ensure That Students Learn Material Deeply

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Teachers who are tempted to race through the curriculum to cover everything may want to reconsider and slow down a bit so that students can learn the most important content better.

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These adapted classroom strategies encourage students to talk through and reflect on learning in meaningful ways.

Visible thinking routines-strategies and frameworks that help students verbalize and demonstrate their thought processes-benefit students and teachers alike, especially when integrated regularly into classroom routines. In fact, using such routines can preserve students' cognitive resources, which are finite, according to research, because they don't need to retain steps and directions for a new activity in order to engage with learning content.

And there is a plethora of resources available regarding visible thinking routines, meaning that teachers of all ages and subjects can utilize the strategy. Some of my favorite resource repositories are Thinking Pathways, Inspiring Inquiry, and Harvard University's Thinking Routines Toolbox. For educators who may be new to the visible thinking routines, I recommend think-pair-share.

I've found that many existing routines can be enhanced and adapted. To that end, I share below several visible thinking routines that I have altered and benefited from in my work with students.

PADLET WITH STEP INSIDE

The Step Inside visible thinking routine can expand students' perspectives. In my English language and literature course, I have used this strategy to help my students take on the role of a character from our novel study. I adapted the activity by integrating technology and creating a Padlet that I shared with all students. I then edited three questions that encouraged students to step inside a character's perspective-in our case, the perspective of Peter Wiggin from the novel Ender's Game: What do I care about most? Do I love Ender? Why am I acting violently? Students justified their perspectives by providing citations from the text.

To enhance this routine, you can ask students to respond to another student's writing by acting in the role of another character, a historical figure, or a scientist, as applicable. On Padlet, I like to use the comment feature for this enhancement. My students used the comments to respond from the perspectives of Colonel Hyrum Graff, another important character in the novel.

IDENTIFYING SIMILAR THINKING

Connect, Extend, Challenge -a thinking routine that asks students to consider how new learning has broadened their thinking-is well-suited for teachers to implement when students learn new concepts or ideas that connect to previously taught content.

I revamped this routine to offer my grade-seven students an opportunity to collaborate. After students individually completed their "Connect, Extend, Challenge," I printed their written responses. Each student then cut out their connections, extensions, and challenges, and I grouped students into pairs or trios, where they pasted their work onto poster board.

They then identified similarities between their and their group mates' responses by drawing lines between ideas. Students explained their identified similarities on their lines, which provided evidence of students' thinking.

Some groups even created their own labeling system. I found that keeping such an option open to students promoted a sense of ownership between the groups. Due to the smaller group setting, my more introverted students were especially engaged by this enhancement to the thinking routine.

COLLABORATION, HEADLINES, AND AI

Headlines summarize and capture new learning in a catchy way. Students can create an interesting title for an online article, newspaper, magazine, or blog that summarizes new learning. I have found that headlines are an excellent springboard for student collaboration and interdisciplinary learning or for an interactive planning meeting between teachers. Educators can show colleagues exemplar headlines from content completed in their classes, and these headlines can kindle discussions on common topics or content being taught across subject groups.

For example, a math teacher might bring a headline from one of her students that reads, "Discovering Ratios: The Power of Comparisons." A music teacher might share, "Catchy Tunes that Make Music MUSIC." From the headlines above, the math and music teachers can discuss how ratios and melodies relate.

Students can also exchange original headlines and write a 500-word response that fits their peer's headline. And they might make further enhancements with AI-if your students are of age and meet your country's requirements. Students can prompt AI to generate alternatives to their own headlines, and they can compare human versus AI-generated headlines to analyze the similarities, differences, and efficacies.

You can try a subject-based approach to prompting AI-for example, "Hi ChatGPT, we have read/learned _____ in _____ (subject). Our teacher asked us to generate a headline to show our understanding of _____. Here is my headline: _____. Could you generate another headline for me?"

BONUS: 3,2,1 REFLECTION FROM THINKING PATHWAYS

The visible thinking routine 3, 2, 1 Bridge was adapted by Alice Vigors, creator of Thinking Pathways. Vigors's adaptation, 3, 2, 1 Reflection, gives educators a quick method for reflecting with their students. In my practice, I have found that reflection can become worksheet-heavy. But an adapted 3, 2, 1 Reflection gives me a tool for diversifying engagement.

Begin by printing the 3, 2, 1 reflection image on large paper, preferably in color. Post it on the bulletin board. After completing an activity (or a visible thinking routine), give each student a Post-it note. Ask students to write three things that they have learned from the activity on this note.

Then, hand out another Post-it. Ask students to write two questions that surfaced from the activity. Give them one more note on which to pen a challenge that stemmed from the activity. Next, invite students to walk to the poster and attach their notes to the corresponding locations. This makes for excellent bulletin board material, and it gives students an opportunity to move during lessons.

EDUCATORS IMPACT POSTERITY

We educate because it is our calling. Every cohort of students is different; this is one of the many reasons why educating is an art and science. At the time of my writing this, there are 83 different visible thinking routines from which educators can select to best serve their students and educational contexts. This array preserves teachers' professional autonomy, and each of these routines can be adapted or enhanced-as demonstrated above-to further suit learners' needs.

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How to Adapt Visible Thinking Routines to Maximize Student Engagement

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These adapted classroom strategies encourage students to talk through and reflect on learning in meaningful ways.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

When students have a say in the assessment of their work, they find more enjoyment in demonstrating their knowledge.

It had been a long year. I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to take on the role of inaugural science teacher at a brand-new school, but by this time, late May in New Jersey, I and maybe every other teacher in the school (world?) were running on fumes. The thought of pleading with kids to complete just one more assignment or cram one more piece of knowledge into their heads seemed daunting.

I decided to follow the lead of the author Robyn R. Jackson and her bookNever Work Harder Than Your Students and ease us all into the end of the year. So, I let my students choose their own final and everything about it-the subject, how they would represent their knowledge, and how they would be graded. I did this through a series of conversations via a Google Doc, and it turned my end-of-year exhaustion into excitement and a ton of individualized learning.

Students Choose a Topic and Demonstrate Their Knowledge

On the first day of work on the final project, each student's job was to pick a topic and choose how they would demonstrate their knowledge on that topic. The topic could be anything as long as it related to the class (biology for my ninth-grade students and chemistry for those in 10th grade). Most kids chose to dig deeper into something we had already discussed and explore it more, but a few ventured out into new topics and explored other things.

As for the knowledge demonstration, I was blown away. I had one student who had built a cell in Minecraft earlier in the year. He had enjoyed the work so much that he brought it back for his final and used it to make a model of DNA. I had another student who did well in chemistry, but her real passion was art. Her final project was on the chemistry of photography.

Collaborate With Students to Adjust the Rubric

After students chose their topics and project styles, I responded back to them with a rubric. This was where the real magic happened. For each student, based on the type of project they selected, I pulled the rubric from that project we had done earlier in the year. Then, I modified the rubric based on the student's new project and abilities.

By this point in the year, I could estimate approximately how much I could push each of my students. My students who grasped concepts quickly and easily were given rubrics with more nuance. My students who needed more processing time received more-straightforward, streamlined ones. Students had time to review their proposed rubric from me and agree or disagree with their assigned point values.

Some students accepted my edits, while others had excellent ideas for additional changes. "I really love doing art-can I have some more points if I put some drawings in my presentation?" versus "I am not artistic, and I don't think that should be represented in my grade. Can I eliminate the neatness portion of the rubric?" I almost always said yes. Kids were learning how to advocate for themselves in respectful ways and to learn what worked for them.

Over the four days of work time, the rubrics continued to be edited. Students who bit off more than they could chew approached me asking if they could cut some things out of their rubric. I said sure. Students who finished early dug in deeper. Almost every student worked the whole time because the stakes were low. They knew that if they needed to, they could modify their rubric until our last in-class work period. Students were also excited about what they were doing, and there was no comparison with anyone else. Each student charted their own course and enjoyed what they were learning about.

Don't Require Presentations, But Keep STUDENTS Accountable

At the end of the project, I was left with a set of projects in each class that were wildly diverse in style and content. To alleviate the stress of presenting, I put everyone's project in a Google folder and gave students the opportunity to view everyone's work. There was no monotonous repetition of the same presentation over and over, no nerves of having to present to the whole class, and a whole lot more learning.

Kids were able to view the presentations that they were interested in and spend time on those, even viewing projects from other classes. My students and I loved seeing the bits of individualized flair that so many students put into their presentation-"Of course he made a movie about cell replication; he loves writing scripts!"

When the time came for grading, I could see that my students trusted me more too. Because they had a say in how they were graded, my grading no longer felt like a system they were trying to game, but more of a contract to hold them accountable. If they did what they said they were going to, which essentially was "Show me you've learned something you care about," they were able to earn their points. I felt so much more connected with my students, and I hope they felt more connected to me.

If I wasn't convinced before, I am now, that students know what's expected of them-they simply look to you as their teacher to enforce it. By removing the piece of me telling them what they already knew, they blew me away. We need to give them more credit.

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I Let Students Choose Their Grading Criteria, and Here's How It Went

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Letting students choose their own grading criteria puts them in control of their learning and guides them to produce high-quality work.

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These adapted classroom strategies encourage students to talk through and reflect on learning in meaningful ways.

Visible thinking routines-strategies and frameworks that help students verbalize and demonstrate their thought processes-benefit students and teachers alike, especially when integrated regularly into classroom routines. In fact, using such routines can preserve students' cognitive resources, which are finite, according to research, because they don't need to retain steps and directions for a new activity in order to engage with learning content.

And there is a plethora of resources available regarding visible thinking routines, meaning that teachers of all ages and subjects can utilize the strategy. Some of my favorite resource repositories are Thinking Pathways, Inspiring Inquiry, and Harvard University's Thinking Routines Toolbox. For educators who may be new to the visible thinking routines, I recommend think-pair-share.

I've found that many existing routines can be enhanced and adapted. To that end, I share below several visible thinking routines that I have altered and benefited from in my work with students.

PADLET WITH STEP INSIDE

The Step Inside visible thinking routine can expand students' perspectives. In my English language and literature course, I have used this strategy to help my students take on the role of a character from our novel study. I adapted the activity by integrating technology and creating a Padlet that I shared with all students. I then edited three questions that encouraged students to step inside a character's perspective-in our case, the perspective of Peter Wiggin from the novel Ender's Game: What do I care about most? Do I love Ender? Why am I acting violently? Students justified their perspectives by providing citations from the text.

To enhance this routine, you can ask students to respond to another student's writing by acting in the role of another character, a historical figure, or a scientist, as applicable. On Padlet, I like to use the comment feature for this enhancement. My students used the comments to respond from the perspectives of Colonel Hyrum Graff, another important character in the novel.

IDENTIFYING SIMILAR THINKING

Connect, Extend, Challenge -a thinking routine that asks students to consider how new learning has broadened their thinking-is well-suited for teachers to implement when students learn new concepts or ideas that connect to previously taught content.

I revamped this routine to offer my grade-seven students an opportunity to collaborate. After students individually completed their "Connect, Extend, Challenge," I printed their written responses. Each student then cut out their connections, extensions, and challenges, and I grouped students into pairs or trios, where they pasted their work onto poster board.

They then identified similarities between their and their group mates' responses by drawing lines between ideas. Students explained their identified similarities on their lines, which provided evidence of students' thinking.

Some groups even created their own labeling system. I found that keeping such an option open to students promoted a sense of ownership between the groups. Due to the smaller group setting, my more introverted students were especially engaged by this enhancement to the thinking routine.

COLLABORATION, HEADLINES, AND AI

Headlines summarize and capture new learning in a catchy way. Students can create an interesting title for an online article, newspaper, magazine, or blog that summarizes new learning. I have found that headlines are an excellent springboard for student collaboration and interdisciplinary learning or for an interactive planning meeting between teachers. Educators can show colleagues exemplar headlines from content completed in their classes, and these headlines can kindle discussions on common topics or content being taught across subject groups.

For example, a math teacher might bring a headline from one of her students that reads, "Discovering Ratios: The Power of Comparisons." A music teacher might share, "Catchy Tunes that Make Music MUSIC." From the headlines above, the math and music teachers can discuss how ratios and melodies relate.

Students can also exchange original headlines and write a 500-word response that fits their peer's headline. And they might make further enhancements with AI-if your students are of age and meet your country's requirements. Students can prompt AI to generate alternatives to their own headlines, and they can compare human versus AI-generated headlines to analyze the similarities, differences, and efficacies.

You can try a subject-based approach to prompting AI-for example, "Hi ChatGPT, we have read/learned _____ in _____ (subject). Our teacher asked us to generate a headline to show our understanding of _____. Here is my headline: _____. Could you generate another headline for me?"

BONUS: 3,2,1 REFLECTION FROM THINKING PATHWAYS

The visible thinking routine 3, 2, 1 Bridge was adapted by Alice Vigors, creator of Thinking Pathways. Vigors's adaptation, 3, 2, 1 Reflection, gives educators a quick method for reflecting with their students. In my practice, I have found that reflection can become worksheet-heavy. But an adapted 3, 2, 1 Reflection gives me a tool for diversifying engagement.

Begin by printing the 3, 2, 1 reflection image on large paper, preferably in color. Post it on the bulletin board. After completing an activity (or a visible thinking routine), give each student a Post-it note. Ask students to write three things that they have learned from the activity on this note.

Then, hand out another Post-it. Ask students to write two questions that surfaced from the activity. Give them one more note on which to pen a challenge that stemmed from the activity. Next, invite students to walk to the poster and attach their notes to the corresponding locations. This makes for excellent bulletin board material, and it gives students an opportunity to move during lessons.

EDUCATORS IMPACT POSTERITY

We educate because it is our calling. Every cohort of students is different; this is one of the many reasons why educating is an art and science. At the time of my writing this, there are 83 different visible thinking routines from which educators can select to best serve their students and educational contexts. This array preserves teachers' professional autonomy, and each of these routines can be adapted or enhanced-as demonstrated above-to further suit learners' needs.

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How to Adapt Visible Thinking Routines to Maximize Student Engagement

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These adapted classroom strategies encourage students to talk through and reflect on learning in meaningful ways.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Teachers can use this approach to project-based learning to help ensure that the final product comes from truly engaged learning.

Sustaining student engagement throughout a project-based learning (PBL) unit is a common challenge for classroom practitioners. When a project begins, engagement starts off high, thanks to the natural curiosity provoked by a project launch that includes elements like interesting questions or multimedia resources, as well as the interest that comes with a fresh endeavor.

However, this honeymoon period doesn't last long as students begin to realize that project work requires effort. This sometimes leads to a drop in interest and engagement, at least until a few days before the conclusion of the project, when students scramble to put the finishing touches on their work ahead of the due date. Outside of the beginning and end, the middle portions of a project can sometimes feel like a struggle, which is why the middle of a PBL project is often called "the messy middle," because maintaining student interest is a challenge even for experienced PBL teachers.

This gradual slide into the messy middle isn't inevitable. There are several strategies that teachers can employ to reinvigorate student interest and reengage them with the project process, including one I call the surprise, rehook, engage (SRE) method.

STEP 1: SURPRISE

Classroom norms, routines, and predictable structures often form the backbone of highly effective PBL classrooms, so it may seem counterintuitive to break them, but that's just what I'm advising you to do. When you see your students struggling to stay engaged with whatever part of the project they're working on, it's time to recapture their interest. The surest way to do that is to do something outside of the norm in your classroom. The more consistent you are with your classroom expectations and routines, the more surprised your students will be when you abandon them, and it's this surprise factor that will help bring them back onto the project path.

Surprise is a biological response to an unexpected stimulus, something that our primitive ancestors needed to survive the dangers that filled the harsh primeval world they lived in. This natural alarm system is still buried deep in our reptilian brains, forcing us to pay attention when a squirrel runs across the road in front of our car or when a psychotic killer bursts out of a closet during our favorite scary movie.

If you surprise your students, they will be biologically compelled to focus on you, granting you their attention once again. There are many things that you can do to capitalize on the power of surprise: changing the physical layout of the classroom, introducing a new protocol or process, teaching a lesson embedded with multimedia resources, or even arriving to class dressed in a costume or equipped with tactical learning resources or artifacts. If it's something they're not used to seeing in your room, all the better, but once you capture their attention, you need to move to the second part of the strategy quickly because the power of surprise dissipates over time.

Step 2: Rehook

PBL promotes rigorous problem-solving and critical thinking when done well, but these kinds of processes can tax even the most dedicated student over time, causing them to disengage or give up when they've reached their limit and left the zone of proximal development. Student disengagement or lackluster performance can sometimes indicate that they've just hit their limit, and the antidote could be helping to rebuild their confidence by granting them an easy win.

Once you've rehooked your students' attention, possibly by leveraging the power of surprise, you will immediately want to move into an activity or structured lesson designed to be accessible and easy to understand. Providing your students with an academic win can help rebuild sapped confidence and reengage them with the project path.

There are all sorts of activities you can employ that have a light academic load but are still valuable to learning; a review game, a choice-based stations activity, a highly structured discussion, or a simple partner activity are all good candidates. One approach I recommend considering is the visible thinking routines championed by Harvard's Project Zero. These highly scaffolded academic processes are universal in their accessibility, meaning that they work just as well for kindergartners as they do for MIT graduate students. Whatever activity you choose, make sure that it acts as a bridge back to the project path you originally laid out in your project plan.

Step 3: Engage

While reengagement strategies often prove fruitful, there are no silver bullets in education, and as such, it's important to make sure that you have more than one reengagement strategy at the ready. If your attempts to reengage your students with confidence-building tasks don't work, another option that can be used either in its place or directly after is a questioning activity. Questions fuel the inquiry processes that help drive the self-directed learning in a project-based classroom, and if your students ever run out of questions or wonder about the relevance of the ones they've already brainstormed, it may be time to refresh their lists.

To do this, you'll want to relaunch the project-but on a small scale so that you don't lose much time. Facilitate a new entry event that provokes curiosity or gets students thinking about what comes next, and then move quickly into a question-formulation process to refresh the avenues of inquiry open to them. Again, this should be able to be completed in a single instructional period or hour; a method such as a gallery walk, a question formulation (QFT) protocol, or a short small group discussion will get you what you need without a lot of delay.

So, the next time you feel your class straying from your carefully designed project path and slipping into the valley of the messy middle, remember the SRE strategy as a way to get them back on track quickly and effectively.

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A 3 Step Strategy for Sustaining Student Engagement in PBL

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Teachers can use this approach to project-based learning to help ensure that the final product comes from truly engaged learning.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Project-based learning can cultivate collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking across the grades.

Jonathan Knowles / Getty Images

In today's fast-paced and interconnected world, fostering collaborative, empathy-driven learning experiences is crucial for equipping students with the skills they need to navigate an increasingly complex future. Combining the power of community partners, collaboration, authentic problem-solving, and a focus on understanding, project-based learning (PBL) experiences offer valuable insights into how education can shape compassionate and socially responsible individuals.

Our role was to support our colleagues with curriculum design through planning meetings and serving as liaisons connecting our community partner with the district, teachers, and students. We modeled PBL techniques, including differentiated instruction, feedback, reflection, assessment, and evaluation. We shared resources, supported the integration of technology, and fostered community building with different teachers and students.

In this article, through a review of the outcomes, as well as an examination of the design and implementation, we explore the transformative potential of PBL.

The Outcomes

Maria Fareri Children's Healthcare Services offers specialized care for infants and children who may be seriously ill. As part of Westchester Medical Center, they provide world-renowned health care services to the most fragile in our community.

During the 2021-22 school year, the Wappingers Central School District students worked on a PBL project, "Happy Little Accidents." The students inspired, designed, fabricated, and donated a Rube Goldberg machine to the hospital to provide much-needed entertainment and potential therapeutic benefits during difficult times.

Kindergarten and fourth-grade students used their physical science knowledge to inspire original prototype designs for the machine. Kindergarten students transferred their knowledge of pushes, pulls, and collisions into their prototype designs. Fourth-grade students utilized their knowledge of energy, energy transfer, and motion for their prototype designs.

High school students then reviewed 94 different designs from the elementary students. They thought critically, planned meticulously, and solved problems along the way. They analyzed cause-and-effect relationships, had to troubleshoot issues, and made adjustments to ensure the successful chain reaction.

The Rube Goldberg machine at the hospital continues to entertain and provide therapeutic benefits to children. Yet, it has limitations. It's a single self-contained portable device that can serve only one child at a time. After collaborating further with our community partner, we understood their new needs: multiple games for many children.
Courtesy of Tara Koehler and John Sammon
During the 2022-23 school year, we helped establish the PBL experience titled "What's the Matter?" As with "Happy Little Accidents," elementary students worked with high school students to inspire the designs and fabrications. The public product for this PBL included eight tabletop games (interactive tic-tac-toe and mini-catapult).
Courtesy of Tara Koehler and John Sammon

Brainstorming and planning: Every PBL experience starts by thinking about our community partners and their needs. We align their needs with relevant standards and our content curriculum. We utilize Gold Standard Design Elements and think about how we'll use the design thinking process with our students so they can develop empathy while creating something for someone.

Storylines and driving questions: Each experience launches with a Storyline, a narrative structure that engages students, contextualizes learning, stimulates creativity, and creates an emotional connection with the subject matter. Out of our storylines come our driving questions-open-ended, thought-provoking questions that guide the project and stimulate students' inquiry. We typically use Tubric 2.0 to easily generate our driving questions.

Turning points: Turning points serve as important checkpoints in the learning and the project's progression. They help teachers and students track progress, stay organized, and ensure that they're on track to achieve the project goals. With each turning point, students are using their content knowledge and creating elements that contribute to their public product. This ensures that the project is the learning, not a product that is only completed at the end. See our turning point template for What's the Matter?

Design thinking: We employ design thinking at relevant turning points, which promotes a human-centered (empathy), iterative problem-solving process.

Culture:Because of the scope of the projects, it was important to make sure we established a proper culture. All of the students had to collaborate within their classes and virtually with other classes, utilize empathy, be independent learners, and function within an inquiry-based learning environment. Additionally, they all had to collaborate with employees from our community partner. To achieve this, we utilized open dialogue, active listening, and empathy toward diverse perspectives with students. We also facilitated collaborative activities and group work that promoted teamwork and the exchange of ideas. Students worked in science teams; engaged in authentic, real-world science experiments; and had to consider multiple viewpoints in their work.

Sustained inquiry: We used student-generated need-to-know questions to support student inquiry. These provided a starting point for students and helped them delve deeper into the projects and guide the learning journey. As they progressed, students generated additional questions specific to each turning point. These need-to-know questions became refined and guided their inquiry and shaped their learning experiences.

Scaffold student learning:To support all students in reaching their PBL goals, we employed a variety of lessons, tools, and instructional strategies at different points during the teaching and learning. We utilized the 5E Model, explicit direct instruction with a gradual release, small group lessons, and differentiation.

Assessment tools and strategies: We used a variety of assessment tools and strategies, including observations, science notebooks, investigations, feedback, and revision of designs, as well as digital tools. Using formative assessment methods throughout the projects provided a view of student progress and allowed for timely intervention.

Due to the nature of the public product and the users, grade five and high school students were sensitive to the properties of matter, particulate nature of matter, and conservation of matter. They created games that prioritized the safety, comfort, accessibility, and emotional well-being of sick children in order to contribute to a positive and enriching play experience.

The Implementation

The two PBL experiences described highlight the power of collaborative, empathy-driven projects to inspire and empower students. By embracing the principles of PBL and engaging with the community, students not only develop essential academic and social and emotional skills but also make a positive difference in the lives of others. These experiences serve as a testament to the transformative potential of PBL in creating empathetic, engaged, and community-minded learners.

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Building empathy with project-based learning starts with collaboration across the grades and with the community.

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Preparing Students for PBL Presentations

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Project-based learning often culminates in a presentation for an audience beyond the classroom, and students need a lot of practice to be successful.

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Setting Up Community Partnerships for Authentic PBL

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A few tips for finding and working with partners to collaborate with students in hands-on project-based learning experiences.

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A strategy called hexagonal thinking provides students with an effective way to launch project-based learning.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

By diversifying the manner of assessment in project-based learning, teachers can get a fuller picture of what students know.

Hero Images Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

a range of assessments to capture student learning in different ways;

multiple assessments over time to ensure that we have multiple snapshots of student learning;

assessments to inform teaching and learning before, during, and after a unit of study; and

assessments across levels of complexity to identify student progress to ensure that quality learning is occurring.

A common question that emerges as we design and implement problem- and project-based learning (PBL) is how do we effectively assess student learning?

While there are likely many answers to this question, all answers should be anchored to using

When these ingredients are in place, teachers and students alike are better able to understand the quality of our teaching and the progress of student learning-and, as such, carve a path forward in the teaching and learning process.

Rigorous PBL by Design

Rigorous PBL is defined as an inquiry-based methodology that requires students to solve real-world problems by learning surface, deep, and transfer learning.

Rigor is defined as the equal intensity and integration of surface ("I know" ideas), deep ("I can relate" ideas), and transfer ("I can apply" ideas).

For instance, a student may know the names and specific properties of elements on the periodic table (surface), compare and contrast different elements based on their behavior as represented on the periodic table (deep), and apply their learning in an experiment when making a case for refining strategies for extracting oil (transfer).

In PBL we want to find a way to provide a range of these assessments across the unit of study. In rigorous PBL, we divide PBL into four phases:

Phase 1: Students encounter a real-world problem requiring them to determine the expectations of solving the problem.

Phase 2: Students build new knowledge and skills that are critical to meet curriculum and project expectations.

Phase 3: Students deepen their knowledge and skills by engaging early and often in classroom discussions to solidify understanding of core principles and practices.

Phase 4: Students learn transfer-level skills to solve the problem(s) presented during Phase 1.

Diversifying Our Assessments

We can assess student learning in a number of ways. Here are three approaches to assessment:

1. Stop and assess. One way is to interrupt students' learning and provide them with an assessment. This could take the form of a test, quiz, or formal presentation. This is likely the most common form of assessment in classrooms.

2. Assess in action. Another option is assessing students as they engage in the learning, and we simply assess their performance without stopping them in the moment. This could take the form of watching students debate, solve a math problem during independent practice, or redraft a paper in class.

3. Have students construct the assessment. The final option is for students to construct the way in which they want to be assessed. In this process, students and teachers work together to identify the areas that need to be assessed, and students devise a way to show that practice. Suppose a student wanted to showcase their understanding of geometric angles: They may propose drawing and labeling a number of angles in front of the teacher.

When we design assessments, we want to ensure that they meet each level of surface, deep, and transfer. As such, it's helpful to create a simple grid that lays out each level of complexity and each type of assessment.

Diversifying Our Use of Assessments With Students

Pre-assessment. Ask students to jot down where they are in their learning, how they will perform in their learning, and what next steps they will likely need to take.

Post assessment. Ask students to evaluate any and all discrepancies between their pre-assessment and their current performance. Ask students to share out next steps they can take to improve.

Weekly/daily check-ins. Ask students to appraise their current performance using tools such as success criteria and current assessment information and discuss potential discrepancies in that appraisal. Work with students to develop next steps to improve or enhance their learning.

We use assessments for a number of reasons. One is to assess the end of a learning sequence and report on a student's learning. We call this a summative assessment. We also use formative assessment, or the collection of data along the course of a student's learning journey to appraise current performance and make adjustments.

In both uses of assessment, we want to think about how we can support students in being actively involved in knowing their performance and planning next steps. Here are three ways to support students in being actively involved in the assessment process:

Putting It Together

How do we put all of this together to enhance student learning in the PBL environment? Let's look at an example to solidify this new understanding of diversifying our assessment portfolio.

Phase 1: During the entry launch, we may use "stop and assess" as a way to identify student prior knowledge. We may "assess in action" by listening to students as they work on initial tasks or complete a need-to-know list.

Phase 2: Teachers and students are engaging in daily 2-to-3-minute check-ins on performance. Teachers are weaving a number of "stop and assess" and "assess in action" assessments at the surface level.

Phase 3: As students deepen their learning, teachers may capture summative assessment data of student surface and deep knowledge. This is a great opportunity for students to engage in a pre-/post-assessment reflection and determine next steps. In addition, this process may serve as fodder for students to develop a student-constructed assessment for showcasing all levels of learning during phase 4.

Phase 4: During this phase, the teacher is relying more on "assess in action" at the transfer level as well as student-constructed assessments to make judgments on student learning and to feed forward their thinking to students.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL) By diversifying the manner of assessment in project-based learning, teachers can get a fuller picture of what students know. Hero Images Inc.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Practical PBL: The Ongoing Challenges of Assessment

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Practical PBL: The Ongoing Challenges of Assessment

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Teaching Note-Taking Skills to Guide Students to Self-Directed Learning

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These strategies help middle school students improve their critical thinking, in turn encouraging them to take the initiative in their learning.

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Because PBL is about more than learning content, PBL teachers should investigate and experiment with multi-model strategies for assessing their students’ learning skills.

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Two fifth grade teachers explain how the driving question and the need to know list are a naturally fit for their PBL pilot program.

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In order to skillfully embrace the challenges and opportunities they will encounter in life, our students need to develop sophisticated thinking skills that extend far beyond disciplinary boundaries. From understanding and unpacking problems, constraints, and possibilities, to identifying patterns and addressing biases, the types of thinking we should be nurturing in students are many and complex.

PBL structures provide fertile soil for these thinking skills, but we need to be intentional about sowing and watering the seeds. As John Mergendoller writes, "Does PBL teach critical thinking? Our answer is that it can, but a project has to be structured with critical thinking as a goal." In order to make sure our projects teach students substantive critical thinking skills, we must think purposefully about designing complex, high-level tasks and driving questions, and about carefully scaffolding thinking skills throughout the project.

So, how can we systematically scaffold thinking skills? As we know, a scaffold is any support that helps students move from their current knowledge or skill level to a new level. In the case of specific types of thinking skills, the following steps can be helpful:

Clarify the Learning Goal:

Just like any other type of content or skill, it's important to begin with the end in mind. The clearer we can be with ourselves about the types of thinking we want students to learn and practice, the more aligned our supports will be. This can be challenging when it comes to thinking, because thinking is so complex and multifaceted and many skills are often lumped together under the umbrella of "critical thinking." But it can be helpful to drill down as much as possible during the planning process: Am I asking students to generate open-ended questions? To compare multiple perspectives? To make meaning of a visual input? To synthesize and draw conclusions? Having clarity about the particular aspects of thinking you are targeting can help you develop scaffolds to get students there.

Formatively Assess and Provide Guided Practice:

To provide effective scaffolds, we need a sense of students' current capacity/skill level, but the best way to assess students' thinking is by giving them authentic, visible opportunities to think! To this end, it can be helpful to combine the teaching and formative assessment of thinking skills through the use of thinking routines, like those created by the Visible Thinking Project at Harvard's Project Zero, in addition to other structured protocols, classroom discussions, and writing opportunities. Routines like these allow students to practice thinking skills in structured but flexible and authentic ways and to learn from one another's thinking. They allow the teacher a window into student thinking, which makes it easier to address misconceptions and new learning opportunities and to identify appropriate supports.

Create Space for Thinking about Thinking:

Researcher Nancy Chick writes that "Metacognitive practices increase students' abilities to transfer or adapt their learning to new contexts and tasks. They do this by gaining a level of awareness above the subject matter: they also think about the tasks and contexts of different learning situations and themselves as learners in these different contexts." Having students reflect on the kinds of thinking they are practicing, and consider when and how these different modes of thinking make sense to use, empowers them to use the tools in their mental toolboxes in skillful and appropriate ways.

One of the major goals most teachers have when embarking on a PBL journey is the goal of increasing students' capacity to think in complex ways. Defining a meaningful, authentic, and challenging task is part of this process, but so is intentionally scaffolding student thinking throughout the project.

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Scaffolding Student Thinking in Projects

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3 tips: clarify learning goals, formatively assess and provide guided practice, and create space for thinking about thinking.

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What kind of thinking do we need students to do in PBL and how can we best scaffold that thinking? As an instructional coach, that is what I ask teachers as they design and implement projects in their classrooms. So often, teachers get caught up in creating the product, managing the process, or if they are new to PBL, finding the balance between student autonomy, team collaboration, and teacher control. It becomes too easy to focus on the work and forget about the thinking and the learning.

Beyond a well-designed unit, PBL is a change in mindset and a cultural shift. Every classroom already has a culture. Some classroom cultures are more conducive to facilitating PBL than others. The question we need to ask ourselves is,

"What do we want our culture in project based learning to exemplify?"

According to Ron Ritchhart, there are eight cultural forces that define our classroom. They are: time, modeling, language, environment, interactions, expectations, opportunities, and routines. Together, these forces shape the culture of thinking in a very complex and fluid way.

Cultural Force of Routine: Four Types

Routines are intentional moves and questioning strategies that scaffold students' thinking in the moment as well as providing tools and patterns of thinking that can be used independently. In Creating Cultures of Thinking, Ritchhart also states that well-functioning classrooms have four types of routines: management, instructional, interactional, and thinking. Historically, a majority of time in classrooms has focused on management and instructional routines. Management routines help classrooms run smoothly and instructional routines are rooted on how a teacher delivers the information. With the focus more on controlling students and content delivery, student thinking and learning are not highly valued with management and instructional routines.

Ritchhart further explains that "interactional routines structure the contact between teachers and students as well as that between students and students." Such routines promote positive social and emotional learning structures. Although thinking routines can be used as instructional routines, Ritchhart describes that "their real power comes in their use as cognitive strategies that become patterns of behavior for students." Thinking routines are designed to help scaffold thinking. As students become more familiar with them, they can use it independently and naturally in different contexts. Reflecting on the culture of your classroom, what types of routines fill your students' day? Your Project Based Learning units?

Thinking Routines and PBL

Why include thinking routines in PBL? In addition to the reasons previously mentioned, certain thinking routines lend themselves to the type of thinking required in the flow of a project, as shown on the table above. For example, at the launch of a project, you would want your students to engage in thinking routines for introducing and exploring ideas, such as " See-Think-Wonder" or " Zoom In." As you build knowledge, you would most likely implement routines that synthesize and organize new information such as the " 4C's"or " Headlines." As you dig deeper into ideas through critique and revision, you may find yourself using routines such " Circle of Viewpoints" or " What makes you say that? " that lend themselves to that kind of thinking.

Even with these guidelines, no particular thinking routine is meant for only one part of a project. For example, " Chalk Talk " can be used to introduce and explore new ideas. While some teachers use it as a silent conversation in the launch to help generate questions for the need to know list and as a formative assessment of what students already know, other teachers have used it as a way to generate critique and feedback as highlighted in the table.

When designing or implementing a PBL unit, the following questions help teachers identify which specific routine to use: "What kind of thinking do my students need to do with this content? How can I best engage them in that kind of thinking?" As students become more familiar with thinking routines, they will be empowered to be more intentional and independent in using them. That is the ultimate goal. One teacher summed up the relationship of Cultures of Thinking to Project Based Learning: "To have high quality PBL, we need to have a culture of high quality thinking."

The chart above shows some examples of how teachers used thinking routines in their PBL units. (Here's a Google Doc version of the chart.) Remember, these are only some suggestions of how a routine may be embedded in the project path. What routine you choose depends on how you want your students to engage in the thinking.
Project Zero by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Visible Thinking Website, and Ron Ritchhart's Cultures of Thinking website are great resources to get you started.

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What kind of thinking do we need students to do in PBL and how can we best scaffold that thinking? As an instructional coach, that is what I ask teachers as they design and implement projects in their classrooms. So often, teachers get caught up in creating the product, managing the process, or if they are new to PBL, finding the balance between student autonomy, team collaboration, and teacher control.

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You're fired! That's one of the last slides in the Buck Institute for Education's Project Based Learning workshop, and it needs to be there. Eventually, in some project, most students will come to a point where their team doesn't, can't, or won't work together and someone may need to leave. This could be the fault of bad project design or lack of effective management by the teacher, but sometimes it's just a natural result of intensely collaborative relationships. That's why it's important to arrive, collaboratively, at a shared understanding about firing that applies not only in a single classroom, but fairly among all teachers engaged in PBL within a school. The key is to understand that the culture of firing that enters into PBL is something more than simply failing to "make the grade," or a chance for team leaders to act out an episode of the Apprentice-it is an opportunity for learning.

During the course of a project, students come to appreciate those on their team who are doing the work necessary to move the team forward, and they distinguish such team members from those whose work is lacking (i.e., slackers), or whose work only allows for individual demonstrations of mastery (i.e., lone wolves). Once this distinction arises, students will want to fire those in the latter two categories, and it may be hard to stop them, even with a student-generated contract in place. Since the desire to fire is based on this appreciation of those who help the team versus those who don't, experience suggests it is very important to begin conversations about collaboration in PBL not around firing, but rather around the structures of hiring that support teamwork in the classroom. If you want your students to stay on a team, focus on how to get hired, NOT on how to avoid getting fired.

As an example of best practices, consider ACE Leadership High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The program is organized entirely around the disciplines of architecture, construction and engineering (ACE), and serves a population that is majority free and reduced lunch from the city's Latino community. The school's Board of Directors is drawn from that community, the professional building community, and the city at large, and all are dedicated to providing a better quality ACE employee. ACE Leadership is dedicated to a PBL curriculum with lots of "hammer time" to prepare students for all aspects work in the ACE professions. Students are held to the same standards and accountability common to any core curriculum, but the approach of the curriculum is a truly assets-based opportunity for a student to learn, bilingually, to describe him- or herself in a way that will help land a job.

ACE students begin very early in their career to develop a resume-a set of simple bi-lingual talking points about the skills they bring to the job, and the skills they are developing through the course of their studies. Every trimester these skills are called upon and developed in their classes, but most importantly, in presentations of learning at the end of the term. Unlike typical presentations of learning, ACE students share their learning experiences and the lessons gained from their coursework by presenting their resumes to potential employers. Students seek feedback not only on the ACE skills they are learning, but also on their skills at presenting themselves. Students at ACE Leadership High School form a culture of hiring on campus every day of every term, and this culture of hiring is not only important for life after graduation, but also tremendously important during projects whenever the question of firing arises.

In a culture of firing, when the teacher is confronted by students who would like to remove one member of their team, or a member who would like to remove themselves from the team, this often presents a major problem. Solving it may involve consultations with the students, their parents, and even perhaps counseling staff or administrators. In a culture of hiring, ACE students or teams who determine that they can no longer work together have an immediate recourse in the resumes that they are required to develop, and in themselves. Fired students can seek employment with others teams, and teams who must fire a student have the possibility of hiring a replacement. Much as in a true labor market-or major league baseball-there will be more mobility during the early part of the project as initial teams are re-formed by a better understanding of the skills and talents each individual member brings to that team. Where "hiring" is an option, "firing," is not so much an end to the project for that team member, as it is a signal that student(s) are making team and goal oriented decisions. Getting fired, and then getting rehired, becomes an integral part of the learning experience, not a sign of failure.

After they get over the initial shock of thinking about a culture of firing in their classroom or school, many teachers begin to wonder whether there might be some point that is too early in a student's educational experience for firing. This is especially true for those who teach in the elementary grades-and they're right. If students are focused early on the culture of hiring, however, they will develop skills that will help them survive larger projects later in their education, and life skills that will make them not only employable, but re-employable after graduation. Given that the average late 20th century graduate will hold more than eleven jobs between the age of 18 and 44, it's hard to argue that, properly scaffolded, this is anything but developmentally appropriate preparation for a 21st century that promises even more change. Helping students to understand their unique skills, assets and gifts is what a culture of hiring is all about. If we promote a culture of hiring, "You're fired!" ceases to be a problem to be avoided, and comes to be a learning opportunity that will help students throughout the greatest course of all, the course of their lives.

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Opportunities for learning when project team members are "fired and hired."

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Not Just Group Work -- Productive Group Work!

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To ensure productive group work, teachers must communicate expectations, strategically build groups, structure activities, scaffold work with a supportive classroom culture, and stress individual accountability.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Encouraging middle and high school students to talk through differences of opinion can make for stronger projects and greater learning gains.

Allison Shelley / American Education

Organizational theorists have long argued that the default way in which people engage in dialogue is simply not conducive to actual learning. The preset mode for most people is to withhold assumptions, keep the sharing of rationale and intent largely private, and provide and advocate for a particular position by either verbalizing their ideas or remaining quiet. This can manifest in many ways, but the most common is advocacy (sharing my side with conviction) or avoidance (staying away from the discussion altogether and keeping my ideas private).

In other words, we seem to do well with telling others what to do or what we think, but we tend to suffer mightily from listening to others and working through their ideas. We typically pull stronger for our ideas or give up and capitulate to theirs. We tend to see groups pivot from "I do" to "you do" without "we do.''

A number of studies on problem- and project-based learning show that group collaboration is fraught with challenges. For instance, in one study that looked at collaboration among adults in a PBL environment, teams did not engage in meaningful discussions. They lacked an effective approach to critical thinking, including sharing, weighing, and evaluating diverse opinions, or coming to an agreement on a shared solution.

A similar story is occurring across classrooms in the United States. Most students simply focus on completing tasks and approaching a divide-and-conquer scheme to get through the myriad of tasks assigned to groups while avoiding conflict at all costs. Unfortunately, this manifests as students being concerned with the amount of work each person is doing versus the overall quality of the group's discourse.

But research illustrates that when done correctly, collaboration is critical for student learning. In an analysis of studies about learning strategies, the case was made that feedback from peers and classroom discussion not only double the rate of learning but are bedrock strategies for students to develop deeper learning (i.e., analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). In other words, the only way to fully achieve mastery is through high-quality social interactions.

How Do We Go From Advocacy or Avoidance to Inquiry and Engagement?

State views and ask genuine questions. (Speak like you are right, and listen like you are wrong.)

Explain reasoning and intent. (This is why I think we should do... And my purpose is...)

Focus on interests, not positions. (At the end of the day, I want us to...)

Test assumptions and inferences. (I'm assuming...)

Jointly design next steps. (Our next four steps include...)

I have found that one of the most effective and efficient ways to design discussions for learning is to follow a five-step plan.

Process role: Are we following our agreements? Are we sticking to our agenda? Do we know our next steps? Do we know how we will check for our progress?

Perspective role: Are we hearing from everyone? And from every viewpoint?

Precision role: Do we have the facts right? Are these decisions based on our collective understanding?

1. Create and monitor conversational agreements. We often have norms for behavioral expectations for our classroom. The recommendation here is to add engagement expectations when working with others to create rigorous discussions. The introduction of these agreements is easier than living them day by day. We have all seen the norms on the board, but we don't live them or follow them. One way to think of it is to treat agreements like putting on a mask. It's not the most comfortable, it feels awkward, and we don't see the immediate impact, but it's critical to our well-being and that of others. Taking time to model, remind, and reinforce engagement agreements is critical for conducting high-quality student interactions.

2. Create process roles. We have an opportunity to shift away from product-management roles (leader, timekeeper, recorder, tech person) to interaction-based roles. Students can use questions related to their role to keep the group on track.

3. Implement protocols with fidelity. When designing and implementing protocols, divide up the discussions into protocols for tasks (reading, writing, and talking activities), problem solving, and feedback. There are a number of great protocols available online to choose from in the areas of content, problem-solving, and feedback.

4. Sequence protocols throughout the PBL process. Project-based learning is simply a methodology that begins with a problem that requires transfer, moves to building and reinforcing knowledge and skills, and finally comes back to solving the original problem. Within these phases of a project, the placements of certain protocols are critical. For example, K-W-L Charts is a protocol that helps students understand a challenging problem at the beginning of the unit. Chalk talk, Four As, and Socratic seminars are all protocols that support students in building and deepening reinforcing knowledge. As they progress toward solving the original problem, students begin using the problem-based and feedback strategies mentioned earlier.

5. Model these approaches with your own adult teams. Finally, the best way to gain proficiency in using these protocols is through practice. One of the best ways to practice is using these protocols with colleagues. In addition, practicing these protocols with students using information they're familiar with is an easy way for students to develop proficiency of the protocol and not risk overwhelming their working memory. Over time and with practice, students and teachers will be able to shift from our default of advocacy or avoidance to one of authentic engagement and inquiry.

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5 Ways to Promote Healthy Discourse During Project-Based Learning

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Encouraging middle and high school students to talk through differences of opinion can make for stronger projects and greater learning gains.

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In an older version of our PBL 101 workshop, we showed a slide with the "Elephant in the Room" installation by the British street artist Banksy (shown below). We were referring to grading, a topic that is huge but often avoided when educators talk about instructional reform, because (a) it's personal to each individual teacher, (b) it's "the coin of the realm," especially in middle school and high school, so messing with the familiar grading system can cause a backlash among students and parents, and (c) it can be really tricky.

In our work with teachers, we hear questions such as:

Do I have to invent a whole new grading system when we do PBL units?

How can I assign individual grades if students work in teams in a project?

How do I assess individual student achievement/mastery of content and success skills in PBL?

This post is about grading within a traditional context. In a later post we can get into more advanced issues such as, "What would a whole new system of assessment and reporting on student achievement look like?" and, "Should the college admissions process put less emphasis on GPA and test scores, and instead look more at projects and portfolios?" and, "Should we even have grades at all?"... Stay tuned.

Suggestions for Grading in PBL

Here are some answers to the above FAQs and more:

You do not need to reinvent your entire grading system when you're new to PBL, but you'll need to make some adjustments.

For example, there will be fewer traditional homework assignments, and perhaps fewer graded assignments generally, so manage your students' (and their families) expectations accordingly. Instead, use checkpoints with a deliverable, which gets a "go/no-go" assessment, not grades or points, to tell students they're ready to move on in the project. Emphasize formative assessment and use it often - without grades, just feedback on how to improve. (Btw, as you gain experience with PBL, you'll see how the grading/assessment system needs to change in more profound ways, such as giving separate grades for content knowledge and success skills/work habits.)

Do not give one grade for the entire project.

Doing so would give too much weight to one grade, and also mask a student's strengths and weaknesses in particular areas. Assign a grade or score separately to each major summative assessment or product.

Give far greater weight to individual work, not group work.

This will help prevent concerns about unfair grades, especially from high-achieving students (and their parents); also see item #2 above and #4 below. Don't simply "jig-saw" the work in a project; if students only do one part of a product or presentation, they're not likely to learn all that you intend. Make sure students have to truly collaborate on all parts of a project.

It's OK to (occasionally) use traditional measures like quizzes and tests.

These tools can be part of your mix, along with written assignments, as they are especially useful for assessing individual student content knowledge in a project.

Use rubrics to make quality criteria clear, and use them for formative as well as summative assessment.

Rubrics help making grading criteria explicit and clear, even while acknowledging the truth that assessment involves subjective human judgment. We recommend separate rubrics-or at least separate sections of a rubric-for content knowledge/understanding and for success skills. Early on in a project, make sure students understand the rubric's language, and have them practice using it on exemplars, and for formative self-assessment at checkpoints during a project. Having students co-create a rubric builds ownership and understanding.

Consider NOT grading the final product or presentation. The process is as (or more) important than the final product in PBL.

You might be thinking, but grades motivate students! If I don't grade the final product, what's their incentive to do it well? Based on what we've seen and heard from teachers, a good project is plenty motivating to students. They want to do well because they care about the authentic problem or driving question. If students know they will be sharing their work with experts or making a presentation to a public audience, they don't want to look bad. And finally, working in a team, IF the collaborative culture in a classroom is healthy, creates motivation to do good work; students won't want to let their teammates down.

Thoughts from PBLWorks National Faculty

Finally, here are some wise tips offered by our National Faculty members, gleaned from classroom experience, when I asked them for their thoughts about grading in PBL. Some of these might push your thinking:

Erin Gannon:
"Involve students as much as possible! Create a rubric early on with students for important work so that the expectations are crystal clear, and be sure to refer back to it during work time. There should be no surprises at the end because students have a solid understanding of how they can show mastery/ability/understanding."
Heather Wolpert-Gawron:

"In the spirit of being the coach, make sure that grades are used for feedback. If they are simply summative indicators of how close they got to some concept of perfect, that doesn't tell a student what elements are lacking.

Mix it up. Use rubrics for one assignment, screencast feedback for another, peer-scored for another, "outsider-scored" for another, credit/no-credit for some, stars vs. letter grades for another, etc.

Release their grade to them only if they prove they've groked the feedback. So many times the student cuts to the grade at the end of the artifact and never reads the "why." Only release that Holy Grail to them when they're comprehended the journey.

Not everything needs to be graded! In PBL, it's the process, not the product. What would it look like if the final product never saw a grade? It should instead be the result of a series of feedback opportunities earned throughout the unit."

Randi Downs:
"If a final product is known, like a TED talk, letter to editor, podcast, etc. a powerful approach is to have the students participate in an "immersion" into that product. Students immerse themselves into bunches of TED talks, for example, and jot down what they notice works, one item per sticky note. Then, in groups, they categorize the sticky notes, label their categories, and share out. From this, we create our final product rubric. I learned this from Katie Wood Ray and her book, Study Driven. It's pretty much how I had my students create their rubrics for every project."

Ian Stevenson:
"A powerful process for reflection is to have students score themselves on the rubric whenever the teacher is going to use a rubric (as frequently as possible). This gives a good starting point for conversation with the student. I always asked students for specific evidence if their self-score was higher than mine (and was willing to change my assessment if they pointed out something that I had missed, or explained their perspective more clearly). It also forced me to have specific evidence in order to explain any differences I had that the student wanted to know. This reinforced their confidence with oral communication, especially with the more introverted students, as well as ability to defend their argument! Once I knew students were honest and reflective, I could stop grading so much and use their self-scores on more of the formative checkpoints.

"I love Randi's process of the product immersion so students can co-create the rubric. This is crucial for those projects where students are given significant choice in the products of the project. If students can self-assess on the physical aspects of the product, then the teacher can focus more on the content and visible thinking."

Here are some more readings about grading in PBL:
Project Based Grading, by Mike McFadden

How Do We Assess (And Possibly, Grade) Project Based Learning? by Ross Cooper

Evaluation Within Project Based Learning, by Michael Hernandez

PBL Pilot: Matching PBL With Traditional Grading
and
Standards-Based Assessment in PBL, by Matt Meyers

Developing Confidence Through Delayed Grading (video), Edutopia

How Do We Grade? - Grading and Reporting in a PBL/PrBL Math Class, by Jeff Devarona, New Tech Network

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The Elephant in the Room: Grading in Project Based Learning

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Editor in Chief John Larmer, with contributions from the PBLWorks National Faculty, offers tips for teachers to answer FAQs about grading issues in PBL.

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Knowing their work will be shown to a public audience is a powerful and positive motivation for students to produce great work.

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Teachers can begin to foster a strong classroom community by having students work together on meaningful activities.

A few years ago, on the first day of school, I assigned seats to my physics students, and we started the year with a competition. I wanted to have table-based group members get to know each other, and I wanted to see them work together before we jumped into physics content. They'd be working on lab assignments together throughout the year and collaborating with tablemates for the remainder of the quarter.

So, to start making connections, I posed a challenge: build a spaghetti tower in 20 minutes that can hold a marshmallow in place using dry spaghetti sticks, a length of masking tape, and a length of string. The group whose tower holds the marshmallow the highest in the air wins.

There was no reward for winning, and the activity was not tied to a grade, so I was surprised to see how much students bought into it. The classroom was filled with the sounds of students talking with each other. They got up on the tables as their towers grew higher and higher.

In the end, the activity was a success-we had 10 spaghetti towers, each of them built with a different approach-and students had a good time working with each other. The morale stayed high across class periods and got me thinking about ways to consistently structure the first weeks of school to forge strong connections that carry students through collaborative assignments year-round.

The Importance of Community

One of the hardest things to do as a teacher is build community, especially among strangers who, like my ninth graders, may be entering high school from different middle schools. What we do in the beginning of the year can have long-term impacts on students' sense of belonging, so it's worth devoting more time to community building at the start of the school year, pushing beyond the usual icebreakers to intentionally foster a spirit of collaboration in the classroom.

There's a lot to learn from an activity like the spaghetti tower competition, which only took one class period. By giving students the chance to not only get to know each other but practice working together before the pressure of academic grades sets in, we can boost academic and social and emotional learning long-term.

Implementing the Approach

I follow a general structure, building on the spaghetti tower, that I invite you to modify. For the first few days of school, I have table groups change daily-and randomly. Students work in teams to compete in a series of low-stakes group tasks that encourage out-of-the-box thinking and have multiple solutions, like the spaghetti tower, so that they have to engage in discussion and problem-solving.

Tasks should be fun-and hands-on if possible. The tasks I use change each year, but I take a lot of inspiration from the show Taskmaster as well as online teacher accounts that offer content showing how other educators have adapted the show in their classrooms.

I end each day with a class discussion followed by guided individual self-reflection and goal setting. These processes are key to taking these tasks and using them to lay the groundwork for strong communication and collaboration skills throughout the year. When we help students to gain an awareness of their proficiency in relational learning, they're better able to reflect on and practice those skills across time.

Students might reflect, for example, on how they can thrive when working with others toward a common goal, as well as what they struggle with and can work on. For some, it may be hard not to dictate the conversation. For others, it may be that they are uncomfortable speaking at all. Many struggle with justifying their reasonings to their group members, and disagreements may result.

For everyone, this metacognition-and the goal setting it can lead to-positions them to more intentionally engage with each other, in addition to course content.

A Collaborative Education

Taking some time at the start of the year to engage in these community- and skill-building practices forges connections among diverse learners and is just one way that we can structure learning environments that are not dominated by status.

We want to build classrooms in which students see the value in different voices and points of view, ones where equitable learning and participation can occur. In doing so, perhaps we as teachers can help break the pattern of harmful hierarchies that can appear in our classrooms by creating spaces where unlikely friendships can bloom.

Entering high school can be scary and takes time to get used to. And even when students aren't new to the school, the start of a new year brings with it novelty and transition, no matter what grade students are entering. For that reason, students deserve time to adjust to their surroundings and each other before they are faced with academic pressure. The above strategies offer ways into creating a safe, productive learning environment, setting the tone for the rest of the year while supporting the development of real-life skills that will serve students well throughout school and beyond.

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Building Community Through Collaboration at the Start of the School Year

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At the start of a new school year, teachers can build a strong classroom community through collaborative learning activities.

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Teachers know that giving frequent, timely, and useful feedback can positively affect learning in their class, but the enduring power of feedback stays with a student who knows how to seek, give, and use it in order to enhance self-efficacy. For the teacher, feedback is an essential part of formative assessment that guides adapting instruction to meet learner needs. For a student who leads this process, feedback shapes growth and builds up confidence in their competency.

Using technology to provide differentiated and scaffolded adaptive feedback will move students beyond waiting for teacher feedback and making "corrections" toward more self-regulation and seeking out insights to create more-effective revisions.

In today's environment, in which schools have had to expand their use of online educational tools, fostering constructive and timely feedback and student collaboration is crucial. As we try our best to take every opportunity to keep students engaged and challenged, technology-based feedback and collaboration tools can help reap meaningful benefits as well as lessen the handwritten feedback load for teachers.

Online Feedback Tools Support Student Autonomy

In an English language arts classroom like mine, I might have 100+ papers to read and respond to with thoughtful feedback. By using technology to assist in the process, I'm able to reduce my workload in giving feedback and can lead students to become more active in this powerful part of learning. Through trial and error during the pandemic distance-learning year, I learned how to use several effective platforms that make giving feedback easier and shift the task to include students much more than before.

Google Docs is the first online feedback tool I use with my students. I use the highlight and comment tools to ask students guiding questions about their writing. When I highlight a section, I can comment with questions like "How does this section relate to your claim in the paragraph?" and others, and the tool allows students to initiate comments and feedback as well.

Students can highlight sections and ask questions for readers to respond to. When a student asks about cohesion or if evidence and reasoning are enough to support a claim, I'm able to give focused feedback, and I know the student will respond to it because they initiated the dialogue about the text. The comment and version history in Google Docs allows anyone with access to the document a window into how the document has changed and grown over time.

While Google Docs shows who's making comments on a document or draft, which is fine when the feedback is from the teacher, another online tool called Eduflow allows for anonymous posting of drafts and peer feedback.

Teachers can create three free courses, but if you need more than that, subscriptions are available. Keeping peer feedback anonymous removes the potential for hostility among students in real life because of perceived negativity online. Students can focus solely on sharing feedback on the drafts.

I use Eduflow when I think that the dynamic of the students giving and receiving the comments will interfere with the comments themselves. The dialogue that's possible when peers can read and respond to others' drafts is very helpful for teachers and students to see.

Online Tools Encourage Meaningful Feedback

Students often need guidance on how to provide useful feedback to peers. As John Hattie suggests in his book Visible Learning, praise like "good job" and "nice" are usually not specific and include little information about performance toward a goal. In my classes, I guide students to begin peer review comments by mentioning something their classmate did well and then identifying something their classmate can improve on, and whether the introduction to the draft has a clear thesis statement. Whatever the rubric for success on an assignment is, the peers are directed to follow the rubric's descriptors to make comments and suggestions.

To have a smooth beginning in teaching students how to seek, give, and apply feedback, the feedback literacy curriculum and activity from Floop is a good place to start. This resource gives students models and sentence starters and helps teachers guide students new to this process in applying feedback to their work and giving their peers useful feedback. Using Floop as a scaffolding tool, I've noticed that after my students complete the practice activities, they are more aware and intentional when giving, receiving, and applying feedback.

The Google Chrome extension Mote is another useful online feedback tool. It allows you to tag specific parts of a document, slide presentation, and more with voice comments. By using voice comments, the meaning can be conveyed with more impact because it's almost like an in-person conference; emphasis in tone of voice is easily heard and understood.

This option is helpful for students because it doesn't require them to use interpretation skills to understand written comments. Some of my students have told me that my voice comments help them focus more and that the feedback I give in this format feels more relevant and personal and makes more sense to them. The free version of Mote allows for 30-second voice comments, and if the students have the Mote extension on their Chromebooks, they can also leave comments or questions for the teacher to hear and respond to.

Online Tools Can Support Student Collaboration

Perusall is a powerful online tool that allows students to collaboratively annotate texts, as well as images and paintings. Teachers create a course, and students join it to access the materials and texts. Teachers can set the reading expectations, for example, using a feminist lens to view a text or looking for context clues in a text or image, and the students collectively add their annotations for everyone to see.

This tool amplifies student engagement and voice and helps students lead one another to more in-depth reading and greater skill development. The comments aren't anonymous, so each student has accountability for contributing to the collective interpretation of the material.

I'm a strong advocate for collaboration-it's a requirement for my classes. I have my students use the tool to add to their classmates' comments and to respond to comments to encourage collaboration. This brings student voices together in a community dialogue about a shared material or document.

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Improving Feedback and Fostering Collaboration With Technology

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Teachers know that giving frequent, timely, and useful feedback can positively affect learning in their class, but the enduring power of feedback stays with a student who knows how to seek, give, and use it in order to enhance self-efficacy. For the teacher, feedback is an essential part of formative assessment that guides adapting instruction to meet learner needs.

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As we enter into a new school year, it can be helpful to establish a high standard for quality work and deep learning in the classroom. To that end, we are resharing this post by John Larmer from Aug. 17, 2018, and hope that it inspires you to create a culture of quality work as you plan for PBL with your students.
"I thought the project was going well...but by the end, I felt that the work my students produced was not as good as I imagined it would be. I was a little embarrassed and almost wanted to dial back the audience's expectations on the night of the presentations!"

This is a common concern of teachers who are new to Project Based Learning. Things can appear to be going smoothly: students are engaged by the project and they are busy and meeting deadlines. However, at the end of the project the evidence of their thinking and learning is not as robust as it should be, and their final products are not polished. If this is your experience, ask yourself some questions:

1. Did I use rubrics, exemplars, and industry professionals to help students understand the quality of work expected?

Simply telling students that you want them to do high-quality work is not enough, nor is giving them a checklist that tracks completion, but not quality. Most PBL teachers know they need rubrics in order to assess the complex products and performance tasks typically seen in projects. But rubrics should also be used throughout a project as a tool for guiding students as they work. Introduce rubrics near the beginning of a project, and take the time to help students understand the expectations the rubric conveys and practice using it to analyze work.

To have students practice using a rubric, find exemplars of the kind of work required in the project. You could find real-world examples made by professional adults, or use student-created examples from past years. For example, if students need to write a scientific report after an investigation, show them one - on a different topic, to prevent direct copying. If they need to build a museum-style display, take them to a museum or visit its website. If the product is a presentation, a designed artifact, or a work of art, show videos, photos, or physical examples. Have students use the rubric to assess the quality of the exemplars and debate their evaluations until the class arrives at a consensus and is "calibrated" on the criteria.

Connecting students with professionals in the field of study can also help students to understand the criteria used to judge the quality of a work product in the world beyond school. For example, you might have students speak online or in-person with an engineer to learn how she defends the mathematical models used in a proposal for a new construction project, or hear from a sculptor about how he puts together a proposal for a piece of public art.

2. Did my project include effective formative assessment?

Your project calendar should include frequent and varied opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning, check their understanding of key concepts, and get feedback on their work. Teach students how to use critique protocols (such as the Tuning Protocol, gallery walk, or charrette) that emphasize what Ron Berger calls "kind, specific, and helpful" feedback. Make sure students use rubrics or other established criteria as the basis for giving critique. When possible, invite other adults (such as project mentors from the community) to participate in critique protocols or to provide other targeted feedback to students.

Of course, the teacher also must provide feedback and critique, so make sure yours is based on clear quality criteria and arrives in a timely fashion. According to researcher John Hattie, effective feedback is one of the top ten most powerful instructional strategies for improving student performance and closing achievement gaps. Use workshop structures, student conferences, and staggered checkpoint dates to ensure that you are able to provide thoughtful feedback to all students. Make sure that your feedback is substantive, aligns to learning targets, and provides students with strategies and lessons that they can apply to the task at hand but also transfer to other tasks.

3. Did students have enough time to revise and polish their work?

Especially the first time you conduct a project, it can be difficult to estimate the time it will take for students to create high-quality products. After students receive feedback, they need time to reflect on it and revise their work. Be sure to build time for feedback, reflection, and revision into your plans from the beginning.

Maybe it's hard to imagine adding another few days to your project calendar. The need to "cover" content frequently causes tension in PBL. So, consider your goals: what level of quality will students need to achieve in order to demonstrate deep learning and create work they can take pride in? (A word of reassurance: the more you use PBL in your teaching, the better you'll become at finding the balance of time and quality that maximizes student learning.)

4. Did the project feel authentic enough to motivate students - did they care?

A project should increase students' motivation to learn and produce quality work for several reasons:

Students care about the issue, problem, or topic of investigation because they see its relevance to their own lives. The answer to the project's driving question matters to them.

Students care about the fact that they are producing work for a public audience. It's not just another instance of turning something in to the teacher, or another casual presentation in front of the class. Students will come to know the quality of a product matters if they want to make an impact in the real world. They are going to want to impress people and not be embarrassed when they share their work, whether it's a live presentation of a solution to a community problem, the launch of a website they've created, or a demonstration of a product in front of its intended users.

Students feel a sense of authenticity when they collaborate with adult professionals, experts, parents, or community members during a project. "We're working as these adults do," students will think, "and they don't do shoddy work." And those outside adults - often more powerfully than words from a teacher - can encourage students to do better work.

5. Does my classroom - and my school - cultivate a culture of quality?

In addition to the above, there's a less tangible but very important aspect to getting students to do high-quality work: culture. Through the stated and unstated beliefs promoted by adults, and the structures and rituals of a classroom - or more effectively, throughout a school - students get the message: we do good work here.

Talk as a school staff about how to promote commonly-held classroom norms that encourage students to take risks, be persistent, value feedback, and expect much of themselves and their peers. As Ron Berger says in his seminal book, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students, "when students expect excellence out of each other and hold each other to high standards, you'd be amazed what can happen in a school."

"Build the Culture" is one of the Project Based Teaching Practices in our model for Gold Standard PBL. For more, see this blog post I wrote about it in 2016.

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How to Get Higher Quality Student Work in PBL

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As we enter into a new school year, it can be helpful to establish a high standard for quality work and deep learning in the classroom. To that end, we are resharing this post by John Larmer from Aug.

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5 Steps to Keep Engagement High During Project-Based Learning

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Taking students’ interests into account when designing project-based learning helps ensure that they stay engaged throughout the unit.

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How does a team of fifth graders collaborate on a coding project? Eight hands on a single keyboard, four conflicting ideas and voices getting progressively louder to the point where no single voice can be heard.

This scenario is a recipe for disaster and it's not uncommon in classrooms across the country. This type of chaos can easily discourage teachers from taking on long-term, open-ended projects despite the fact that these are the kinds of projects that let students develop interpersonal skills and explore their abilities and personal preferences.

Scrum is a way to let individuals shine, even in a group setting.

Joe Beasley and Jim Frago knew all of this when they embarked on a semester-long coding project in the spring of 2015, and they were determined to see it through anyway. In an effort to preserve their sanity, Frago, a parent volunteer, introduced Beasley's fifth graders to a simplified version of Scrum, a framework commonly used in the business world to help teams work better together. Essentially, a large project is broken into smaller chunks and completed one at a time, but there's a lot more to it than that. It's a way to let individuals shine, even in a group setting.

After sharing the most basic structures of the framework and helping students walk through the essential processes for Scrum, Frago and Beasley noticed a remarkable difference in the way the projects progressed. Students could get along, work together and execute complex projects well ahead of due dates.

The following fall, Frago joined our middle school faculty as a long-term substitute. In my role as an instructional technology coach for the district, I visited his classroom to help him get started with our online resources. I happened to walk in just as he was introducing a sixth grade class to the basics of Scrum. I waited for him to come to a stopping point. Listening to him speak, I immediately saw the potential for making team projects much more manageable for teachers to undertake.

Over the next few months, Frago and I collaborated to plan and implement classroom projects with his students, always using the Scrum framework as a guide. In the spring, we met with Beasley to brainstorm ideas for sharing this practice with other teachers. We wanted to find a way to introduce our whole district to Scrum.

We decided to invite teachers to observe our classrooms and to talk to us and our students about the framework. After each visit, if the teacher expresses an interest in adopting Scrum, I plan a project with them and co-teach during its implementation. This collaborative approach allows me to walk both the students and the teachers through the process to help them learn it.

Building Effective Teams

Within Scrum, there are procedures for planning and prioritizing tasks, giving and getting feedback, overcoming obstacles and maintaining accountability for all team members. In our adaptation of Scrum, we emphasize four essential components: a cross-functional team, a nimble plan, well-defined work sessions and regular checkpoints that provide feedback from all team members and from the teacher.

Since the principal purpose of Scrum is to enable teams to work well together, the process must always start with building the team. We advocate for self-selected teams and encourage students to think of the skills and talents each of their peers can contribute to the completion of the project.

Each team has an appointed Scrum master whose role is to preside over meetings and help all members of the team resolve disagreements and overcome problems. Any time a problem arises, the Scrum master will ask, "How can I help you?" The Scrum master is not in charge of telling team members what to do, but is there to ensure that team members have the resources and assistance they need to complete their selected tasks.

Teams plan their work by developing a user story which defines the project and its purpose. It describes what the end user (for example the reader, listener or viewer) will gain or be able to accomplish when given access to the finished product. All decisions made during the execution of the project must be aligned to the defined purpose of the project. The user story guides the creation of the individual steps, or story points, necessary for completing the project.

Each story point is a task that a single team member can complete during a single work session, with discrete starting and ending points and a deliverable "product." When all story points are created, the team organizes them hierarchically on the Scrum board, a working record of the progress for the project that helps the team prioritize the story points necessary to complete the most basic version of the product. The scrum board can be a manila folder with sticky notes, a shared online spreadsheet or a tool such as Trello.

The Scrum board has three sections: "to be done" (the backlog), "doing" and "done." All story points start out on the backlog and as team members selects tasks to complete, they move the story point to the appropriate section of the Scrum board. When a member completes a story point, the entire team reviews the result to decide whether it's sufficient or needs further work. The team must develop a shared definition of "done" and hold all members accountable to that standard. The "done" section serves as a record of the accomplishments of each team member.

Once the team has organized the Scrum board, the team starts its first . A sprint is a set number of work sessions with a specific goal. For example, at the end of five work sessions, a team might have finished writing a script and producing props so they can move on to filming their skit. At the end of every sprint, the team holds a formal product review with the teacher to present the project as it stands so far. The team reviews how they are all working individually and as a team, and sets goals for improvement during the next sprint.

Each work session starts and ends with a stand-up meeting at which the team reviews the Scrum board. The team sets goals by reviewing what has been done so far and selecting tasks to complete before the end of the session. Stand-up meetings give teams the opportunity resolve disagreements, ask for help from people outside the team and to adjust the items on the backlog as the plan progresses.

Why Students Like Scrum

Throughout the process, teams and individuals have dozens of opportunities to review and adjust their performance. Additionally, as the teacher listens in at stand-up meetings and conducts reviews at the end of each sprint, students also get feedback from the teacher. Everyone is held accountable for the work they do, and everyone gets the chance to ask questions, voice opinions and suggest changes.

When I have conducted interviews with students whose teachers have implemented Scrum, students consistently show a strong preference for working in Scrum, reporting that they feel valued, welcome and in control.

The students in our district have been instrumental in helping other teachers adopt Scrum. We now have teachers and students using Scrum in every one of our five schools. Early elementary teachers have adapted the system to use simplified pictures instead of text to represent story points. High school students have used Scrum to plan Prom and other events, and student committees and clubs are using Scrum regularly to stay organized and track the progress of long-term projects between meetings.

It is widely accepted that opportunities to work in teams lets students develop better communication, collaboration and organizational skills. Before we started using Scrum, we had not found any surefire method to make projects successful. Now we have a framework that provides more structure and guidance for teachers and students. We are providing the necessary scaffolding so students can learn harmonious teamwork. With this in place, we can embark on classroom projects that let students explore, create and shine.
Bea Leiderman is an instructional technology coach at Goochland County Public Schools in Virginia.

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This Framework Makes Group Projects More Collaborative-and Individual - EdSurge News

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How does a team of fifth graders collaborate on a coding project? Eight hands on a single keyboard, four conflicting ideas and voices getting progressively louder to the point where no single voice can be heard. This scenario is a recipe for disaster and it's not uncommon in classrooms across the country.

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How Collaboration Promotes Deeper Learning

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How Collaboration Promotes Deeper Learning

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How Collaboration Promotes Deeper Learning

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One teacher has found that focusing on both the individual and the group in lesson planning helps create a solid foundation for learning.

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From Hands-On to Mind-On: How to Move to Active Learning in Only Four Steps - Southern Regional Education Board

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How can you get students engaged in the learning with hands-on projects while also making sure they understand what they are…

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Designing Active Learning Performance Tasks

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Planning for projects can be difficult and time-consuming. This list of teacher-tested projects—complete with printable resources—should offer a big head start.

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Learning in Motion: 10 Activities to Get Your Students up and Moving With the Lesson - Southern Regional Education Board

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How can you make your class more active in order to encourage better learning? That’s the focus of this week’s post. In…

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Try These Quick Hacks to Power Up Your PBL - Southern Regional Education Board

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Project-based learning transforms classrooms into places of exploration, wonder and excitement. But if you didn’t grow up…

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Prefer to listen? Check out the audio recording of this post instead.

Let's start this by stating a hard truth: Even when you may want to do something new in your classroom, it can be hard to know where to start. Then, add into that uncertainty the fact that you'll need some coaching, resources, planning, etc., and it can sometimes seem easier to keep doing what you are doing instead of trying out the new thing.

After all, why fix it if it ain't broken?

The truth is, though, that for many students and teachers, the old way of doing things is broken, and so we do need to consider some updates to our teaching methods to ensure we are engaging our students to the highest level possible.

This is where project-based learning can transform the way we engage our students.

Project-based learning has students master content by doing some or all of the following:

Successfully developing a solution to a problem.

Answering a question.

Developing a product.

PBL-based units of study can make a huge difference in the learning process of all of your students, but just like with anything new you do, it can be hard to know where to start.

This was the focus of my presentation "Always Wanted to Try Project-Based Learning, But Not Sure Where to Begin?" at the 2023 Making Schools Work Conference.

In this post, I'll give you some insights into why PBL works and how you can start using it in your classroom.

What Is Project-Based Learning?

I should clear something up before I get too far into this:

PBL is not just a project you do at the end of the unit. It's the central framework.

True PBL is integrated into your whole classroom. It's the meal - not the dessert.

Here are some things to know about PBL:

It encompasses both the knowledge and skills portion of the learning process.

It leads to more engaging lessons.

It utilizes more of the brain and is, therefore, more cognitively demanding.

It includes both formative and summative assessment measures.

Have I convinced you that PBL is a great teaching method yet?

If so, let's start thinking about how you can get started!

How to Begin a PBL Unit

No matter what you teach, you'll be able to use these steps to start designing a PBL plan for your class.

Step 1: Select the Standards

Just like with any other teaching method, you'll want to start by taking a look at the standards you'll be teaching.

Start by asking yourself some general questions:

What do you want your students to know/be able to do?

What topics do you know they struggle with already?

What topics do not work as well when taught traditionally?

What topics would you be embarrassed about if your students couldn't have an intelligent conversation about them at the end of the course?

The answers to the above questions will typically steer you towards content that will work well in the PBL building process. Knowing what standards you want to teach with the unit of study is essential and the first step in planning the PBL-based unit.

Step 2: Start Brainstorming Authentic Ideas

We are going to talk more in-depth about how to plan your project in step five, but for now, start thinking about ideas for what your project can be.

Consider some of the following questions as you plan:

What is happening in your community? State? Country? World?

What is going on in the news?

What are your students into?

What are you interested in?

What material or content evokes emotions in your students? What makes them mad, glad, happy or sad? When content evokes an emotion, it naturally connects our minds to the learning and will ensure content is remembered long after the unit is completed.

The answers to these questions will help you determine a useful, interesting real-world problem that you can design a project-based unit around.

Step 3: Decide the Scope of the Project

Once you know what you want the students to get out of the project, it's time to start narrowing in on the scope. This means things like how long the unit will last, how many standards it will cover, the tools they will have to do the project, who all will be involved and who the project is for.

Let's look at an example of two different projects: a small project and an ambitious one.

Let's break this down a little more.

Determine Your Timetable

How do you know how long to give students? Partly, you'll know how long you have in the semester to dedicate to the standard(s) that the PBL unit is teaching.

However, there are other things to consider, and some of them might mean that you come back to this part after you have the project in mind. I will talk more about this when we get to the sixth step.

Step 4: Know the Driving Question

What is the driving question behind your project? What are students striving to answer? This is an essential piece of the puzzle, and it can be the hardest to come up with.

With that in mind, start coming up with the overarching question, which should be all or at least most of the following criteria:

Provocative

Open-ended

Integral to the discipline

Challenging

Real-world focused

Standards aligned

Thought-provoking (makes you go Hmmmmmm)

Here are some examples that I shared in my session:

1. Do music videos paint an accurate picture of America?

2. How safe is our water?

3. How might we build a new community center using only materials that are native to our state?

4. Should the US have used the atomic bomb in WWII?

Step 5: Designing Your Project to Ensure Authenticity

Okay. You now know the standards you are planning to teach, the scope of the project and the driving question you want them to be able to critically address at the end of the project. Let's get to the fun part!

Once you are ready to start building your project, you will want to make it authentic. You can do this by aligning it to a real-world scenario.

Here is the template that I give to those designing a project:

You are a [Insert a real-workplace role].

You are faced with [Insert the circumstances and a problem].

You must [Insert what must be done to solve the problem].

Once you have decided on a course of action, you will [Insert an opportunity for presentation to an authentic audience].

You don't need to use this exact template, but however you do it, try to address these four components.

Here is an example:

You are a construction manager. You and your crew are faced with using explosives to clear fallen rocks from a roadway, a task with many inherent risks-flying rock, premature detonation, vibration, air-overpressure and environmental pollution. Although the blaster is responsible for setting and detonating the explosives, safety is the responsibility of the construction manager and every member of the construction crew. You must research and read the appropriate set of OSHA regulations, understand the technical information it contains, and extrapolate the most important information. You will plan a "toolbox talk" for the construction crew to effectively convey the safety instructions and reinforce their awareness of the safety issues at hand.

Helpful Hint: Always Keep Your Ending in Mind as You Design!

As you plan your project, make sure you keep the questions and standards that you created in the first few steps in mind as you go.

Make sure your project has assessment measures that will lead to the learning objectives.

Make your objectives clear.

Tie everything to the standards.

Ensure your formative assessments measures help you modify your teaching and support and measure student progress.

Ensure your summative assessments are designed to give students the best chance to exhibit their knowledge and skills.

Assessing for multiple indicators is better than just one indicator.

Step 6: Create Your Timetable

To determine your timetable, map out your project - what are the steps they will need to do and how long will it take to do them?

Here are some potential ways to do this and/or tips and reminders:

Create a storyboard.

Go component by component.

Look at the tasks and activities you have planned.

Consider the knowledge and skills that are needed.

Create a Venn diagram.

Use bubble charts.

Break it down by days of the week.

Step 7: Plan Your Entry Event

Now that you have a project planned and ready to go, think about how you will introduce it to the class. How will you explain it and prepare the students for what comes next?

Entry events should engage students in a way that causes them to want to know more and ask more questions. Touching on emotions always helps students remember and engage on a deeper level.

Entry events can be as simple as a song, a movie clip, an article or a demonstration.

Authentic entry events may appear like a memo written from a manager to the employees charging them with a task. The more authentic the process, the less school-like the task will appear.

Step 8: Think About Classroom Management

Along with planning for the entry event, also take into account classroom management.

Will they be working in groups? I believe all projects should include group work, so, how will they be grouped?

I suggest ability grouping as the best method; it will allow you, the teacher, to focus your energy on the groups needing the most support and check in on the other groups less frequently but enough to keep tabs on their work.

Some days you may want to use an expert group (one student from each group) to receive small group instruction and task them with teaching the others in their group.

Some days you may choose to have the slower students observe the work of the faster groups.

Some days you may want experts to be consultants with other groups.

Be creative! Think like the workplace and release your tendencies to keep control of all aspects of the learning.

Step 9: Make Sure Your Project Meets the Six A's

Once you have the project ready to go, but before you have implemented it, check to make sure that it meets the six A's. The six A's were created by the Buck Institute many years ago but can still serve the purpose of helping us measure the quality of our work.

Where does your project stand on a scale of 1-10 on each characteristic?

Authenticity - utilizes real-world context

Academic rigor - addresses learning standards and helps answer big-picture questions

Applied learning - has students apply knowledge and use work skills

Active exploration - gives students a chance to interact with materials outside of class

Adult connections - uses adult mentors/coaches from the wider community

Assessment practices - determines criteria for measuring desired outcomes

A good project will rank a seven or higher on at least four of the six indicators. A great project, of course, will rank highly in all areas.

Step 10: Implement, Monitor and Adjust as Needed

Once you have your project ready, try it in your class!

Just like anything you do in the classroom, though, you should be prepared to monitor and make adjustments as needed.

Projects are built over time; sometimes the first time you implement a project you will not have every piece as finely polished as you would like. This does not mean it is a bad PBL experience for students; it just means there are areas you need to fine-tune, to make the project more engaging, more authentic, etc.

The best projects are typically honed over several implementations with monitoring and adjusting faithfully taking place each time.

Final Thoughts

PBL can be a great way to make learning fun while also making it more rigorous!

We hope these steps help you; we have a lot more PBL resources for you on the SREB's PBL page.

Plus, you can find a lot more tips and ideas by signing up for our Promising Practices Newsletter.

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Project-ing Your Teaching: 10 Steps to Beginning a Project-Based Learning Unit in Your Class - Southern Regional Education Board

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Have you been wanting to try project-based learning in your classroom but have no idea where to start? This 10-step guide ...

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Third and fourth grade students built real life skills when they collaborated with an energy company to create weather and energy awareness pages for their website.

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7 Tools and Activities You Can Use to Keep Your Class Engaged - Southern Regional Education Board

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In this post, we give you ideas on activities you can do to make your class more engaging for your students. If you have…

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How to Introduce PBL Into a Packaged Curriculum

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Even with established curriculum, teachers can produce engaging learning experiences that address required learning standards and meet students’ needs.

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Inspiring Curiosity and Critical Thinking in Pre-K

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Project-based learning can inspire young students to ask questions about their surroundings and see where their curiosity takes them.

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6 Strategies for Scaffolding PBL in First and Second Grade

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These tips for balancing structure with choice can help ensure an engaging and productive project-based learning experience for young students.

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Essential Steps for Setting Up Schoolwide PBL

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Implementing any new initiative is tough, but school leaders can use these ideas to work with teachers in rolling out project-based learning across the school.

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Managing PBL Progress With Young Learners

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Consider these tips for ensuring that project-based learning experiences stay on track from start to completion.

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Breaking Down the Complex Work of Teaching PBL Into Manageable Chunks

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Project-based learning can be daunting, but there are steps teachers can take to overcome the challenges.

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A project focused on discovery and analysis allows students to read, collaborate, and demonstrate their knowledge as they make their way through a novel.

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This framework simplifies the process of setting up a project-based learning unit so that it feels manageable for teachers.

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How School Leaders Can Make Time for Teachers to Have Meaningful PBL Collaboration

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Interdisciplinary collaboration is a key element of successful project-based learning, and school leaders can help make that happen.

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5 Tips for Helping Students Adjust to PBL

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Students can experience the benefits of project-based learning with these incremental steps that support independent work.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Here are three ways to set up project-based learning that involves more than one subject area, which is highly engaging for students.

monkeybusinessimages / iStock

When seventh-grade students in Alexandria, Virginia, noticed mushrooms growing from under the baseboard in their classroom, their curiosity launched them and teacher Mary Breslin on an investigation into the causes and health effects of mold and fungus in school buildings.

After presenting their findings at a science fair, students wanted to keep working on policy solutions. That meant shifting their focus to learn in depth about how government works and, eventually, lobby their state legislature to pass a bill. Without a deep understanding of both science and social studies, and the ability to connect them, students could not have achieved the same results.

Their experience, one of many examples that education leader Ken Kay and I share in Redefining Student Success, shows what students can accomplish when they tackle real-world problems. It also underscores a challenge that teachers may face when projects don't fit neatly into content silos.

Interdisciplinary learning can seem like a barrier for teachers who feel constrained by time, a prescribed curriculum, or a lack of opportunities to work with teachers from other disciplines. But the benefits can be profound, from increased engagement to academic gains.

When students confront real-world problems, in school now or later in life, they may need more than one set of disciplinary lenses to see a complex issue or design a solution. Experts from Harvard Project Zero argue that addressing today's most pressing issues-from environmental to social to economic-will require synthesizing knowledge from disparate sources.

A Continuum for Connecting

To help teachers think outside content silos when designing projects, I encourage them to start with problems that matter to students. A good prompt to encourage student brainstorming is "What's a problem you care about that adults haven't solved yet?" Thinking about the knowledge and skills essential to tackle a problem will lead to content goals, an important step in aligning projects to standards.

What if key learning goals are outside a teacher's comfort zone or don't fit into their planned curriculum? Instead of scaling back the project to fit a single content area, teachers can connect across disciplines with this continuum of connections: All-In, Just in Time, or the Handoff.

All-In: In this approach, significant learning goals for two or more content areas are incorporated in the same project. Elementary teachers can connect across content areas by bringing existing structures, such as literacy stations or math rotations, into project design in meaningful ways. ( This video from PBLWorks offers a good example.)

The All-In approach is routine in schools designed for teaming (as in these examples from High Tech High) or in interdisciplinary courses like Humanities or Environmental Economics.

Some teachers create opportunities to connect across content areas even without formal structures for teaming or dedicated time for planning with colleagues. Here's an example of an engaging project with clear learning goals for English language arts and history that grew out of two teachers' shared interest in podcasting. Regular check-ins, common deadlines, and shared strategies for assessment will keep the project on track.

Just in Time: Some projects focus primarily on one content area but bring in strategies from another discipline "just in time" for students to reach a solution or create a final product that would have been impossible otherwise. For instance, in a chemistry project, students designed and conducted lab experiments about water quality. To analyze their data for a journal article, they needed to apply statistical methods. That was when the teacher brought in guest statisticians as expert consultants.

In another example, students had a choice of final products to demonstrate historical thinking for a National History Day project. When one team proposed writing a one-act play, however, the teacher hesitated. He knew from formative assessments that the students' research and interpretation of history was of high quality, but he had no experience in theater. Just in time, the school drama teacher agreed to step in as a consultant.

The Handoff: Less often, a project might start in one content area (or grade level) and then get handed off to another class for a new cycle of inquiry. For example, seventh-grade students at a K-12 school designed a community garden that reflected local culture and heritage, meeting learning goals in science and social studies. High school computer science students then took up the challenge of programming an irrigation system for the new garden. Students were able to see how different ways of thinking and problem-solving had improved the final product.

In another case, science students presented their research projects to an art class, inviting students to create visual interpretations of the findings. The artwork was displayed at a public exhibition alongside abstracts from the science projects.

All along the continuum, encouraging students to reflect on the disciplines that shaped their thinking helps to cement interdisciplinary learning.

Support that Matters

To take advantage of opportunities for connecting across content areas, teachers need to know what's happening outside their own classrooms. Leaders can support teachers by giving them time to meet outside their content areas for project brainstorming. A schoolwide project calendar is another useful tool to alert teachers to upcoming opportunities for collaboration.

Students aren't the only ones who stand to benefit from interdisciplinary projects. Working with a teacher who has expertise in a content area different from yours "is a chance to be a learner again. That's enlivening," says Eitan Fire, a social studies teacher in Boulder, Colorado. His school encourages learning across disciplines, as in the History of Disease class he co-taught with a science teacher. "We both learned from each other."

Both Fire and Mary Breslin, the teacher whose students tackled classroom mold, have taken part in training from Earth Force, a nonprofit that supports teachers with tools and resources for environmental action civics.

Having students more engaged in learning is another boost for teachers. "Students can burn out on lessons and worksheets about something like how a bill becomes a law," Fire admits. "But if they're learning in the context of civic engagement, focusing on local issues, it's different."

His students recently began investigating the causes of pollution in a creek near their school. Fire invited a stormwater engineer to help students understand contributing factors, including the environmental impact of homeless encampments along the creek. That discussion led them to investigate causes of housing insecurity and income inequality as they considered sustainable solutions. As Fire acknowledges, these issues are complex and interconnected-but so is the learning.

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Here are three ways to set up project-based learning that involves more than one subject area, which is highly engaging for students.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

Very young students can benefit from project-based learning, as these detailed steps for a project conducted by preschool students demonstrate.

Leigh Ann Speake / iStock

Observation, exploration, and discovery are three main skills that young children (kindergarten to second grade) generally develop when they interact with their surroundings. Some children prefer to take time to observe the environment before moving around to explore, while others choose to immediately start actively discovering the wonders within the environment. Nurturing an environment that ignites curiosity and facilitates exploration, therefore, is paramount.

Early-years educators who work with children 2 to 7 years old play a pivotal role in laying the foundation for lifelong learning by creating spaces where children can freely explore their diverse interests and learn how to expand explorations and inquiries into meaningful in-depth projects.

In this post, I share a project I developed for a pre-K class with 3-year-olds that offers clear examples of each step and process feature. The project began when a boy became fascinated by the sound that came out of a bottle when he blew into it. He shared his findings with his peers, and the Sounds Exploration project began.

Creating an Environment for Exploration

The environments where young children interact become learning spaces and serve as educators, generating dialogue between children and/or between each child and the environment, developing processes of inquiry, reflection, observation, and active listening. What should these spaces be like?

Versatility: Design flexible learning environments that allow spontaneous exploration and discovery in different areas and disciplines. Incorporate adaptable learning materials to accommodate diverse interests and activities. Equip your classroom with a rich variety of resources, including books, art supplies, natural materials, and sensory experiences. Allow children to access natural open spaces that offer enough room for free exploration.

In the example of the Sounds Exploration project, the teacher offered different materials and contexts for the learners to make and identify sounds, both outside and indoors. In the open air, the teacher helped learners focus on sounds by inviting them to close their eyes and name the sounds they could hear. This takes some time and guidance to help learners to listen beyond the sounds in the foreground and pay attention to those in the background. The learners were then made aware of the sounds they made by walking on different surfaces-like pebbles, grass, and mud-and the sounds they made with sticks or by hitting the water. Outdoors contexts are full of discovery possibilities.

Indoors, the children used materials such as plastic tops, foil, plastic, cellophane, construction paper, and cardboard to make sounds. Wood blocks, musical instruments, and toys (cars, trucks, dolls, balls, construction blocks) are also an option, as are the different surfaces (floor, carpets, tables) in the classroom.

In both environments, the children had guidance to help them discover more about the sounds they produced. This connects with the next point.

Curiosity: Encourage a culture of inquiry by posing open-ended questions, stimulating wonder, and inviting children to explore topics of interest. Offer provocations and invitations to learning that spark curiosity and prompt further investigation.

Collaboration: Facilitate opportunities for children to explore together, interact, learn from one another, and question their findings.

Interacting with children during exploration periods

The most successful interactions a teacher can carry out in the period of inquiry are those that don't have a single answer but allow for different responses. The children's answers will likely be the result of the connections they make with themselves, their previous knowledge, their interaction with their peers, and the context in which they're interacting.

"How do you do it? Can you teach me?"

"This sound... what does it remind you of?"

"What other sounds can we make?"

"What causes sound to be produced?"

"What can we use this sound for?"

As a consequence, the teacher has an opportunity to develop and model an attitude of listening and of inquiry into the children's responses and the construction of their learning.

For example, related to the Sounds project, the teacher might ask the following questions:

Engage in active observation: Observe children closely as they play: as they interact with each other, the decisions they make, and how they choose to communicate their feelings, emotions, thoughts. Pay attention to their interests, preferences, and inquiries.

Listen actively: Listen to the children's conversations when you ask open-ended questions to stimulate their thinking and foster reflection and critical thinking. Encourage them to communicate their ideas and their thoughts, share observations, and voice their desire to know.

Let the children express freely: Let them show you their willingness to deepen their knowledge. Follow their interests and curiosity, allowing them to guide the direction of their exploration. Facilitate support and resources based on their inquiries, empowering them to build knowledge and take ownership of their learning journey.

Provide research tools: Offer the children access to age-appropriate tools and materials, including books, digital resources, and hands-on experiences. Support them in navigating these resources independently, fostering self-directed learning skills.

Facilitate tools to document their findings: Provide materials and resources for learners to document their discoveries in various ways: different art forms, notes, oral dialogues, audio/video recordings.

Transferring exploration into research projects

Children's active exploration, properly documented, will generate a lot of information and, in turn, will create the possibility of continuing work on a specific project.

In the example of the Sounds Exploration project, the learners were invited to use the sounds they had collected, identified, and documented to make a Sound Story from a well-known story they usually read in class and enjoyed. The guiding question was this: How can the learners in this class turn [the name of the story] into a sound story?

Assist project planning: Guide children in planning and organizing their research project, and deconstruct the process into manageable steps. Help them create research questions, collect information, and develop a short-term plan of action.

Analyze the data collected: Facilitate understanding of the findings and guide the children to become aware of which subject area they're willing to learn more about.

Ignite Intrinsic motivation: Provide steps for the learners to become aware of what they already know about the specific topic in that subject area and what more they want to know, and guide them in finding where they can collect the information they're looking for.

Foster reflection: Promote reflection throughout the research process. Provide opportunities for children to share their findings with peers and reflect on their learning experiences and strategies.

Research projects enable teachers to empower children to make choices and decisions about their learning journey when they have a range of options and opportunities to explore their interests authentically. In addition, research projects foster collaboration and peer learning by encouraging children to work together and share what they've learned.

In essence, by creating an environment that nurtures exploration, supporting children during their inquiries, and empowering them to take on leadership roles in their learning, early years educators can lay the groundwork for a lifetime of curiosity, discovery, and success.

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Very young students can benefit from project-based learning, as these detailed steps for a project conducted by preschool students demonstrate.

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Culturally Responsive and Community-Focused PBL

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Having students design project-based learning units that influence their own communities can have a transformative impact on learning.

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"Mrs. Dailey, it doesn't know what Minecraft is!" The shocked voice of a fourth-grade boy rang out in surprise and frustration. All around the room, eyes widened as students waited for my response. They were part of an after-school Lego club where I had decided to try an experiment: Could I introduce elementary students to artificial intelligence (AI) in such a way that they would come to see it as a partner in project-based learning (PBL)?

I carefully selected students who had been loath to work with a human partner in years past, the students who would rather finish the entire project alone. After receiving proper consent, I had a group of lone wolves from first through fifth grades. Perfect!

Getting Started

We dipped our toes into the AI world with Brickit, a free app that uses AI to analyze a pile of Lego bricks and generate builds with step-by-step instructions. During this phase, my students came to see AI as a tool to help them in the building process.

My students soon realized, however, that the AI did not understand their questions. Not only did the AI not know what Minecraft was, it did not recognize Harry Potter or the Transformers, either. We quickly moved to an AI art generator at neural.love.

Trying Another Approach

Using neural.love, we worked to engineer good prompts, but we were also designing the framework for our AI-assisted Lego team build. After a few trials with generating a solid prompt and generated image, my students built close approximations of the vision they had cocreated. We then decided to use the skills we had acquired to do a group project partnering with ChatGPT.

The first stage of our framework was to establish a base vocabulary for the project. Using the questions below, we generated a list of words we felt AI would need to know to understand our prompt.

1. What vocabulary will best communicate our idea?

2. If each word is perceived separately, will the question convey the wrong idea?

3. What vocabulary could be misleading, and why?

After determining that our project would be a cityscape, we added to our vocabulary list. We also started a collected vocabulary list, which included words generated by ChatGPT that the students could reuse, as well as new words they needed to define.

I left our list by the computer, and as the students collaborated, they brought words to me for the list. I would ask them why we needed to collect each of the words, help them define unfamiliar words, and even retire redundant words.

Moving to the Prompting Phase

In the prompting stage of our framework, we began to include ChatGPT as an actual partner by asking it the same questions we were asking each other. Here, we focused heavily on prompt design.

1. Is this prompt too wide/narrow?

2. If so, how can I widen/narrow it?

3. Does it assume the AI has background knowledge?

Eventually, we submitted the prompt, "We would like to build our city with five large sections that are connected. What do you suggest for each section?" ChatGPT gave us a list with a brief description of each area.

Going on to the Next Step

Curating, which is the process of selecting, organizing, presenting, and looking after items in a collection, was the next stage of our framework. To curate our collection of ideas, we needed to dialogue with all of our partners, human and AI.

Each builder drew a design based on their collected ideas. The prompt "What buildings would be in the downtown district?" gave one student a clear picture that he could work with, while another student spent a significant amount of time prompting and re-prompting for the details of realistic train tracks.

When their designs had been finalized, we moved into the creating stage, and afterward we moved fluidly between prompting, curation, and creation toward our final iteration of the build.

Encountering an Obstacle

Suddenly, we ran into a significant problem. Each student was building their section on an entirely different scale. The train tracks were larger than the houses, and the skyscrapers were shorter than the statues. The roads varied in size and configuration. One student noticed these discrepancies and designed this prompt, "How do I make the residential neighborhood to scale?"

ChatGPT's answer produced more questions, which caught the attention of the other team members. Soon, they were all crowded around the computer with partial builds in their hands comparing and contrasting. Ultimately, they decided on microscale and adjusted their builds to comply.

Collaborating to a Conclusion

During this stage, I watched my individual creators become a team. Prior to this, the students would each gather materials and work alone at different tables in silence. After the scale disaster, they moved their builds to the same table so that they could compare sizes. This led to discussions and adjustments being made, more prompting to ChatGPT, and even co-building. We asked ourselves the following questions:

1. Does the build resemble the original idea, or has it changed?

2. If so, whose input brought the change?

3. Do you like the changes?

4. If not, what can you do to shift the project back on track?

My students confessed that they had all changed their build based on the input of their human and AI partners, and as they moved forward, they were pleased with the changes.

After we reached a consensus, the final stage of our framework was feedback. In this stage, we helped ChatGPT grow as it learned about the outcomes we achieved. After we fitted the completed sections together and made a few final tweaks, we described our finished product to ChatGPT and received its congratulations.

The students were elated with this final bit of dialogue, and they all expressed the idea that their AI partner was valuable and had a large body of knowledge to bring to the table. They concluded that consulting with AI was a starting point for a project, rather than a source for a finished product.

Finally, they reported that their creativity was enhanced by all partners. As a team, they worked with several different types of AI and helped create a replicable framework for partnering with AI. In the end, they completed an innovative project that enhanced their learning, technological, and interpersonal skills.

For me as an educator experimenting with new technology, it's gratifying to facilitate a group of students coming together to complete a lengthy project. Watching this group of solitary builders solidify into a team working with their peers and a sophisticated artificial intelligence to create a superior product was truly rewarding. I consider this experiment a success, as the group clearly came to regard AI as a partner in their project-based learning, and I am proud of their effort, their final product, and the framework we created together.

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A Lego PBL Unit That Fosters Collaboration

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Elementary students can learn a little about how AI works as they collaborate to design and build a cityscape.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

High school students can participate in hands-on, relevant projects that provide effective solutions to problems in their community.

Nikola Stojadinovic / iStock

Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is a powerful pedagogical approach to reengaging students in the classroom. CBL promotes active participation, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and, more important, a sense of purpose among students. By engaging in hands-on, relevant tasks, students develop the necessary skills to thrive in a future where continuous learning is essential.

The Challenge Based Learning Framework can be adapted to any subject or grade level and provides a structure in which students identify a problem, ask questions, and conduct research that leads to a proposed solution. Then, they put that solution into action to create change in their school or community. When students get to identify a problem, they're more invested in the learning process and outcome.

Come Up With the Big Idea and Essential Question

For a CBL project, you need a big idea that captures students' imagination and interest and addresses a real-world issue like the environment or inequity. In my anatomy and physiology classes, our big idea is always health and wellness.

At the beginning of the year, I ask my students, "What are the health and wellness issues that impact our community and world?" Once they've generated plenty of thoughts, they develop a "How can we..." question based on those issues. I have them share their questions in Padlet to promote discussion and use these questions throughout the year to develop challenges within our units of study.

Investigate, Implement, and Act

The investigate stage of CBL encourages students to explore and learn more about the problem. The process supports research skills and promotes a good understanding of the challenge itself. For my classes, the investigation phase usually takes us one full class period for research and planning. Next, I have them put together a quick presentation to pitch their ideas to the class so we can vote on the best option.

Students engage in collaborative discussions, look for unique perspectives, and develop a plan that would address the challenge. It's important for them to be well-informed about the problem in order to suggest a solution.

The implementation phase of CBL is the moment it all comes together. After investigating, discussing, and planning, we finally have a plan of action and are ready to move forward. This phase of dealing with real-world problems involves collaborative teamwork and effective communication and also promotes a sense of accountability, adaptability, and resilience within students.

Process Snapshot

Here's how we go through the CBL process in my class:

Big idea: Health and wellness

1. How do certain mental health conditions alter brain chemistry?

2. How can your environment impact your mental health?

3. What are some healthy ways to reduce stress and anxiety?

4. How does social media play a role in mental health?

Essential question: How can we improve mental health in our community?

Investigate: With a solid question in place, students need more of a background in mental health in order to know how to improve it. I typically give them some research questions to get them started but allow them to follow any path that interests them. Here are some prompts I've given them:

During this phase, we do activities that help students learn more about the topic, such as a sheep brain dissection, reaction-time experimentation, and reflex testing. These activities allow me to cover the content of the class but still connect to the topic.

We discuss how mental health impacts brain structures and how age can alter reaction times and reflexes, and we identify good solutions to maintaining a healthy brain.

Implementation: After researching and learning more, each group comes up with an idea of how to accomplish our essential question and pitches it to the class. They create a presentation that includes all the details of their idea and implementation plan.

Choose a Project and Reflect

Groups present on a range of topics and ideas such as developing intramural sports teams to give students an outlet to reduce stress, putting on a holiday party at the local senior center, and incorporating mental health days into classes. After each group presents, we vote and decide to move forward with two big projects.

This year, the first project was a holiday party at our local senior center. The group that presented the idea reached out to the senior center for approval and organized the whole event. They designed games and competitions, all the while learning about brain development, age-appropriate activities, and project planning. More than 35 anatomy students volunteered to host the event on their day off from school. Each group ran a station for the seniors to attend. The senior center had more than 75 people show up that day. Watching my kids interact with the elderly community was the best part of my year to that point. None of this event counted toward any grade. They were there because they wanted to be.

The second project we'll implement is a mental health fair. Many students had great ideas of little things to do, so someone suggested that we just host a festival of some sort. We contacted a local nonprofit, The Defensive Line, and will host an event with them this May. Groups will host tables that feature pet adoption, crafts, journaling, pickup sports games, art therapy, and yoga.

At the conclusion of any activity, I ask students to reflect on their learning. A typical reflection is in the form of a survey that asks them, "What did you like? What would you change? How could we improve it for next time?" This always helps me to make improvements for the next one. I look forward to hearing what they have to say this year.

Be Brave-It's Worth It

Change is hard. Doing something out of your comfort zone is hard for most people.

At the beginning of the year, when my students suggested we do a CBL event each month, I was a bit overwhelmed and anxious. However, I knew it would be for the good of everyone involved. Students get opportunities to hold leadership positions and build strong relationships within our classroom and community. We've run six mini CBLs this year and have two more left, with the mental health fair as the finale. My students have stepped up-doing things beyond my expectations to make these events successful and fun.

We want our students to learn how to navigate the evolving landscape of technology, improve their problem-solving skills, and make a positive impact on society. Embracing change in education isn't merely about staying current, it's about instilling a particular mindset within ourselves and modeling the values of lifelong learning, creative thinking, and a willingness to take risks.

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Engaging Students With Challenge Based Learning

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High school students can participate in hands-on, relevant projects that provide effective solutions to problems in their community.

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A Curriculum Supervisor’s Guide to AI-Assisted Lesson Planning

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Instructional leaders have a role to play in guiding teachers to use AI effectively in unpacking standards and designing lesson plans.

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AI can help teachers save time in creating meaningful project-based learning opportunities for students.

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Back in March, John Larmer, John Mergendoller, and Suzie Boss enhanced the Buck Institute's original Project Based Learning (PBL) framework, highlighting essential elements that lend themselves to deeper learning. Many of the original pieces are there, but this new model, Gold Standard PBL, gives equal billing to reflection as an important part of the PBL experience. While students have always been encouraged to reflect throughout PBL, I think its appearance on the Gold Standard Design graphic serves as a reminder for all of us when we are facilitating student learning.

So, with that in mind, I would like to reflect on our initial exploration of PBL as a vehicle to engage students with disabilities as we prepare them for career, college, and civic life. While not all students with disabilities will attend a traditional college, they all will experience a post-secondary life that will include academics, advocacy, and accomplishment. Last year, a group of exceptional educators embarked on a journey with me that would change the way we look at instruction; these teachers decided that PBL offers an approach that leads students toward a life after high school where content knowledge is just one aspect of the whole adult. There is so much more that our students require when they leave us. Mr. Larmer, Mr. Mergendoller, and Ms. Boss, in Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning, discuss the acquisition of "Success Skills" as an integral part of learning. It is this emphasis on critical thinking, collaboration, and self-management that provides even more opportunity for our students with disabilities as they strive toward independence in their post-secondary life.

Last year, we deemed that all kids "CAN PBL" when Onondaga-Cortland-Madison NY (OCM) BOCES students in 12:1:1 and 12:1:4 classes grew a community garden, created and distributed leisure activity brochures, fed the homeless, and educated fellow staff and teachers about autism. Others utilized technology to communicate the importance of animal habitats to zoo visitors, staffed a diner for fellow classmates, created posters promoting a balanced diet for the school cafeteria, and prepared families for a natural disaster. That is just some of what our students with disabilities accomplished in a few short months. It is important to note, however, as

John Dewey stated, it's not the experience, it's the "reflection on experience" (1938) that elevates us to that metacognitive platform.

To honor reflection as a part of the learning process, I invited the teachers involved to share in a "fishbowl" protocol. As I listened from the perimeter, the teachers spoke about what their students learned and the nature of transfer, a result of deep learning. Students were making content connections for days, even weeks, after products were shared with the public! As the reflection continued, the teachers recalled collaboration among students who were so prone to parallel play in the traditional teaching environment. Now, those students accomplished tasks as a team and celebrated together. They looked into each other's eyes and handed items back and forth, a feat that can be difficult for some children with disabilities. They helped each other if someone struggled. As the reflection continued, teachers shared how their students, so often marginalized and forgotten, became advocates through this experience. They became problem solvers, helpers, makers...

Reflection leads to planning next steps; so with this in mind, I look forward to year two. I look forward to supporting teachers as they design projects intent on facilitating academic proficiency and promoting advocacy while providing opportunity for rigorous inquiry for all of our students. And when those students have learned, they can revel in their accomplishments as they prepare for post-secondary life.
Do you have questions, advice, or stories to share about using PBL for students with disabilities or in Special Education? Please make a comment below!

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Project Based Learning with Students with Disabilities

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Back in March, John Larmer, John Mergendoller, and Suzie Boss enhanced the Buck Institute's original Project Based Learning (PBL) framework, highlighting essential elements that lend themselves to deeper learning. Many of the original pieces are there, but this new model, Gold Standard PBL, gives equal billing to reflection as an important part of the PBL experience.

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Empowering Students With Special Needs to Help Others: How Problem Based Learning Made it Possible

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Empowering Students With Special Needs to Help Others: How Problem Based Learning Made it Possible

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chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967098.pdf

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Teaching special education can be a tough gig, but it also gets a pretty bad rap. Yes, there are incredible challenges - widespread lack of resources, from staffing to curriculum; varied but typically overpowering levels of segregation; and a pervasive presumed incompetence of our students with disabilities - to name a few.

But, like our students themselves, teaching students with disabilities is highly underrated. In fact, my SPED colleagues and I often brag that our students are the coolest kids on campus, a sort of 'best kept secret' of the trade (except we've been shouting it from the rooftops for a while).

After years of facing these all too common barriers, I want to talk about the other best kept secret I've discovered in education: Project-Based Learning. Six years ago I stumbled into an opportunity to create a special education program at a small, PBL high school, and I gotta tell you: I don't think I can ever go back. In part, because it has allowed me to ensure students are fully included in regular classes regardless of their disability, from day one.

More than this, though - and what I didn't expect - is that PBL has transformed my vision of inclusive special education for students with even the most significant support needs. I'll tell you a little bit about why, and then I'll tell you where you can start.

Why is PBL Good for Students with Disabilities?

We know that the presence of differentiated instruction, interdisciplinary content, technology, collaboration, supports and accommodations, self-determination, and authentic assessment are key markers of successful inclusion in school communities. We see these elements in the foundations of Project Based Learning, and thus in PBL classrooms and schools, with incredible consistency.

Project Based Learning as a pedagogy is a great vehicle for meaningful inclusion because each of its project design elements and teaching practices are geared toward creating the kind of engaging and dynamic learning environment that are also known to best serve students with a wide range of disabilities.

As one of my former principals used to say whenever I geeked out on the ample opportunities for peer relationships and real-life skills that PBL provided my students: Yep; good teaching is good teaching. It is surprisingly as simple, and as radical, as that.

3 Tips to Get Started:

1. Collaborate!
There may be nothing more valuable in setting students up for success than planning with colleagues. As a special educator, I bring expertise on my students' specific needs, their IEP goals, and the instructional strategies and supports that help them to learn and grow. My general education colleagues are the authority in their content areas, and they are invaluable in prioritizing which aspects of the standards are most important to make accessible. Our combined wisdom makes it fairly easy to anticipate needs and embed considerations for the diverse range of students at the beginning stages of project design.

You may have heard of this before - it's called Universal Design for Learning, and it's one of the best ways to create a successful inclusive classroom. Better yet, doing this helps students without disabilities as well! One of my favorite common responses to a suggestion I make or a support I create in a planning meeting is "You know, I think many of the students would benefit from that."

2. Differentiate Instruction
There are a number of ways to differentiate in PBL, such as offering voice and choice in student products to increase engagement and build on students' strengths, or the various ways you can manage project implementation. At the same time, scaffolding projects effectively still leaves plenty of room for conventional differentiation strategies like frontloading vocabulary, providing visual supports, or offering texts with varied reading levels.

One of the big benefits of PBL is that it is also naturally differentiated. By allowing students to take different paths and explore different interest in a project, this means that at any given time, students in the same class may be working on very different things. This normalizes the students who need different things, alleviates the stigma of support that students often bring with them into the classroom, and reinforces a culture of individuality and self-management that leads to students' owning their learning.

3. Embed IEP Goals into Projects
There are obvious opportunities to embed students' specific academic IEP goals throughout their differentiated project pathway that allow you to address those skills with consistency, in addition to providing students with a sense of their genuine purpose.

Beyond this, I often have students with IEP goals such as augmentative communication, self-management, or nuanced social skills. In a PBL classroom, the emphasis on key success skills provides daily opportunities to work on these goals in an authentic and natural context!

For example, when students work in teams, they constantly have to practice communication, social skills, organization, self-management, self-determination, and self-advocacy. It's a special educator's delight!

I've also been able to collaborate with speech therapists to create a modified oral communication rubric, which helps a student's teachers meet them where they are at, teach them what they need to know, and track their progress in a variety of settings.

For those of you teaching PBL at a school with less than inclusive practices - be they special day classes, extensive pull-out, or even tracking - I encourage you to reach out to your special ed colleagues and invite any students in your grade level to fully participate in your next project. Follow my tips and these from an elementary special educator doing just that. I'm certain your perspective will be transformed as well.

Do you have questions, comments, or tips on using PBL with Special Education students? Please enter them below.

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Teaching special education can be a tough gig, but it also gets a pretty bad rap. Yes, there are incredible challenges - widespread lack of resources, from staffing to curriculum; varied but typically overpowering levels of segregation; and a pervasive presumed incompetence of our students with disabilities - to name a few.

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PBL is valuable for ELLs when it teaches academic vocabulary, encourages collaboration, scaffolds structure and function, allows assessment and differentiation, and leverages their native language.

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Project Based Learning is for everyone. It's not meant to be used only for those who are done with their work. It's not meant to be used only for those looking to be challenged. It's meant to hoist up every student to their highest standard.

PBL is about opportunity and expectations, and to give all students access to engaging and rigorous learning we must provide scaffolds that help them achieve their best. But many teachers think that students must be able to achieve at a certain level before even attempting to jump into PBL.

English Language Learners are one of the groups that tends to be looked over when thinking about who is "ready" to do PBL. But all students are ready if armed with appropriate scaffolding by their teacher. In fact, if we look at learning in terms of growth, EL students are likely to show huge success due to how immersive PBL is in communication skills and critical thinking.

So I have to push back on this notion that a student needs a certain level of ability to be able to create, think critically, collaborate, and communicate.

All students, with guidance, can mull over, research, and respond to driving questions related to their content. Second graders of all levels can think about "What do we have to do as a school community to allow dinosaurs to enroll?" Middle schoolers reading The Giver can think about " How can we, as Givers, decide on the most important memories to bestow on the new Receivers? "

Will a student struggling with communication standards produce a perfectly fluent product? (Shrug). Maybe not. But with PBL, it's not about the outcome, it's about the journey and growth the students show while chugging along the path. Learning isn't proved only at the end of the unit; students prove their growth throughout the unit.

The Need to Have Access to Engagement and Rigor

It's frustrating to find so many EL students stuck in drill-and-kill classes simply because they lack foundational English. Their lower level of English somehow condemns them to worksheets and Level 1 thinking expectations. But research proves that what they really need is thoughtful engagement with authentic experiences in language. And PBL, as defined by the Gold Standard, is just that.

Jennifer Miyake-Trapp, an Assistant Professor of Education at Pepperdine University and Lead Faculty of their MA TESOL Program, agrees. She believes that "engagement in PBL increases opportunities for students to authentically use and apply language and literacy skills in a meaningful context, making learning relevant and fun."

Here's what is true: using PBL takes more frontloading. But that is true when teaching any underrepresented population. Nevertheless, there is a misconception that just because you are providing scaffolds means you somehow aren't teaching independent learning. This couldn't be further from the truth. Giving EL students the resources they need to access "the good stuff" means you're giving them the tools to improve and grow so that independence is more accessible later.

Therefore, PBL, with its focus on writing and speaking and thinking and cross-curricular reading, is just what these students need to improve quickly and deeply. Miyake-Trapp emphatically states that "In PBL, English Learners develop a sense of agency and take ownership of their learning... simultaneously practicing academic language and literacy skills while engaging in critical thinking."

So what are some strategies that teachers can use in the classroom to give EL students more access to PBL?

8 Strategies to Scaffold PBL for EL Students:

Provide choices of accessible research.

Don't release EL learners to research alone. Give them curated choices. Miyake-Trapp suggests, "Think podcasts, leveled books, magazine articles, online tutorials and videos, in addition to traditional classroom resources."

Make sure all directions use visuals.

Anything that is written in text can be illustrated in icons, pictures, gifs, or videos. Better yet, try Screencasting your instructions so that students can view them over and over as needed.

Frontload key vocabulary and concepts.

Give EL students a head start to help them build schema around PBL and your content area.

Create a PBL Roadmap with visuals.

Create a timeline in the classroom with a general overview of the journey to come. "Consistently refer to this poster," says Miyake-Trapp, "so learners have a sense of Where they've been, Where they are, and Where they're going."

Teach collaboration.

Knowing how to work together must be taught explicitly. Have students practice the structure of discourse so they can participate in meaningful conversation and debate. Provide sentence stems. Teach different ways to come to a consensus. Give the EL students the language to advocate for themselves with peers, and give mainstream students the language and comfort to collaborate with empathy. Note: Rotate around the groups, adding your own input and listening to how EL students are interacting, as an easy and authentic informal assessment.

Don't neglect explicit English language instruction.

PBL embraces direct instruction, small group instruction, and independent learning. That gives you ample time to pull students for extra support while other students are continuing their research or preparations. Note: Why not pull EL students to help them WITH research and preparations so they can come back to the group with something new to contribute to the whole?

Integrate students' backgrounds and experiences into the process.

Voice and choice are front-and-center in a PBL unit. Honor the connections EL students make with the content by giving them opportunities to bring their backgrounds and experiences to the product or process.

Have a PBL-focused bulletin board.

The same kind of bulletin board that helps visitors understand what's going on in a PBL-focused room can also be used to help EL learners. Keep this board updated with current instructions and exemplars using visuals, keywords, and text. But rather than take down last week's instructions in lieu of current directions, build on those earlier visuals and texts without taking them down so that those who progress slower can still have independent access to this information.

All students can benefit from these targeted tactics, and you're probably using some of them without even knowing it. So don't be nervous about engaging in PBL with your English Language Learners. The inevitable growth that you will see, and their enthusiasm for what they are learning and how they are contributing, will help you realize their strengths and potential.

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PBL with English Language Learners: A Vital Need

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A powerful argument that all students are "ready" for PBL, with 8 strategies for scaffolding projects for English Learners.

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Making Project-Based Learning More Accessible for Multilingual Students

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With appropriate scaffolding, multilingual students can successfully engage in all phases of PBL.

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How a School Turns Nature Into the Ultimate Classroom

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From interdisciplinary projects to wilderness expeditions, The Greene School is an innovative model for nurturing academic success and student agency.

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A Moviemaking PBL Experience Brings History to Life

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Middle school students can create short films to demonstrate learning, bringing historical events such as the Boston Tea Party to life.

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A first-grade teacher recently emailed me the following question: "With older students, you can guide them to informational resources and they can research independently. With my younger students... how can I guide them to do research without spoon-feeding information?"

This is a common and valuable question. Teachers of young learners-pre-K through second grade-often wonder how to engage children in research when they are still emergent readers and writers. But answering this question begins with thinking about our definition of research.

In school contexts, we often envision research as students reading texts-books, websites, articles-and then synthesizing what they've learned and sharing it in some way: a report, a Google Slide show, a presentation.

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

A careful or diligent search.

A studious inquiry or examination, especially investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts.

The collecting of information about a particular subject.

Nowhere does it say anything about reading a book, browsing a website, or citing sources.

When we expand our understanding of research, we begin to see how young children already engage in research every day-through their questions, observations, play, and investigations. In this definition of research, a teacher is a facilitator of learning experiences who honors the inquiry process, rather than just a provider of facts.

Three Forms of Research

For children in pre-K through second grade, research can take the form of investigation, experimentation, or exploration.While these often overlap, it's helpful to look at each individually.

Investigation happens when children look closely, ask questions, and gather information through relevant, authentic experiences. They might observe a worm bin to learn about composting, take a walk to learn about local businesses, or talk to longtime residents to learn how the neighborhood has changed over time.

Experimentation builds on children's questions by offering opportunities to test ideas and take risks. Children might try building a structure that doesn't fall, mix ingredients to make paint, or explore which materials make the most water-resistant roof. Even a predesigned experiment like celery and food coloring supports learning through trial and error.

Exploration often happens through play. Children might set up a pretend store, design products or inventions, or test possible solutions to problems. Through playful exploration, they engage deeply with concepts and systems. When we notice and support these moments, we make space for research that feels meaningful, developmentally appropriate, and joyful.

7 Practical Ways to Support Young Researchers

When designing meaningful inquiry-based learning experiences for young children, consider the following:

1. Expand the entry points. Young children learn deeply when they have the chance to explore ideas through a variety of formats-not just text. While engaging read-alouds are valuable, expert visitors, podcasts, videos, images, and hands-on materials offer additional ways into a topic and can be especially supportive for emergent readers. Consider setting up gallery walks of photographs, offering time to listen to child-friendly audio clips, or watching short videos that relate to children's questions.

These modalities can spark new lines of inquiry, offer background knowledge, and create shared experiences that build excitement and understanding. Play-based centers are also ideal places to introduce hands-on, authentic materials for children to explore and investigate.

2. Use multiple modalities for demonstrating understanding. Given young children's emergent literacy skills, consider having them represent and express their learning through drawing, building, dictation, dramatization, or storytelling. Literacy involves more than reading and writing-it's also about speaking, listening, asking questions, and making sense of the world. When children are supported in expressing their understanding in accessible ways, the learning sticks.

3. Model the inquiry process. Although young children are naturally curious, they may need support in seeing what curiosity looks like. Model this often by engaging in co-research alongside your students. For example, in a unit where children were designing accessible playground equipment, I brought them out to our school playground and walked around, wondering aloud, "How could a child who uses a wheelchair enjoy this swing?" and "What features might make this play structure welcoming for everyone?"

4. Make thinking visible. Use shared journals, anchor charts, photo documentation, and bulletin boards to help children revisit and build on their ideas. These tools also support emerging literacy as children begin to connect their thoughts with written language. Thinking routines like See-Think-Wonder and Parts-Purposes-Complexities help organize and document ideas while building cognitive capacity. When children actively participate in this process, engagement deepens. For example, give children iPads to photograph a growing garden or support them in creating pictures or bar graphs after conducting classroom surveys.

5. Bring in experts and plan fieldwork. Meeting experts and visiting workspaces beyond the classroom is one of the most powerful research tools available. These experiences give children the chance to engage with adults who can answer their questions directly and share authentic tools and tasks. Before the visit, invite children to think about their questions; during the visit, support their curiosity; and afterward, take time to debrief together. These practices help deepen inquiry and support thoughtful, sustained exploration of a topic.

6. Make space for child-led inquiry. As adults, we're driven by our own interests and passions, so it's essential to do the same for children. Honor children's questions and create space for them to follow their curiosities. One way to do this is by introducing a "Wonder Wall" or an "Inquiry Board" at children's eye level where they can post questions or dictate them to you.

Build moments into your day when the curriculum is flexible and spacious enough to review these questions and support students in exploring ideas that may not be tied to a set curricular unit. These opportunities let children know that their ideas and questions matter and are worth researching.

7. Support collaborative research. Give children chances to learn alongside each other -asking questions, sharing ideas, and figuring things out together. When children are curious about the same topic or working toward a shared goal, collaboration not only deepens the learning but also makes the process more joyful. Teachers can support collaborative research by carving out time for small group work while others are engaged in more independent work-for example, during centers or Choice Time.

Research with young learners doesn't have to look like note-taking or reading lengthy texts. When we redefine research as exploration, investigation, and experimentation, we not only honor what young children are already doing-we also expand what's possible.

Responses are generated by artificial intelligence. AI can make mistakes.

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7 Tips for Guiding Young Learners to Engage in Research

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Early childhood educators can bring research into their classrooms to appropriately develop valuable skills in young learners.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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BIE decided to make "authenticity" one of the new Essential Project Design Elements in our model of Gold Standard PBL, but it's really been with us all along. When we suggest ways to come up with ideas for projects, the list includes community issues, real-world problems, topics of personal relevance to students, current events, and so on. And the concept of authentic assessment, which has been around for a while in progressive education circles, has informed our thinking about the use of products and performances in projects to gather evidence of student learning, beyond traditional test-based assessment. We got a nudge to add authenticity to our Essential Elements from Sam Seidel, author of Hip Hop Genius, when he keynoted at our PBL World conference and urged the audience to make learning "real-er" for students.

I had a conversation about authenticity in PBL in a recent hangout with two members of BIE's National Faculty, John Blaber and Todd Wigginton, plus Chaney Mosley, who directed the high school academies program at Metro Nashville Public Schools. We first talked about what authenticity meant and why it was important.

As a high school English teacher, John sees three elements of authenticity in his projects: real-world topics explored through authentic texts; student voice and choice, so that what they write about and discuss is authentic to them personally; and an authentic product. Todd, who is the Coordinator of Instructional Projects at Metro Nashville, likes the word "application" when thinking about authenticity; teachers show students how what they're learning applies to the real world. Chaney added that he thinks about how students can transfer what they're learning, asking, "When would a product be used in the world of work or other real-world context?"

Some Authentic Projects

We discussed some examples of projects than run the spectrum of authenticity, from realistic simulations to projects where students work with community organizations or adult experts, either brought into the classroom or visited away from school. For example, Todd mentioned a project in which third graders learned geometry by working with an architect who came to the classroom to help them create proposals to rebuild their neighborhood.

An authentic context and audience for a project raises the stakes for students, John pointed out, so the quality of their work really goes up. He described a high school English project about immigration reform, where students had to carefully consider how to write powerfully - and properly - when explaining their proposals to a state legislator. He mentioned another project done at a school in southern California in which students tackled an authentic issue in their community, water conservation during a drought, and were highly motivated to learn the science content and employ English Language Arts skills. (A clever part of their awareness-raising campaign was to hold a contest for "dirtiest car"!)

A good way to write an authentic driving question for a project and "ground it in a real-world context," as Chaney put it, is to begin it with, "How can we, as _____" which places students in an authentic role. For example, he told about a project in which students acted as consultants for local entrepreneurs with the driving question, "How can we, as graphic designers, communicate a company's purpose for an entrepreneur?" The entrepreneur gave students feedback during the project, and actually used the "winning" design. Todd added that the way students in which worked was also authentic; they used design thinking processes and iterative cycles of critique and revision, just as actual professionals work.

The idea for this project was hatched when some teachers in Metro Nashville spent three days job-shadowing staff at the Entrepreneur Center as part of the district's innovative "Industry Externship" program. This program gives teachers the opportunity to see how to connect what they teach to a real-world career-based context. To begin the process, teams of teachers suggest the types of businesses they would like to work at, then the district matches them with contacts from its business partnerships or the Chamber of Commerce. At an orientation meeting, the district provides businesses with a manual outlining the program and suggesting ideas for how they can help.

Authentic projects, in addition to motivating students and improving the quality of their work, are also great for boosting parent engagement and connecting with community members, alumni, and older students. In the immigration project John described above, the entry event was a visit from a former student whose relatives had recently immigrated to the California. In another project about privacy and security in the digital age, a parent who was a journalist and a representative from the government served as expert resources. Chaney explained how students surveyed parents about needs and problems in their community, which became the basis for several projects, answering questions such as "How do I get rids of moles in my yard?" and "How can I grow food for my family?" (which btw led to them learn how to grow the tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro needed to make salsa).

Challenges and How to Overcome Them

When I asked about the challenges teachers face when designing authentic projects and how to overcome them, our guests had a lot to say. Todd (who like me taught history in high school) talked about how it can be challenging for history teachers to think of authentic projects because, well, history took place in the past, not in today's "real world." Of course some connections can be made between the past and current events, but it's hard to do this for all the content that needs to be taught. Todd suggested teachers consider what a historian does - what is authentic work for them? "They don't sit around and memorize facts, they're doing research, analyzing documents, making an argument and defending it from evidence" (which is one of Common Core's key ELA standards). So give students the opportunity to do the same things as a biologist or mathematician - "who doesn't do the same 50 problems over and over."

English teachers, John said, sometimes find it challenging to connect, say, literature to a real-world project. He advises the to look at underlying themes and issues - justice, identity, inequality - as corollaries to current events. But he adds a caution: to keep the project authentic to students, "don't tell them what to think."

Another challenge is sometimes teachers can be a bit timid about making outside contacts or to "admit we don't have all the answers," notes Todd. "They can take baby steps" toward fully authentic PBL: first try a simulation, then for the next project bring in one expert. John gave a great example of a teacher who talked with someone who worked at a local food bank and found out they needed materials in the primary language of many of its clients, which launched a project in a high school Spanish class. So don't be afraid to ask; fellow teachers and friends might have contacts. Be curious and reach out to your community.

Do you have ideas about authenticity in PBL, or examples of authentic projects to share? Post a comment below!

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BIE decided to make "authenticity" one of the new Essential Project Design Elements in our model of Gold Standard PBL, but it's really been with us all along. When we suggest ways to come up with ideas for projects, the list includes community issues, real-world problems, topics of personal relevance to students, current events, and so on.

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6 Ways to Guide Students to More Authentic Work in PBL

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Authenticity is a key element of project-based learning, and teachers can use these tips to create more meaningful learning experiences.

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Wrap Authentic Project-Based Learning in Inquiry - AVID Open Access

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Discover strategies for introducing project-based learning in a way that sets the stage for authentic, inquiry-based problem solving for students.

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Wrap Authentic Project-Based Learning in Inquiry

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Wrap Authentic Project-Based Learning in Inquiry - AVID Open Access

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover strategies for introducing project-based learning in a way that sets the stage for authentic, inquiry-based problem solving for students.

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Wrap Authentic Project-Based Learning in Inquiry

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What is Authentic Project Based Learning (PBL)? - New Tech Network

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Dive into authentic project-based learning (PBL) to engage and challenge learners with meaningful, real-world learning experiences. Authenticity is a key element for teachers to enhance projects.

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What does "authenticity" mean?

In what ways can a project be authentic?

Just how "authentic" are our PBL units?

Click here for full size version

Want to learn more about PBL? Check out our books. Register now for PBL World 2019.

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Authenticity: How to Move Projects from Engaging to Empowering

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How a school created a tool to guide professional development for PBL teachers seeking to make their projects more authentic.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Cura AI — Use Design Thinking to provide the structure for your PBL unit

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Cura Education’s hands-on, real-world project-based learning (PBL) units bring your classrooms to life

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The power of design thinking in education

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In today’s reader submission, Anam Javed – Master Teacher in Residence for Technologies at the Victorian Academy of Teacher and Leadership – provides an…

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Design Thinking in Education: Empathy, Challenge, Discovery, and Sharing

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As a model for reframing methods and outcomes, design thinking reconnects educators to their creativity and aspirations for helping students develop as deep thinkers and doers.

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Project-Based Learning (PBL)

The closer project-based learning comes to the messy, complicated problems of our world today, the more students benefit.

Frances Roberts / Alamy Stock Photo

In March 2020, I faced a number of challenges as a school superintendent. Earlier in the month, I had read about a virus that was sweeping the world, and while American schools had not shuttered, the challenge seemed both eminent and far off.

I was never given one problem but was presented with a number of problem situations in which I and my team needed to derive key questions that drove our decision-making.

The problems we faced continued to change, requiring us to go back and learn new content, prepare for multiple contingencies, and communicate up-to-date information and our plans for multiple scenarios.

Over the next several weeks, months, and years, I, and every other leader, faced a series of problems, including closing schools, redesigning in-person instruction, developing virtual learning programs, and working in partnership with public health organizations.

Interestingly, I learned that authentic, real-world problem-solving has a few key features:

Contemporary learning frameworks and related methodologies can learn a lot from what we are experiencing with Covid-19. Applying the two features above to project-based learning (PBL) by using a more fluid rather than static, linear model may best prepare students for what the future of learning and work actually looks and feels like.

The extraction of cobalt to build electric cars and the negative impact on rural African communities

The development of wind farms and the decline of the golden eagle

5 Strategies to Make PBL More Authentic

1: Students derive the driving question from multiple contexts or multiple issues within a context. In one third-grade class, students read the book We Are Water Protectors and discuss the challenges Native Americans face with the introduction of the Keystone pipeline. Next, the teacher presents two problems:

Students then work together in this strategy to determine the key challenges facing Indigenous people and native species. Next, they develop core questions they want to answer and determine what they need to learn to answer those questions.

2: Students face changes in the problem(s) they are contemplating. Problem environments are fluid, not static. In an AP economics class, students are analyzing supply and demand of a new video game system and preparing to advise the company on what it should do to improve profits.

Every day at the beginning of class, their teacher asks them to scan reliable news sources to report any changes to supply chains, governmental restrictions such as embargoes, or any other factor that would influence their solutions to the client.

The students found out that there were major supply chain issues with essential parts needed to create the video game console. Moreover, some of the ships carrying current consoles are sitting in Asia awaiting passage to the United States because of a political dispute.

Students learn about changes to the problem content (this could be via reading multiple news reports, listening to daily podcasts, or engaging with actual people in the field).

In small groups, students share their key understanding of the changes and how that impacts their current understanding and strategy.

Students determine key "need-to-knows" they have and work with the teacher and peers to gain competencies.

Students plan for multiple contingencies and tentative solutions.

The students worked together in small groups and discussed the key factors that were impacting the company they were advising, along with what the students needed to learn and understand before meeting with the client, and finally developed multiple recommendations based on multiple contingencies.

The general strategy looks like this:

3: Presentations are short bursts of what students think and propose during the project with dollops of feedback to make adjustments. Seventh-grade students are sending in their persuasive essay on one of a number of topics (e.g., addressing the homelessness crisis, engaging with politicians on critical race theory).

Students have a mid-lesson stop in which they have 5 minutes to prepare to present their current work.

Students conduct a feedback protocol (tuning or critical friends) in which one or two students receive feedback.

Students who received feedback share what they have changed in a reflective journal or exit ticket.

This process is repeated daily.

As they are drafting their papers, students are randomly assigned to present their ideas and current drafts to other students and receive feedback on their writing as well as their persuasiveness to opposing views.

The strategy looks like this:

4: Authentic audiences engage with students throughout the project rather than just at the beginning and/or end. In a fifth-grade art class, students have been commissioned by the local town council to paint murals that represent voices that are largely marginalized in their community. During their work, students meet with a number of artists and community members who share their stories, offer feedback, and address questions.

In this strategy, students engage with people outside the classroom at the beginning, middle, and end of a project to hear stories that relate to the problem context, receive guidance on the technical aspects of the content they are learning, and ask questions.

5: Groups work together in small bursts of time to solve problems. Students in Algebra II are working with logarithms to solve a number of problems related to stomach acid, algae-filled hot tubs, soil composition, and buffalo teeth.

While each student may be solving a different problem, students form small groups to share their learning, evaluate the connections between each context, and give each other feedback. After approximately two weeks of solving complex math tasks, the teacher presents three new problems and forms new groups for students to solve the problem in one or two days.

In this strategy, students form temporary groups of two to three to solve a new challenge and work together for one to two days without forming task-specific roles.

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5 Strategies for Aligning PBL to Real-World Problem-Solving

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The closer project-based learning comes to the messy, complicated problems of our world today, the more students benefit.

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Most teachers (myself included) don't want to rely on lectures and worksheets to do our jobs. The problem is that it's time-intensive and difficult to plan for lots and lots of active learning, which is an instructional approach that engages students in discussions, problem-solving, group work, and hands-on projects. The active learning methodology encourages critical thinking, collaboration, and the application of knowledge. When employed well, it leads to deeper understanding and retention of concepts.

I've long been a champion of active learning, but I got a bit burned out on coming up with new activities and spinning forward lessons. I felt pressure to develop intricate simulations and anticipate every eventuality; I wanted each lesson to not not only be engaging, but also be aligned with a million learning outcomes. It seemed easier just to lecture for an hour.

But I eventually discovered that active learning really just requires some approachable changes in both mindset and planning. It doesn't mean an overhaul of every class period-more what I call "simple swaps."

By employing a few simple swap ideas, you can turn your passive, worksheet-heavy lessons into energizing, active learning-all without new materials or even extra planning. Here are my ideas for different lesson plans and teaching strategies.

A Lecture Simple Swamp

Passive learning approach: 30-minute lecture.

Active learning approach: 5-to-10-minute micro-lecture, then discussion.

The swap: Lecturing is often necessary and helpful. The key is to not lecture for the better part of an hour. Break things up. For example, lecture for five minutes, then do some low-level questioning to check for understanding. Return to lecture for five more minutes, then engage in a class discussion that explores deeper themes, analyzes the material, or practices problem-solving skills.

The benefits: Students pay more attention, because they know they will imminently participate in a class discussion. Teachers get a better grasp of how students are absorbing new information and how they're communicating it. And teachers don't have to listen to themselves talk for 30 minutes straight (or maybe that's just a me thing).

A Worksheet Completion Simple Swap

Passive learning approach: Completing a worksheet.

Active learning approach: Problem-solving stations.

The swap: To get started, teachers can take a prepared worksheet from their subject area and cut it into strips. Examples might include two math problems, a short reading with comprehension questions, or an ethical dilemma with short answers. Assemble the cut-up worksheet questions or problems around the room and put roughly the same number of students at each station. Set a timer. When it goes off, students rotate to the next station. Repeat until everyone has completed each set.

The benefits: Teachers don't need to ditch the worksheet-they're just switching their method of delivery. Students leave their seats and engage with questions and problem-solving in a much more interesting way.

A Rote Review Simple Swap

Passive learning approach: Rote review.

Active learning approach: Peer-marking.

The swap: It's not unusual for teachers to go over the answers to an assignment or formative assessment one by one, so that students can check their work. I recommend peer-marking as an alternative. First, explain some peer-marking best practices to the class: Students should deliver positive feedback and constructive criticism to one another. Next, ask students to switch papers with someone else. Tell them to mark objective answers as correct or incorrect, and to add commentary for subjective answers. Display the correct answers on the board, and spend some time going over the trickiest prompts.

The benefits: Peer-marking saves teachers time and reduces their mental load. Students obtain a deeper understanding of their own learning by seeing how others accomplish their assignments. And teachers are freed up to better assist students who are struggling with a specific problem.

A Teacher-Led Work Simple Swap

Passive learning approach: Teacher-led assignments and instruction.

Active learning approach: Student-generated presentations and activities.

The swap: Instead of introducing a new concept through instruction, task students with teaching the concept themselves. Start by assigning different topics to small groups (give each learner a role to keep them focused). Refer them to reliable resources, like a section of the textbook or professional websites. Each group creates a short slide deck, cites their sources, and comes up with a review activity for their fellow students.

The benefits: Learning new material in order to teach it requires a high level of understanding. Creation is the highest level of critical thinking, according to Bloom's Taxonomy. Requiring each member of the group to communicate what they've learned to the rest of the class helps further synthesize the information.

A Static Review Simple Swap

Passive learning approach: Study guide revision.

Active learning approach: Game-based review.

The swap: Teachers can turn just about any learning activity into a game or competition. For instance, when reviewing for an assessment, try out an interactive game, rather than giving students a study guide to go through on their own. "Around the World" can be done with little to no preparation. Have two students stand up, and ask them both a question. The learner who gets the question right first moves on; the other sits down. Ask the next two students different questions, and repeat the process until everyone has the chance to answer at least once.

The benefits: Games get everyone involved, and they're way more interesting than independent review. Preparing a complicated Jeopardy! game might be nice every once in a while, but it's absolutely not necessary. Keep it simple and have some fun!

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Simple Swaps for Moving From Passive to Active Learning

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These tips demonstrate that planning for active learning experiences doesn't have to be time-intensive or difficult.

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What comes first when you ideate a project: the content/learning goals, the driving question/challenging problem, or the product?

Teachers often ask this question in our PBL 101 workshops, online courses or other forums. The answer, like many things PBL, is "it depends."

Imagine you're planning a PBL unit.

Occasionally, you may think of the product first. You want students to create documentary films; to use a piece of software to create a design for a tiny house; to paint a mural on a local building; to write persuasively. Then you and your students decide what the product will be about or what its authentic purpose is. Then you identify the learning goals and develop a driving question, and you're good to go.
Usually, the product comes a step or two later. The two most common ways to begin designing a project are:
1. Start with the content/learning goals. Ask, "What do I - or my students - think students need or want to learn about?" This could be driven by the curriculum of the course or grade level you teach. You want to do a project, say, in February and it's Black History Month, so there's your general topic. It's November and that's when students typically learn about ecosystems. Or the choice could be driven by what's on your and your students' minds. For example it's, say, a time of pandemic and learning about viruses and exponential growth is obviously important. Or a school shooting makes learning about the 2nd Amendment relevant.

Then you (with your students) develop a driving question or identify a challenging problem, and decide what products students will create.

2. Start with the challenging problem or driving question. This often pops up first. There could be a local issue students feel compelled to address: We need a new park in our neighborhood; the traffic around our school is dangerous; hungry people in our community need our support. There could be a major event or trend happening in our world that simply demands a project, so students can investigate it or solve the problem: How can we help create a more racially just society? How can we help immigrants new to our community? How can we stop the spread of germs? Or the problem/question could be more personal: What stories do I want to tell about my family? Who are my heroes? How can I express myself through art?

Then you (with your students) identify the specific content/learning goals, and decide what products students will create.

Whatever your project design approach, it's important to make project products authentic.

This means thinking about what type of product best suits the purpose of the project. Consider what people in the world outside of school would create or do when tackling a similar problem or meeting a similar need.

Don't fall into the trap of using a typical "school assignment" for an inauthentic purpose. For example, in the real world, scientists would not create a brochure to argue for an environmental regulation. Historians would not make a collage to decide whether wars were justified. Activists or lobbyists would not write a five-paragraph essay intended only to be read by a teacher to argue for a solution to a problem.

Here are five major types of products, and examples of each...

1. Presentation or Action Products

2. Written Products

3. Media & Technology Products

4. Constructed Products

5. Planning Products

Here are a few more questions about choosing products, which we discuss in our workshops and courses.

They have to do with issues of assessment, student choice, and how complex you want the project to be. As you plan a project, you'll need to consider, for example:

Which products will be created by individuals?

Which products will be created by teams?

Will all students/teams create the same product, or can they choose different ones?

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The Products Students Can Create in PBL Projects

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Project planning guidance, with a list of many different types of authentic products to choose from.

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Mobile app prototyping at Middle School: app mockups, innovation and 8th graders

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What happens when middle schoolers build app mockups with Justinmind? A little app prototyping, a lot of creativity and a whole heap of…

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Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning

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Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning

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Looking for tools and strategies for effective assessment in project-based learning? To support you, we’ve assembled this guide to helpful resources from Edutopia and beyond.

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Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning

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Looking for tools and strategies for effective assessment in project-based learning? To support you, we’ve assembled this guide to helpful resources from Edutopia and beyond.

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AI for Medicine and Healthcare: Projects for Middle School and High School kids

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AI for Medicine and Healthcare: Projects for Middle School and High School kids

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AI for Medicine & Healthcare: Projects for Middle/High School

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The Intersection of AI and healthcare has tremendous potential for student projects. There is a wide range of healthcare sectors where AI can be used to automate and improve processes. In this blog, we focus on some key areas where middle school and high school can build impactful projects. We discuss hot topics in healthcare, possible projects, and examples of past AIClub student projects in these areas. What are some examples of AI in healthcare?AI can be used in any discipline that has dat

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How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

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How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

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It's easy to remember the highlight reels of the project-based approach I used when I taught eighth grade. I think about the moment we finished our second mural and my students were so excited they started spontaneously cheering or the moment students asked thoughtful questions to our guests during the immigration documentary or the way students continued to surprise me with their blogging projects year after year or the creativity in their STEM-related engineering projects.

But for all the highlights, there are also a string of failures. I've made a ton of mistakes in my PBL journey. Big mistakes. Epic mistakes. I designed project-based units that were cringe-worthy; where I had to stop after a few lessons and say, "This was a bad idea. I tried something and it failed. We're going to change this up a bit."

One such project was the Great Linear Equation Debacle of 2011. As an eighth grade self-contained teacher, I wanted to prove that our math block could be fully project-based. After a successful statistics project, I decided we would do a "Linear Equations in Real Life" project. I challenged students to find real examples of linear equations and interview experts who used this skill in their daily life.

It tanked.

Students couldn't find enough real examples, much less, experts they could interview. The project felt forced and the end goal was something they didn't find relevant. To make matters worse, students struggled to determine linear functions while looking at a graph or to solve a linear equation using an algorithm. At first, I blamed my students. I viewed their disengagement as laziness rather than confusion. However, after four days of a failing project, I realized it was a design problem. On a fundamental level, those standards didn't fit in with a project-based approach.

In my drive for authenticity, I had created pseudo-context. In my rejection of cookie cutter learning, I had turned the PBL process into something cookie cutter. At that point, we regrouped and focused on a problem-based approach with more scaffolding and some time for guided practice. We did 3-step math problems and more authentic word problems rooted in real-world experiences.

It was a hard lesson in how to align the content standards you have to teach with the project-based learning that leads to student voice and choice.

Listen to the Podcast

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https://spencerauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/PBL-and-Standards-1.mp3

When the Standards Don't Align to PBL

There are certain standards that simply don't fit well within a PBL framework. It's not that these standards are less authentic or real-world. It's just that they lend themselves better to other frameworks. In general, these are the standards that:

improve with repetition and daily practice

focus on discreet, measurable skills

require significant direct instruction and guided practice

tend to be individual endeavors

In language arts, these standards might include reading fluency, blending, and phonics work. In math, this might involve math facts and basic computational understanding. In social studies, this could involve discreet skills in studying maps. In art, PE, and music, these are often skill-based performance standards that simply require daily practice.

As a teacher in a PBL unit, you can integrate some of the skills practice into a larger project. For example, you might do a goal-setting and video project in PE that integrates performance standards or you might integrate map skills work into a larger PBL unit on World War II (a more topic-driven PBL unit). Other times, you might take 5 minutes out of a class period and simply practice a more repetitive standard. For example, in a language arts class, students might do blogging projects but take 5-10 minutes to do a daily fluency activity. The key idea here is to recognize which standards don't fit well within a PBL unit and instead require drill, practice, or repetition. However, often our standard do fit well within a PBL framework.

How to Align Standards to Projects

People often debate about whether we should be process-driven or product-driven in project-based learning. But I think there's a third option. We can be learning-driven. In other words, we should start with the question, "What do we want students to learn?" and let that drive the process and the product.

At times, this looks very product-focused. Ask a student in the midst of a NaNoWriMo project (where they create a novel in a month) and they are focusing on that end result of a finished novel. True, the process is important but they might just deviate from it a bit. By contrast, a student in a design thinking project might begin with empathy toward a group and only later, after working through the process, hit a place of ideation and prototyping. But regardless, you as a teacher, will be focused on what they are learning through this journey.

PBL is not a license to ditch the standards or take a break from real learning. It's not the same thing as a pizza party or Field Day. As educators, we need to make sure our projects lead students to a place where they can master the standards. But how do we actually accomplish this?

How do you do PBL when you have a ton of standards to teach?

Whenever I mention Geek Out Projects or Genius Hour, people ask, "How do you get away with teaching whatever topics you want? Don't you have a ton of standards you need to teach?" People assume we have added an additional project to an already packed plate. But that's not how it works. We aren't adding anything. We're re-arranging the plate in a way that honors student voice and choice.
The key is to tap into content-neutral standards. For example, in our Geek Out Blogs, my middle school students had to make sure that their blogs included persuasive and explanatory texts. Here are the two main standards we used.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Students also engaged in research:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

They moved through the entire writing process:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 8 here.)

They also published their work to the world, both in writing shorter and longer posts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

This project included nearly every single Common Core Writing Standard in the first few weeks of school. Notice, also, how none of those standards mention specific topics. These were all topic-neutral standards, which meant students could choose skateboarding or fashion or history or video games and they're still learning the same standards. As long as they were practicing discreet skills in reading and writing, they could choose their own topics. This was an interest-driven approach to PBL.

Our Tiny House Projects, by contrast, required students to master specific conceptual standards with the freedom to use multiple modalities. We combined volume, surface area, and proportional reasoning with standards around budgeting and finance. This was a problem-driven approach with a tight focus on specific concepts.

A little nuance here. Even in a project-based learning unit, you might still need to teach some specific skills through direct instruction. I still had to demonstrate how to find the volume and surface area. We also practiced using proportional reasoning to solve spatial problems all around our school. However, I integrated direct instruction and skill practice into the project rather than taking a "teach first, project second" approach.

Students began this project with a specific challenge:

So, instead of working on an open-ended project, students engaged in a challenge-based project, where they had to design a product within tight parameters.

Connecting the Standards to the PBL Framework

Notice in the previous two examples how the types of standards required two vastly different approaches to project-based learning. That's not a bad thing. There isn't one single, perfect PBL approach. Sometimes, the best option is an open-ended topical project. Other times, it's more inquiry-based. Still other times, you might choose an empathy-driven design thinking framework.

Check out the following table to see the connection between the types of standards you teach and the corresponding PBL approach.

Note that sometimes you will use a hybrid approach. For example, I have combined elements of inquiry-based learning when I had students do interest-driven PBL. Many of our design thinking projects also had elements of problem-based PBL. And every single PBL approach had elements of product-driven PBL. So, there is always going to be some overlap between the models. However, the key idea here is the word driven. What is the key driver in the project your students are working on?

#1: Inquiry-Driven

Inquiry-driven PBL begins with a state of curiosity and wonder. It might be as simple as the sentence stem "I wonder why _________" or "I wonder how _________." Students then have the opportunity to research, ideate, and create. However, it might also begin with an observation of a natural phenomenon. I recently wrote about biomimicry, and the way engineers often study nature for inspiration in their designs. It's why geckos are the future of spacecraft and why birds solved the problem of noisy trains.

With the inquiry-driven PBL approach, you can have open-ended topics or you can have a specific concept-related topic and ask students to pursue their own questions within those parameters.

If you're interested in an inquiry-driven PBL project, you might want to check out the Wonder Day or Wonder Week Project. These two projects walk students through the inquiry process, allowing them to answer their own questions and share their insights with an audience.

Check out the following sketch video you can share with your students. You can also download the Wonder Day Project Here.

#2: Interest-Driven

Another approach is the interest-driven PBL process. I alluded to the Geek Out blogs earlier. But another option is Genius Hour. Modeled after Google's 20% Time, students get to choose their own passion projects and work through a process of discovery and creativity independently.

Check out the following video to see more about the Genius Hour process:

Here's a Genius Hour video you can use with your students.

Note that Genius Hour still connects to specific content standards. However, these are skill-based, topic-neutral standards.

#3: Product-Driven

PBL experts often say, "Students should focus on the process and not the product." But there's also a time and a place for projects that challenge students to focus on developing a quality product. In these projects, the product has tighter parameters but the process is more flexible.

One of my favorite examples is the NaNoWriMo project. Here, students know specifically that they will create a novel. They might not know the audience and they aren't necessarily focused on a question or a challenge. True, they will engage in inquiry and empathy at some point. But they are driven by the challenge of creating a novel in the month of November.

Similarly, when we created our Scratch Video Game projects, students started with the simple challenge of designing a functioning video game in three weeks. Although they focused on crafting for an audience and they went through an ideation process, it was product-driven. They wanted to create an awesome video game that people would actually play.

In product-driven PBL, students typically have tight guidelines on the format but looser guidelines on the topics. In this sense, it resembles elements of interest-based PBL, with a key difference being the emphasis on creating the product rather than on the discovery of new information. So, instead of students making something to demonstrate what they learned, the focus is on the making itself.

#4: Problem-Driven

Problem-driven PBL begins with a specific problem or challenge that students must solve. An example is our maker challenges that present a specific scenario that leads students into research, problem-solving, ideation, and a final product that solves the initial challenge.

Here's an example of a Maker Challenge:

With problem-driven PBL, teachers typically begin with specific concept standards and then provide more flexible options of what students design and create. However, not every problem-driven PBL project has to include a tangible product. Sometimes students design a system or plan an event. Sometimes their creative work is merely a "pitch" to a group of judges from the community.

#5: Empathy-Driven (Design Thinking)

Empathy-driven PBL can have elements of the previous four PBL approaches. In fact, with the LAUNCH Cycle (a K12 design thinking framework that A.J. Juliani and I developed), we don't always begin with empathy. Sometimes it starts out with a problem, a geeky interest, or a sense of wonder at a natural phenomenon. But even so, students begin to build empathy as they Ask Tons of Questions and as they clarify the audience during the Understanding and Navigating Ideas phases.

Check out the following video on the LAUNCH Cycle:

Note that the LAUNCH Cycle will often begin with a challenge, a phenomenon or a product idea but this will ultimately focus on empathy. That's the critical component that leads to genuine design thinking.

Do a Choice Audit of Standards

When planning for project-based learning, it helps to do a choice audit of your standards. While some standards are content-neutral, others require you to teach very specific concepts, topics, and ideas. What happens, for example, when you have to teach about force and acceleration or linear equations or World War II?

In these moments, it helps to do a choice audit of your standards. Ask the following questions:

Is it possible for students to choose the topics or the content?

What choices could students have around the strategies they use?

Are students able to choose their own formats (multimedia, for example)?

Is this something that they can practice throughout the year or does it have to be confined to one particular unit?

Where outside of school might a student actually practice this standard?

While ownership is critical for students, all standards have certain constraints built into them. Some require students to practice certain skills while others are skill-neutral but require that students master a concept. However, these constraints can work as the creative constraints that force you, as a teacher, to find creative opportunities.

It's the idea of thinking inside the box:

The Power of Chunking Your Standards

Once you've found the right fit between the standards and the PBL framework and explored the flexibility in the standards, you can begin to connect the standards. Some people call this "layering" or "chunking," but it's the idea of combining standards together to give yourself more time.

When a student reads, he or she is typically practicing four or five standards at the same time. You can't make inferences without comprehending text. Nor can you cite evidence without knowing fact versus opinion. Because knowledge is inherently connective, our standards are less like a list of bullet points and more like a web of skills and concepts.

However, when we write lessons, we will typically include one standard. Often, we will have curriculum maps that move through a few "power standards" for a week or two at a time.

But, while the curriculum map tells us that the entire class must practice one specific standard, it never says that students cannot practice additional standards. So, when we think about student ownership and personalization, it's feasible for students to work on different standards at the same time while still sticking to the common curriculum map.

Think of it this way: some students might take four weeks to practice and master making inferences but only one week on cause and effect. Another student might experience the opposite. But when students self-select standards that they need to work on, they are actually more efficient with their time. Here, they own the enrichment and intervention process.

This connective element is also why students can do a design thinking project for four weeks without it feeling crowded. The project isn't covering one standard. It's connected to six standards that are all interconnected with one another. So, the research, ideation, creation, and editing phases might all connect to separate standards - and that's okay. That's the beauty of PBL. It's an authentic context for teaching multiple standards at the same time.

Why Teachers Are the Key to Making This Work

It is possible to teach with a PBL framework while also reaching all the standards. But this requires us to think creatively about how we teach. It can help to ask questions like: Where is the authenticity in this standard? Where outside of school might a student actually practice this standard? Is this a connecting skill standard? A process standard? A concept? Where is the freedom built into this standard? How does this standard fit with other standards? Where is the student voice and choice? For example, do they get to choose their own formats (multimedia, for example)? Do they get to choose their own topics? How do these standards work with each PBL model?

Ultimately, when this happens, students are able to master the standards at a deep level while also engaging in meaningful work and powerful projects.

Looking for More?

If you're interested in getting started with project-based learning, check out my Getting Started with PBL page, complete with articles, videos, and resources. You might also want to check out my PBL toolkit, which includes a set of projects and mini-projects, along with a Getting Started with PBL guide and a set of assessment resources you can use within the project-based learning framework. I will also send you a weekly email with free, members-only access to my latest blog posts, videos, podcasts and resources to help you boost creativity and spark innovation in your classroom. Just sign up below!

You might also want to check out my PBL Master Course and use the coupon code Spencer to get 20% off. I have an entire lesson where I walk people step-by-step through selecting standards for their PBL unit plans.

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How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

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It's easy to remember the highlight reels of the project-based approach I used when I taught eighth grade. I think about the moment we finished our second mural and my students were so excited they started spontaneously cheering or the moment students asked thoughtful questions to our guests during the immigration documentary or the way students continued to surprise me with their blogging projects year after year or the creativity in their STEM-related engineering projects.