# data[].attributes.body
Recommendations for getting started in PBL from the Cult of Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Project Based Learning: Start Here | Cult of Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Maybe you’ve always wanted to try PBL, but you just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Here’s a set of beginner-level resources to get you started.

# data[].attributes.headline
Project Based Learning vs. Problem Based Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Project Based Learning vs. Problem Based Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
November 14, 2013
Project Based Learning vs. Problem Based Learning vs. XBL

At the Buck Institute for Education, we've been keeping a list of the many types of "_____ - based learning" we have run across over the years.

and our new fave...

Let's try to sort this out.

The term "project learning" derives from the work of John Dewey and dates back to William Kilpatrick, who first used the term in 1918. At BIE, we see Project Based Learning as a broad category, which as long as there is an extended "project" at the heart of it, could take several forms or be a combination of:

Designing and/or creating a tangible product, performance or event

Solving a real-world problem (may be simulated or fully authentic)

Investigating a topic or issue to develop an answer to an open-ended question

So according to our "big tent" model of PBL, all of the newer "X-BLs" - problem-, challenge-, and design-based - are basically modern versions of the same concept. They feature, to varying degrees, all of BIE's Gold Standard PBL Essential Project Design Elements, although each has its own distinct flavor. (And btw, each of these three, and Project Based Learning, fall under the general category of inquiry-based learning - which also includes research papers, scientific investigations, Socratic Seminars or other text-based discussions, etc.).

Other X-BLs are so named because they use a specific context for learning, such as a particular place or type of activity. They may contain "projects" within them, or have some of the Essential Elements, but not necessarily. For example, within a community- or service-based learning experience, students may plan and conduct a project that improves their local community or helps the people in it, but they may also do other activities that are not part of a project. Conversely, students may learn content and skills via a game-based or work-based program that does not involve anything like what we would call a PBL-style project.

Project Based Learning vs. Problem Based Learning

Because they have the same acronym, we get a lot of questions about the similarities and differences between the two PBLs. We even had questions ourselves; some years ago we created units for high school economics and government that we called "problem based" because they used realistic but simulated problem scenarios. But we later changed the name to "Project Based Economics" and "Project Based Government" to eliminate confusion about which PBL it was.

We decided to think of Problem Based Learning as a subset of Project Based Learning; that is, one of the ways a teacher could frame a project is "to solve a problem." But Problem-BL does have its own adherents, history and set of typically-followed procedures, which are more formally observed than in other types of X-based learning. The use of case studies and simulations as "problems" dates back to medical schools in the 1960s, and Problem-BL is still more often seen in the post-secondary world than in K-12, where Project-BL is more common.

Problem Based Learning typically follows prescribed steps:

1. presentation of an "ill-structured" (open-ended, "messy") problem

2. problem definition or formulation (writing a "problem statement")

3. generation of a "knowledge inventory" (creating a list of "what we know about the problem" and "what we need to know")

4. generation of possible solutions

5. formulation of learning issues for self-directed and coached learning

6. sharing of findings and solutions

If you're a Project-BL teacher this probably looks pretty familiar, even though the process goes by different names. Other than the framing and the more formalized steps in Problem-BL, there's really not much conceptual difference between the two PBLs - it's more a question of style and scope:

A note on math and the two PBLs: Teachers at some schools in the K-12 world that use Project-BL as a primary instructional method, such as the New Tech Network and Envision Schools, have begun saying they use Problem-BL for math. Especially at the secondary level, teaching math primarily through multi-disciplinary projects has proved challenging. (Not that occasional multi-disciplinary projects including math are a bad idea!) By using Problem-BL, these teachers feel they can design single-subject math projects - aka "problems" which are still complex, open-ended, realistic scenarios - that effectively teach more math content by being more limited in scope than many typical Project-BL units are. Tackling a "problem" may, for example, not involve as much independent student inquiry, nor the creation of a complex product for presentation to a public audience.

So how does this Tale of Two PBLs end?

One could argue that completing any type of project involves solving a problem. If students are investigating an issue, like, say, immigration policy, the problem is deciding where they stand on it and how to communicate their views to a particular audience in a video. Or if students are building a new play structure for a playground, the problem is how to build it properly, given the wants and needs of users and various constraints. Or even if they're writing stories for a book to be published about the driving question, "When do we grow up?" the problem is how to express a unique, rich answer to the question.

The semantics aren't worth worrying about, for very long anyway. The two PBLs are really two sides of the same coin. What type of PBL you decide to call your, er... extended learning experience just depends on how you frame it. The bottom line is the same: both PBLs can powerfully engage and effectively teach your students!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Project Based Learning vs. Problem Based Learning vs. XBL | Blog | Project Based Learning | BIE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At the Buck Institute for Education, we've been keeping a list of the many types of "_____ - based learning" we have run across over the years. and our new fave... Let's try to sort this out. The term "project learning" derives from the work of John Dewey and dates back to William Kilpatrick, who first used the term in 1918.

# data[].attributes.headline
How do you Teach to the Standards When doing Project-based Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
How do you Teach to the Standards When doing Project-based Learning

# data[].attributes.body
Not about discourse per se, but if you are hoping to teach increased discussion through PBL, it's good to know how to teach a PBL!

Includes short videos on Genius Hour / Design Thinking.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

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.

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:

Fitting the Standards to the 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.

ModelFlexibility of StandardsThe Standards-Model FitInquiry-DrivenFlexible Content Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must allow for students to ask their own questions and find their own answers.Interest-DrivenContent-Neutral Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must allow students to pursue their own interests.Product-DrivenVarying Flexibility on Content Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must fit within the idea of designing a tangible product.Problem-DrivenSpecific Content Standards (with a Focus on Concept Attainment) with Flexible Skill StandardsThe standards must allow students to engage in problem-solving.Empathy-DrivenVarying Flexibility on Content Standards and Skill StandardsThe standards must connect to creative design and empathy with an authentic audience

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.

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 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.

Get Your FREE PBL Toolbox

Curious about getting started with PBL? Check out the free Project-Based Learning Toolbox. This toolbox 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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.body
A short description of what a PBL is.

# data[].attributes.body
Checklist for assessing the quality of discussion in your learning space. Scroll to very bottom of article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You ask the students, "What is the main idea of the passage?"

Joseph responds, "Always persevere," to which you reply, "Very good, Joseph."

In the average classroom, as much as 70% of instructional time consists of these kinds of verbal exchanges between you and students or among students: teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation of the response/feedback. Classroom discussion, dialogue, and discourse are the principal means of exchanging ideas, evaluating mastery, developing thinking processes, and reflecting on content and shared thoughts.

Engaging students in effective classroom talk begins by creating a discourse-rich classroom culture. Begin the year by discussing what rich discourse is, the rationale for it, and answering the What's In It for Me question by specifying ways students benefit.

Another key element of building a discourse-rich culture is embedding the spirit of collaboration versus competition. Classroom talk is not only a means of students supporting each other, but also of holding each other accountable by helping clarify, restate, and challenge ideas.

Students may not participate if their thoughts are ridiculed, devalued, or ignored. To that end, establishing norms of discourse helps develop safe spaces, establishes boundaries, and moves the discussion forward.

In my classroom, the norms included specifics on how to engage in active listening, address ideas versus individuals, and respectfully disagree/question. Role-playing appropriate and inappropriate actions can give students a better understanding of their expected role during classroom talk.

A third central element of developing a culture that fosters rich discourse is helping students appreciate the processes to get there versus simply the production of right answers. Make it clear that you value students strategically thinking about, discussing, clarifying, and elaborating on ideas rather than having someone simply state the correct answer in order to save time.

Complex Thinking Processes

Does most of your classroom talk consist of students recalling or reproducing facts? Or, do they often use complex thinking strategies such as making claims supported with evidence and reasoning, discerning the author's purpose and its effect on the interpretation of text, and applying models to tasks? As you begin to reshape and enrich your classroom discourse, planning for and assessing complex thinking processes is essential.

To begin to engage students in more complex thinking processes, be clear about the distinction between difficult and complex. I ask teachers in my professional learning sessions whether the task of spelling a word such as antidisestablishmentarianism is difficult or complex. Many say it's complex. However, if students have a good grasp of phonemic awareness (sounds that build words), spelling long words may be difficult, but not complex.

Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model (recall, skill/concept, strategic thinking, extended thinking) can be used to plan and assess the complexity of thinking as well as the presence of rigor. This tool may help you plan for the type of discourse that evokes deeper cognitive processes. You might use it to:

Prompt students to describe and analyze the characteristics of texts written during the modernism period.

Identify and explain misconceptions around the discovery of America.

Justify solutions for mathematical tasks involving equations with more than one solution.

Cite evidence and use reasoning to support the claim that an unknown liquid is a mixture.

Webb's DOK is a powerful tool that can help you evoke complex thinking processes during discourse. You'll find a comprehensive graphic at http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/M1-Slide_19_DOK_Wheel_Slide.pdf

Engage Reluctant Students

You probably have a few students who need their mouths physically pried open before they will contribute. Some are fearful of being critiqued in the courtroom of classmate opinion and find solace in silence. Others are disinterested and prefer to think about everything else except what's going on in your room. Here are a few suggestions for bringing such reticent students into the fold of rich discourse:

Invite them to discuss a topic that is important to them. Interest inventories, heart maps, and informal conversation can help you uncover such topics.

Engage them in partner talk (e.g., pair-share, turn-and-talk) or small group before whole group. More students participate in whole-group talk if first allowed to articulate, clarify, and reorganize thoughts with a partner.

Appreciate wait-time. When you want to know how to repair that leaky faucet in your kitchen or where your favorite retailer is located, you want the best answer in the shortest amount of time. Similarly, in the classroom, you may be guilty of wanting the best answer in the shortest time, given the pressure of staying on target with the pacing guide. Hardly novel but wholly effective, wait-time has been shown to improve not only the proportion of students who respond but the quality of the responses as well.

Name the strategy after a student. For instance, when a student provides a substantive contribution, call it the Johnathan way, Maureen method, or Sharon technique.

Releasing the instructional reins to your students can make you uneasy. Fear of letting go may conjure thoughts of less learning taking place, increasing disorder, and the discomfort of not driving the wheels of learning. However, when students lead discourse, they clarify their own ideas and increase their levels of cognitive and behavioral engagement. It makes their thinking visible and helps you determine the most effective subsequent instructional moves.

To introduce student-led discourse, explicitly model the talk. Have them lead discourse about a topic many are passionate about, such as social media rights for young people, as a way to get them more comfortable and familiar with leading discourse.

Figure 1
Moving from Conventional Discourse to Rich Discourse

Conventional Classroom Discourse Rich Classroom Discourse

Convergent responses

Divergent responses

Known answer questions atypically posed

Multiple answers/explanations possible

Predominantly teacher-driven and led

Students co-construct, drive, and often lead discourse

Students rarely afforded latitude to build on peers' thoughts

Students build on, challenge, revoice, and share ideas with peers

Teacher relies on a few students to carry talk

Many students eagerly participate

Aim is to have correct answer given in shortest time

Goal is to have students articulate strategic thinking

Self-Checking Discourse Quality

A few questions may help you self-assess the quality of discourse in your class:

Is the emphasis on giving the right answers rather than processes and strategies?

Do the verbal interactions follow the teacher-dominated initiation-response-evaluation pattern?

Is discourse carried by the voices of a few where the others are reluctant to contribute?

Do you often provide opportunities for students to lead the discourse?

Do you model and insist wait-time be used as a key component of dialogue?

Do you send non-verbal signals to students based on your perception of their ability to give a quick or correct response?

Does your lack of comfort with content lead you to pose more close-ended questions?

When you create a classroom culture rife with intellectually safe spaces and emphases on processes of strategic thinking versus production of right answers, you invite instructional episodes of rich discourse. Student-led discourse is a powerful way to let students take ownership of their own learning.

Jelani Jabari is president of Pedagogical Solutions, LLC, in Detroit, Michigan. jabari@pdlsolutions.com

Published in AMLE Magazine, November 2014.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You ask the students, “What is the main idea of the passage?” Joseph responds, “Always persevere,” to which you reply, “Very good, Joseph.” In the average classroom, as much as 70% of instructional time consists of these kinds of verbal exchanges between you and students or among students: teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation of the response/feedback.

# data[].attributes.body
Using collaboration in a PBL to strengthen communication and conversation in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
The Buck Institute for Education is a website dedicated to PBLs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Project Based Learning for all. We build the capacity of teachers and school leaders to design and facilitate quality Project Based Learning.

# data[].attributes.body
14 minute webinar. Good 4 minute video embedded at minute 1:10 regarding elements of PBL.

# data[].attributes.body
Great example of how one teacher used PBL in his classroom, encourage rich discourse and critical thinking.

# data[].attributes.headline
How do you Teach to the Standards When doing Project-based Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
How do you Teach to the Standards When doing Project-based Learning

# data[].attributes.body
Videos on Genius Hour and Design Thinking in this article. Scroll to watch.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

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.

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:

Fitting the Standards to the 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.

ModelFlexibility of StandardsThe Standards-Model FitInquiry-DrivenFlexible Content Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must allow for students to ask their own questions and find their own answers.Interest-DrivenContent-Neutral Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must allow students to pursue their own interests.Product-DrivenVarying Flexibility on Content Standards with Specific Skill StandardsThe standards must fit within the idea of designing a tangible product.Problem-DrivenSpecific Content Standards (with a Focus on Concept Attainment) with Flexible Skill StandardsThe standards must allow students to engage in problem-solving.Empathy-DrivenVarying Flexibility on Content Standards and Skill StandardsThe standards must connect to creative design and empathy with an authentic audience

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.

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 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.

Get Your FREE PBL Toolbox

Curious about getting started with PBL? Check out the free Project-Based Learning Toolbox. This toolbox 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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PBL Learning In the Earth and Space Science Classroom

# data[].attributes.body
PBL ideas from Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.headline
Staying On Task During Project-Based Learning 9th-12th

# data[].attributes.subject
Staying On Task During Project-Based Learning 9th-12th

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Staying On Task During Project-Based Learning | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Brief daily meetings give students working in groups the structure to hold each other accountable on long-term projects.

# data[].attributes.headline
Outside Experts Boost Project Authenticity

# data[].attributes.subject
Outside Experts Boost Project Authenticity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Outside Experts Boost Project Authenticity | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students are deeply motivated when they review their physics work with professionals in the field.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Physics students assume the role of aerospace engineers to explore the real-world problem of how to land a rover on Mars.

# data[].attributes.body
This is from the San Diego Union-Tribune

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the old days - before globalization 3.0 and the age of the internet - all you had to do was be on time, have a good memory and stay out of trouble.

Now, we see jobs disappearing, everybody seems to have a 3.5 GPA and a decent SAT. To be competitive, you have to have a new skill set for a very new economy. You are competing for a job with every kid in the world for a new (and shrinking) workplace that values creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship - things that are not routinely nurtured in most schools.

Not only are we facing offshoring and outsourcing, according to a recent study by Oxford Research, "nearly half of all jobs are vulnerable to machines - to applications using information technology." It was predicted that more than 47 percent of the jobs that exist today would be gone - forever - over the next 20 years.

Yes, the world has changed, and what we called high school must change too. And it is changing - perhaps too slowly.

In 1996, San Diego's Business Roundtable and the Economic Development Corp. wanted a school that turned out the kind of young people in demand by San Diego's high-tech businesses. This helped birth a school called High Tech High.

It's really not about high tech, though. It is about design thinking, art integration and project-based learning. It's about learning how to learn and thinking differently about what you learn.

Gary Jacobs, chair of the school's board, and Larry Rosenstock, the school's founding CEO, did something no school has ever done before. Instead of teaching all the disciplines per se, i.e., math, science, art and music, etc., they replaced those silos with real-world "projects" or challenges requiring collaboration, also known as project-based learning or PBL. This methodology requires "out-of-the-box" thinking, research, observation and multiple communication skills. Projects are assigned at the beginning of each semester and team-taught by the teachers.

Since then, many schools in the area have begun using many of the same techniques. One of the most creative is e3 Civic High, also known as "the school in the library." It states its mission, too, as a school designed "to prepare students for college, career and life-long learning through project-based instruction, cutting-edge technology, expansive research facilities via our exclusive location within the San Diego Public Library, and active civic engagement in the downtown community."

It sees the library as "a co-educator" and says "students are expected to take full advantage of the learning environment and its resources: more than 1.2 million resources in its collection, city librarians as instructors for research, auditorium and special events penthouse, a teen and homework center, art gallery, reading room, City Television, and IDEA lab."

Another wonderful example of this new approach to reinvention comes from the id8 or Ideate High Academy, formerly known as the Urban Discovery Academy, located in the IDEA District downtown. It also deploys PBL but emphasizes the role of "design thinking" As Ideate describes it, this "is an empathy-based process and strategy for cultivating innovative solutions to complex challenges, as well as supporting the development of creative thinking skills." Ideate closely follows the success of IDEO, the design firm, and the "Stanford d.school": empathize, define, Ideate, prototype and test.

These new methods of teaching and learning are at the center of all that The Innovation Academy does in Scripps Ranch and, like others, it asks the teacher to be "guides, not guards" and to let students "question the answers, not answer questions," recognizing that real learning occurs when we fail, a notion at odds with the way things used to be.

Other schools in our region are embracing the new methods and they must. Given the constantly changing (and shrinking) workplace, lifelong learning is the new normal. Yet most high schools are not prepared to give young people the skills they will need to enter today's workplace. Yet what happens in high school can make all the difference in navigating one's path in life.
Eger is Zahn Professor of Creativity and Innovation and Van Deerlin Chair in Communications and Public Policy Director, Creative Economy Initiative, School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the old days - before globalization 3.0 and the age of the internet - all you had to do was be on time, have a good memory and stay out of trouble. Now, we see jobs disappearing, everybody seems to have a 3.5 GPA and a decent SAT.

# data[].attributes.body
Revolutionary school in San Diego that is devoted to PBL

# data[].attributes.body
Practical PBL

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As a new teacher, I once believed that teaching and learning were one and the same. I taught, and the students learned. In creating a student-centered classroom, I began to embrace project-based learning. However, I did so in a very superficial way. I thought I had PBL nailed if my students did a presentation or poster at the end of an instructional unit. My room was full of student work. Anyone who walked in my room could see learning . . . or could they?

I enrolled in professional development courses, started a graduate degree, and collaborated with more experienced colleagues. I reflected on my practice and began to understand that teaching and learning were two very separate things. I may have been teaching every day, but I soon realized that I had no idea whether or not my students were actually learning. I came to realize that the posters on my classroom walls were not the results indicators I thought they could be.

In the spring of 2008, my colleagues and I were approached by a local university to participate in designing a project-based learning course. Our team researched PBL, met with experts in education, and set about the task of designing a course driven through projects. The intention was to give students authentic roles and engage them in solving relevant problems, creating a link between the classroom and our larger community and world. The goal was to transform our classrooms from posters and presentations to problem-based experiences.

The Seven-Phase Model

You can transform your classroom. While there are many approaches to project-based learning, we have had the most success with the model our team developed -- a model called "The Seven Phases of a Project Cycle." Each and every one of our instructional units is designed using these seven phases.

To begin, ask yourself these questions:

What instructional unit do I want to transform?

What engaging, relevant, real-world problem could students attempt to solve that is related to the concepts and skills in the unit?

What authentic roles can students take on to try solving this problem?

How might students be asked to work collaboratively to try solving this problem?

Phase 1: Introducing the Driving Question

The instructional unit must have a strong driving question. Many practitioners also refer to this as an "essential question." This question should be compelling, open-ended and meaningful. It must be a higher-level question requiring students to think deeply. A strong driving question has no right or wrong answer. It is important to ask students to respond to this driving question before any instruction has taken place. This provides you with an opportunity to ascertain differing levels of prior knowledge and plan appropriately for instruction.

Phase 2: Introducing the Culminating Challenge

The culminating challenge needs to be some type of authentic assessment or performance in which students clearly demonstrate learning. Examples include a moot court, election simulation, authoring a children's book, developing a web site, a town hall meeting, etc. Phase 2 is also when students are provided with guided choice concerning the options for authentic role(s).

Phase 3: Developing Subject Matter Expertise

Phase 3 is the longest part of your challenge cycle (instructional unit). In this phase, individual and team tasks are created to lead students to success on both the culminating challenge and summative assessment. Students embody authentic roles and thus have a "need to know" more about the concepts and skills. Utilize inquiry methods to help students explore new concepts, but provide enough background information on the new vocabulary and concepts that students can figure out how to move forward.

Phase 4: Doing the Culminating Challenge

This is the big day -- the chance for students to demonstrate their learning in a performance assessment. If possible, bring in subject matter experts to help assess the quality of student work. We have reached out to local professionals, college students majoring in the content area, or even building administrators or fellow teachers. An outside perspective will "up the stakes" for students who are used to performing for you.

Phase 5: Debriefing the Culminating Challenge (Ideally with Subject-Matter Experts)

This moment for debriefing is easy to overlook or breeze past due to never-ending time constraints. However, the reflective practice of debriefing is extremely valuable for students and teachers alike. If time allows, invite the subject matter expert to participate in this experience. Immediate feedback from the expert can be especially powerful for students who routinely get the teacher's feedback on their performance. Taking 15 to 30 minutes to debrief through a writing exercise, a discussion or a combination of the two is vital to student growth.

Phase 6: Responding to the Driving Question

As the challenge cycle comes to a close, ask students to respond to the driving question once again. They should have new vocabulary and a deep, conceptual understanding of the material covered during the cycle. The responses will be more sophisticated than those given on the first day of the cycle. As students complete this exercise, hand back their initial responses. Allow them time to examine the differences between the two writing samples and acknowledge the learning.

Phase 7: Summative Assessment

Whether this is a common summative assessment, district benchmark assessment, practice Advanced Placement exam or other unit test, a summative measure is an important way to assess student learning. It provides the teacher with another measure to determine individual student achievement of the learning objectives. If the individual and team tasks align with your instructional goals, then the summative assessment should measure student proficiency on those concepts and skills deemed important.

If you have any thoughts or questions on this process, please share them in the comment field below. There will be two more posts in this series -- one on classroom practices, and one more on challenges -- each written by one of my colleagues.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Practical PBL Series: Design an Instructional Unit in Seven Phases

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a new teacher, I once believed that teaching and learning were one and the same. I taught, and the students learned. In creating a student-centered classroom, I began to embrace project-based learning. However, I did so in a very superficial way.

# data[].attributes.body
Six Steps in Designing PBL

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Twenty-first century skills necessitate the implementation of instruction that allows students to apply course content, take ownership of their learning, use technology meaningfully, and collaborate. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is one pedagogical approach that might fit in your teaching toolbox.

PBL is a student-centered, inquiry-based instructional model in which learners engage with an authentic, ill-structured problem that requires further research (Jonassen & Hung, 2008). Students identify gaps in their knowledge, conduct research, and apply their learning to develop solutions and present their findings (Barrows, 1996). Through collaboration and inquiry, students can cultivate problem solving (Norman & Schmidt, 1992), metacognitive skills (Gijbels et al., 2005), engagement in learning (Dochy et al., 2003), and intrinsic motivation. Despite PBL's potential benefits, many instructors lack the confidence or knowledge to utilize it (Ertmer & Simons, 2006; Onyon, 2005). By breaking down the PBL cycle into six steps, you can begin to design, implement, and assess PBL in your own courses.

Step One: Identify Outcomes/Assessments

PBL fits best with process-oriented course outcomes such as collaboration, research, and problem solving. It can help students acquire content or conceptual knowledge, or develop disciplinary habits such as writing or communication. After determining whether your course has learning outcomes that fit with PBL, you will develop formative and summative assessments to measure student learning. Group contracts, self/peer-evaluation forms, learning reflections, writing samples, and rubrics are potential PBL assessments.

Step Two: Design the Scenario

Next you design the PBL scenario with an embedded problem that will emerge through student brainstorming. Think of a real, complex issue related to your course content. It's seldom difficult to identify lots of problems in our fields; the key is writing a scenario for our students that will elicit the types of thinking, discussion, research, and learning that need to take place to meet the learning outcomes. Scenarios should be motivating, interesting, and generate good discussion. Check out the websites below for examples of PBL problems and scenarios.
Problem-Based Learning at University of Delaware Problem-Based Learning in Biology Science PBL
Step Three: Introduce PBL

If PBL is new to your students, you can practice with an "easy problem," such as a scenario about long lines in the dining hall. After grouping students and allowing time to engage in an abbreviated version of PBL, introduce the assignment expectations, rubrics, and timelines. Then let groups read through the scenario(s). You might develop a single scenario and let each group tackle it in their own way, or you could design multiple scenarios addressing a unique problem for each group to discuss and research.

Step Four: Research

PBL research begins with small-group brainstorming sessions where students define the problem and determine what they know about the problem (background knowledge), what they need to learn more about (topics to research), and where they need to look to find data (databases, interviews, etc.). Groups should write the problem as a statement or research question. They will likely need assistance. Think about your own research: without good research questions, the process can be unguided or far too specific. Students should decide upon group roles and assign responsibility for researching topics necessary for them to fully understand their problems. Students then develop an initial hypothesis to "test" as they research a solution. Remember: research questions and hypotheses can change after students find information disconfirming their initial beliefs.

Step Five: Product Performance

After researching, the students create products and presentations that synthesize their research, solutions, and learning. The format of the summative assessment is completely up to you. We treat this step like a research fair. Students find resources to develop background knowledge that informs their understanding, and then they collaboratively present their findings, including one or more viable solutions, as research posters to the class.

Step Six: Assessment

During the PBL assessment step, evaluate the groups' products and performances. Use rubrics to determine whether students have clearly communicated the problem, background, research methods, solutions (feasible and research-based), and resources, and to decide whether all group members participated meaningfully. You should consider having your students fill out reflections about their learning (including what they've learned about the content and the research process) every day, and at the conclusion of the process.

Although we presented PBL as steps, it really functions cyclically. For example, you might teach an economics course and develop a scenario about crowded campus sidewalks. After the groups have read the scenario, they develop initial hypotheses about why the sidewalks are crowded and how to solve the problem. If one group believes they are crowded because they are too narrow and the solution is widening the sidewalks, their subsequent research on the economic and environmental impacts might inform them that sidewalk widening isn't feasible. They should jump back to step four, discuss another hypothesis, and begin a different research path.

This type of process-oriented, self-directed, and collaborative pedagogical strategy can prepare our students for successful post-undergraduate careers. Is it time to put PBL to work in your courses?

References
Barrows, H.S. (1996). Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: A brief overview. In L. Wilkerson, & W. H. Gijselaers (Eds.), New directions for teaching and learning, No.68 (pp. 3-11). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Dochy, F., Segers, M., Van den Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis. Learning and instruction, 13(5), 533-568.

Ertmer, P. A., & Simons, K. D. (2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(1), 5.

Gijbels, D., Dochy, F., Van den Bossche, P., & Segers, M. (2005). Effects of problem-based learning: A meta-analysis from the angle of assessment. Review of Educational Research, 75(1), 27-61.

Jonassen, D. H., & Hung, W. (2008). All problems are not equal: Implications for problem-based learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 2(2), 4.

Norman, G. R., & Schmidt, H. G. (1992). The psychological basis of problem-based learning: A review of the evidence. Academic Medicine, 67(9), 557-565.

Onyon, C. (2012). Problem-based learning: A review of the educational and psychological theory. The Clinical Teacher, 9(1), 22-26.
Vincent R. Genareo is a postdoctoral research associate at Iowa State University, Research Institute for Studies of Education (RISE). Renee Lyons is a PhD candidate at Clemson University, Department of Education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Problem-Based Learning: Six Steps to Design, Implement, and Assess

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Twenty-first century skills necessitate the implementation of instruction that allows students to apply course content, take ownership of their learning, use technology meaningfully, and collaborate. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is one pedagogical approach that might fit in your teaching toolbox.