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I agree with those that say each element is important to the success of a PBL, but in my opinion, the project must be authentic. Students must have some kind of connection to their learning in order for it to be truly a positive learning experience. When students are invested in their learning they try harder, get more out of their learning and want to continue learning more.

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The most important part of the process is having a challenging problem or question. Without that there is no drive for students to push themselves to learn anything new or to try things that are beyond their current reach. Every other aspect of a students project will be determined by a good question or problem.

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The elements that are a part of the Essential Project Design Wheel all work together in creating a genuine learning experience. However, if I were to argue one element to be the most important, it would be reflection. I feel that the process of reflecting allows the students to truly understand what they are learning and why. It helps them to decide if they need to take a different approach or it allows new questions to form which can deepen their learning. Reflection also allows the teacher to check in and ensure that the students are where they need to be. It is a time to form a clear path to what needs to be done for a successful learning experience.

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Even though I feel that all of the parts of the Essential Project Design Elements are critical to learning, the step is most critical for genuine learning is critique and revision.  Students need to be able to go back and find mistakes or places they can make changes in their own work to show learning and growth.  Then, they can use these steps to research and change what they need to create a successful project.  When a student is genuinely learning from the process, they are able to look back on their own and learn from their own process, not just by being told what to fix by their teacher.

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I believe that the most crucial part of the process would be student voice and choice. I think that when we give our students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in, it gives them accountability and a sense of accomplishment. This choice creates meaning and genuine learning.

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To me, these two aspects of the process are some of the most important. This is the place where students look at what they did well and see if there is anything they could change or improve. This is a critical step in creating lifelong learning. As they reflect on what they have accomplished and revise their project, they are learning from their mistakes. This can often be the most difficult step as well because it requires students to evaluate their work and not just turn it in for a grade.

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Which Gold Star Standard?While all the elements of the Gold Star Standard model are important and interconnected, there is an argument for which is most critical in order for genuine learning to occur. I believe ‘sustained inquiry’ to be that element. To me, sustained inquiry means on going questioning. For this to be taking place, a student must be able to answer and prove learning of the initial problem and while solving that question or situation, questions further. For that to take place, a learner must be able to critique, revise, and reflect on answers. It is then, that he/she/they can continue authentically to challenge him/herself/themselves further.

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Which Gold Star Standard?While all the elements of the Gold Star Standard model are important and interconnected, there is an argument for which is most critical in order for genuine learning to occur. I believe ‘sustained inquiry’ to be that element. To me, sustained inquiry means on going questioning. For this to be taking place, a student must be able to answer and prove learning of the initial problem and while solving that question or situation, questions further. For that to take place, a learner must be able to critique, revise, and reflect on answers. It is then, that he/she/they can continue authentically to challenge him/herself/themselves further.

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I feel they are all important, however the one that sticks out the most to me is the Public Product. No longer can students just cram for a test or memorize information for the test and then forget it the next day. They need to be able to talk about and describe what they learned with community members. They are also practicing speaking in front of an audience, whether that be 1 or 2 people or a room full of people. This will help them in the future with job interviews, presentations at work, and public speaking within the community that they live. The community also gains useful knowledge and a stronger connection to the school and the students there.

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Question, Inquiry, and Reflection are most critical

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Question, Inquiry, and Reflection are most critical

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I can argue that all elements of a Gold Standard PBL is critical for genuine learning to occur. However, without a properly worded essential question, sustained inquiry, and continual reflection, the project may not meet the goal of mastery and produce life-long learners who have the opportunity to positively contribute the greater community.

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I would argue that authenticity is the most important element of the PBL process. To an extent, I don't think anything else has real meaning for students if they don't feel that the work has any real purpose. They need to be invested in order for any of the other things to happen. I honestly believe that I could leave out any ONE of the other portions of the design wheel in a particular project, and students would still be successful, but if authenticity is lost, achievement will falter.

Of course everything else is important, too, and are all part of my classroom. I'd even agree with the other responses in saying that Reflection is often overlooked, but if I focus on a DESIGN/PBL project specifically, I don't think it's worth it without authenticity.

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An effective PBL begins with an intriguing and challenging question to capture the student’s interest.  The more relevant and authentic the topic, the higher level of interest the students will maintain after the introduction (hook).  The involvement of community and industry partners provides the students with a “client” and gives them an audience to focus on when investigating and working to complete the final product.  Allowing the students to self-reflect, revise, and critique peers work deepens the learning.

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For genuine learning to take place, students need to continually reflect on their progress. As John Dewey wrote, "We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience" (bie.org, 2016)  https://www.bie.org/object/document/gold_standard_pbl_essential_project_design_elements
Through formal and informal processes, students and teachers should process what they are learning and teaching, and why, throughout the PBL experience.
The importance of student reflection is also demonstrated through John Hattie's research on various influences of academic achievement.  Self-reported grades/understanding ranks at the top: https://visible-learning.org/glossary/

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Of course all of the elements are essential for a gold standard  project based learning experience. However, I think the public product is key at the beginning and end of this wheel. As the project is launched by a group, individual members each come with their own strengths and weaknesses. To truly collaborate, they bring their best to the team. So some will truly take on the challenge and sustain the energy for the group to persevere. Others will insure that all have access and voice in each part of the process. Still another will have the discipline to review and revise. Finally, the work will be enhanced through reflection and presentation to the learning community.

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Of course all of the elements are essential for a gold standard  project based learning experience. However, I think the public product is key at the beginning and end of this wheel. As the project is launched by a group, individual members each come with their own strengths and weaknesses. To truly collaborate, they bring their best to the team. So some will truly take on the challenge and sustain the energy for the group to persevere. Others will insure that all have access and voice in each part of the process. Still another will have the discipline to review and revise. Finally, the work will be enhanced through reflection and presentation to the learning community.

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Reflection is Key and Often Overlooked Step

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Reflection is Key and Often Overlooked Step

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All of the components are important to the learning process.  However, allowing time for student reflection is critical and often a step we speed through.  I found this nice self-reflection tool for students that they can use as a rubric from the Buck Institute: https://www.bie.org/object/document/self_reflection_on_project_work

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For science, the ability to critique and analyze an experiment is very important. In order to revise and retest, students must be able to analyze previous results

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"When will I ever use this?" (as stated by students daily). Although all of the project design elements are critical in Gold Standard PBL, I believe that it must be real so that students understand why and how they need the skills, information, etc., that go into the steps of the building their product. The challenging question is the basis of the tasks resulting in the product. I see the critique & revision as well as the reflection as essential components for growth, improvement and lifelong learning. I also believe that authenticity is created via student voice & choice which drives the sustained inquiry by developing the sense of ownership.

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For me, I believe that the Critique and Revision element is the most critical for genuine learning to occur. A main component of the Next Generation Science Standards is Engineering Design. This is where a student creates something, tests it, and then critiques its performance and revises it based on that critique. I believe that real learning happens when students go through this process, going back to the drawing board and improving their previous work. This may induce them to do more research, to try something completely different, or to make a few small modifications that bring success. It deepens their learning when they ponder their product and repeat the process.

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In my way of thinking, all of the elements are important, and I'm not sure that one is more important than another.  I want my projects to incorporate all of these elements, because without even one of them, there would be an important piece missing. The problem or question may be the start of your project, but that could also come from inquiry that happens around a topic. For me, they are all important, not one more than the other.

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I believe that the most important element is the challenging question.  The whole project hinges on this idea.  You must have a question that interests the students, that utilizes  skills and knowledge that you must cover in your curriculum, and lends itself to a project that has the depth and breadth to justify the time invested.  This focus drives the project and is its foundation, so it is the most essential component of the PBL.

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The problem/question has to be something that is interesting and engaging to students as well as something that they can work extensively with.

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I'm not going to choose just one. I need to choose three . It's important to have a challenging problem or question and then to provide enough background information so that sustained inquiry becomes essential. Finally, knowledge that the student will be allowed voice and choice gives the learner the fuel to sustain and persevere through the first two.

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Of all the components, Reflection is the most critical for genuine learning. Reflection must be built in to various points of the Project for optimal learning. The reflection of the whole PBL process must also occur, in order for students to fully process, not only the project, but the learning that occured.

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Voice and Choice is the most critical for student learning. Allowing students the flexibility to learn within their reach. With tools they either are comfortable with or allowing students that want more of a challenge to learn a new tool to prove their learning.

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Of all the components in the EPD elements, the Public Product is the most essential because it forces students to create an authentic piece. Without the public product a student can complete a project with little depth similar to a worksheet that is just fill in the blanks. As a student, knowing that I will be presenting my work to an audience outside the norm, there is added pressure to complete a thorough project.

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Of all the components in the EPD elements, voice and choice is most essential because if students do not have ownership over their learning, then the likelihood of genuine learning is very low.....