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Definition from PBL Works (Buck Institute for Education)

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Definition from PBL Works (Buck Institute for Education)

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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We believe Project Based Learning is transformative, providing students with real-world challenges and meaningful experiences that lead to deep and long lasting learning.

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Students work in design teams to create mobile app designs that help to address an authentic challenge in their community. They leverage design thinking processes as they select and understand a meaningful challenge and the people it impacts, determine criteria for their app and ideate a vision, map out a user journey and user flow, and develop and beta test paper prototypes for their apps.

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Banking and personal finance are often subjects students feel are not taught enough in high school. This project-based learning resource contains a list of activities that connect banking to core subject areas to better prepare students to set themselves up for financial success in the future. These lessons can be used throughout the year, or focused in April during Financial Literacy Month. These lessons can be administered together or taken individually and modified to meet individual classroom needs.

This project-based learning resource was developed by AFT members in collaboration with AFT staff. Special thanks to the AFT members who developed this project:

Susan Watson, Design Team Lead, Cleveland Teachers Union, Business/CTE

Ryan Murphy, Design Team Co-Lead, 1274 North Suburban Teachers Union, Mathematics

Sarah Buhmann, 1274 North Suburban Teachers Union

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Project-Based Learning: Banking on My Future

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Banking and personal finance are often subjects students feel are not taught enough in high school.

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Project-Based Learning: Marketing My City

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High school marketing courses and activities help students learn the elements of developing an idea for a product, creating a budget, and building strategies to promote it to others.

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Educurious: Sprocket- Collection of Project Ideas

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Educurious: Sprocket- Collection of Project Ideas

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Sprocket is a no-cost online portal for teachers to access full year project-based learning courses.

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How can we use light and sound to communicate emotion through our art?

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Effectively managing a PBL unit doesn't have to be sticky! Below are several resources curated for practitioners with the goal of providing direct, specific support in the various areas of project management. This resource list will help teachers enhance their skills in managing a project.

Resources:

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Articles, videos, and rubrics to help K-12 teachers learn how to manage activities in PBL units.

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Everyone living in the United States has a migration story somewhere in their family history, though we may not know our family's individual stories-many families' stories have been lost or interrupted due to the circumstances of their migration, particularly in cases of forced or involuntary migration.

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"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." - Malala Yousafzai

There is little quite so beautiful as the curiosity that early learners inherently bring to their classrooms. They are unabashedly inquisitive, asking copious questions about the world around them. For early learners, every book, exploration, and experience is another opportunity to ask "Why?" or "How?" Unlike older peers, they aren't yet burdened by what others might think of their wonders, their drawings, or their attempts at learning. Instead, they steadily engage with the world around them in joyful and unhindered ways.

Since the early 80s, with the publication of "A Nation at Risk", and the subsequent growth of standardized testing across states, we've seen a trend emerging of kindergarten becoming the new first grade, and preschool the new kindergarten. Developmentally inappropriate expectations have become the norm. For many educators, it feels daunting to lean on what we know to be pedagogically sound: as Jean Piaget wrote, the work of childhood is play. But with so much pressure for five-year-olds to read, how can we possibly trust that they will "learn enough" by collaborating, by exploring, by discussing, by doing?

What if there was a way to encourage play, follow students' interests, and meaningfully engage in literacy structures that foster deep learning? Project Based Learning provides this very opportunity. By co-creating a literacy-rich environment that is specific to the focus content of a project unit, teachers can guide early learners down a path of learning experiences that are also developmentally appropriate and fun. Let's look at four ways we might curate a literacy-rich environment for any PBL unit.

Literacy

Consider expanding the definition of literacy. Often literacy is most closely associated with reading, writing, speaking, and listening. We tend to think of literacy as explicit phonics instruction, Guided Reading, or Daily 5. Thankfully, literacy is so much more. Rich literacy experiences include debates/discussions, interviewing experts, students sharing their questions, new learning, and reflecting on what and how they learned during a unit. As the National Council of Teachers of English suggests, literacy is a tool for meaningful engagement with society. Rather than merely hoping rich literacy experiences happen during a project, plan intentionally. Ask yourself:

How can I provide experiences that deepen students' capacity to read, write, listen, and speak across a range of contexts and disciplines?

How often can I tap into the different ways students show who they are or what they are interested in?

How can I build opportunities for learners to reflect and share through singing or dancing, through drawing and painting or role playing?

What are the different technology tools students might use to express themselves?

Draw on your deep knowledge of who students are and how they learn to inform your planning.

Co-Create Literacy-Rich Environments

One of the ways we can empower early learners and increase student agency is to thoughtfully and intentionally co-create a literacy-rich environment. To begin, take a step back and survey the classroom with an objective eye.

Where are the posters? Are they way above children's heads or within students' reach?

Are students' names printed next to their contributions?

Are student-created sketches next to words or phrases to help them make meaning of the print?

Do the charts represent students' thoughts and ideas?

Do the anchor charts and project wall look like students' had input, or do they look more like something displayed on Pinterest?

The goal is for learners to feel a part of every aspect of the project work, and in a literacy-rich environment, students actually use the print around the room. They bring friends to posters and share connections during station rotations or choice times. They offer new wonderings based on what others have added to the word walls or Need to Know lists. While it can be tempting to want anchor charts to look and feel professional, this level of curation risks becoming visual white noise for learners. These displays become more about how other adults perceive us than how learners engage with the resources.

Create Mini Libraries

Involve learners in creating a mini library during the first days of a project launch. What might happen if you collaborated with the media specialist/ librarian and brought students to the library as one of the first field experiences of the project? How might students engage with books differently if they were part of collecting resources to use during centers or read alouds? It brought me intense joy to witness students attempting more advanced texts because they had been a part of choosing them. This is a fantastic chance to expand students' experience with print, be sure to take advantage of it! Once the mini-library is assembled, look through the authors and characters represented. Are any additions needed to include a diverse array of BIPOC authors, characters, and voices? Be intentionally inclusive of faces, authors, abilities, and experiences, ensuring that all students see themselves in the collection.

Learning Across Disciplines

How might station rotations, choice times, and centers further the skills (e.g., collaboration or communication), dispositions (e.g., perseverance), and knowledge you hope students develop throughout the course of the project? One of the key goals throughout school is that students begin to transfer their learning across disciplines. If we only teach subjects in isolation, this task becomes extremely difficult for learners. Use the structures and strategies you have in place to enhance the project work you've invited students into. Reflect with students about what they are learning, and how they are learning, and connect that back to the questions they shared on the Need to Know list. Help them make explicit connections to the various experiences they are provided throughout the project by carefully planning stations, centers, and choice time options tied closely to the project's learning goals. For instance, let's say students were engaging in The Storytime Channel Project. Station materials might include microphones and Flip for students to play with voices and video recording, costumes for Reader's Theater, and puppets for dramatic play. Each of these activities provides students with opportunities to use the knowledge and skills they are learning in the project.

It is truly amazing what possibilities exist within a literacy-rich PBL experience. As you embark on refining current projects or planning new ones, look to incorporate literacy in its fullest measure to help students make connections, deepen their learning, and have fun along the way.

References:

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PBL and Early Learners: Curating a Literacy-Rich Environment

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"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." - Malala Yousafzai There is little quite so beautiful as the curiosity that early learners inherently bring to their classrooms. They are unabashedly inquisitive, asking copious questions about the world around them.

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PBL Gold Standard: Essential Project Design Elements

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PBL Gold Standard: Essential Project Design Elements

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We’ve created a wide range of rubrics - for designing and teaching PBL to guiding students through key stages of the PBL proces

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Will the Earth be here for my 60th birthday?

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Will the Earth be here for my 60th birthday?

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These project-based learning lessons were developed by AFT members in collaboration with AFT staff.

Each of the following project-based learning lessons is designed to help teachers push beyond their classroom walls. It is our group's hope that lessons in English Language Arts, Science, Music, Social Studies, and Health / Physical Education will allow students to create something that they are passionate about through the lens of climate change. When these projects are completed they may be presented to your community through a schoolwide gallery walk or Earth Day Celebration.

Each subject area was created by an exceptional educator in that field. These educators have collaborated with each other to create exemplary lessons for teachers to be able to use as they are or to use as a basis for learning opportunities within their school communities.

Special thanks to the AFT members who developed this project:

Cybele Pelka-Kuty, Design Team Lead, Buckeye Local Classroom Teachers Association, English/Language Arts

Dr. Casey Collins, Washington Teachers' Union, Health and Physical Education

Kristy Mueck, Cypress-Fairbanks AFT, Science

Lisa Pacitto, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, Social Studies

Shawn Schuette, Crestview Employees Association, Mathematics

Barbara Stanley, Goreville United Federation of Teachers, Music

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Project-Based Learning Across Subjects: Will the Earth Be Here for My 60th Birthday?

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These project-based learning lessons were developed by AFT members in collaboration with AFT staff. Each of the following Project Based Learning lessons is designed to help teachers push beyond their classroom walls.

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We Are All Connected -How I Can Make a Difference is designed to meet academic standards for science, social studies, ELA and math. This unit, available in English and Spanish, is written with the intent of helping students in grades 3-5 understand the interconnectedness of our planet and how humans can impact nature in both positive and negative ways.
Enjoy this project on how we are all connected?
You can share completed capstone projects on the free Zigazoo app.
Read how capstone projects can serve as a meaningful way for teachers to help students sum up their academic progress. Download all kits here.
These project-based learning (PBL) lessons and activities will enable students to demonstrate learning in a variety of ways that will adapt to in-person, hybrid or remote learning.

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Project-Based Learning Kits: We Are All Connected for Grades 3-5

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We Are All Connected - How I Can Make a Difference is designed to meet academic standards for science, social studies, ELA and math.

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Project-Based Learning Kits: The Power of Story in a Changing World for Middle School

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The Power of Story in a Changing World project can be customized to focus on mathematics, science, social studies or music. (Suitable for Middle School).

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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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Teacher Resources - National History Day

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Classroom resources, professional development opportunities, and guidance to improve the teaching and learning of history

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We've noticed over the years of facilitating our PBL 101 workshops that one of the most challenging parts for teachers designing a project is writing the driving question.

One reason is that it's a writing task, and not everyone is a writer. Many teachers are great at creating curriculum units and lesson plans, and many are great at working with students, but crafting the wording of a question that captures the heart of a project can be tricky.

Let's review. A good driving question meets the following criteria:

Engaging for students. It is understandable and interesting to students, and it provokes further questions and focuses their inquiry process.

Open-ended. There are several possible answers, and it cannot simply be Googled.

Aligned with learning goals. To answer it, students will need to learn the targeted content and skills.

Troubleshooting Common Pitfalls

Let's look at some typical "first drafts" and how they can be improved to better meet the above criteria.

What were the causes of the U.S. Civil War?
Not open-ended and does not require critical thinking and debate.

What was the most important cause of the U.S. Civil War?

What should people consider when planning for financing college or buying a home?
Not as engaging as it would be if it were specific and had a charge to take action.

What financial planning advice would we give to our "client" family?

Why is genetic engineering a bad idea?
Engaging, but slanted in one direction.

Should we allow designer babies?

How can we use measurement skills and geometry to plan a park?
States learning goals but doesn't have to; lacks a purpose or "why."
How can we plan a park that people in our community will visit?

Specify the Role & Product, or Not?

Another issue about driving questions that crops up in our workshops and among our National Faculty when coaching teachers is more matter of preference, although it can affect student engagement. You'll notice on the above chart that I did not include the project's product in any of the revised driving questions. I also did not include a role that students are playing. But the product and role could be specified in some projects, and might be useful for students in some cases.

At the Buck Institute, we talk about two general types of driving questions in PBL, and here are some pros and cons for each...

1. Driving Questions that explore a philosophical or debatable issue, or an intriguing topic, such as:

Is there "liberty and justice for all" in our society?

Could there be life on other planets?

What should be our policy on immigration?

What does it mean to be a man?

Does it matter what we eat?

Pros: Highly engaging to students; the kind of question they'll keep talking about when they leave the classroom. Often resemble "essential questions" found in Understanding by Design and the Coalition of Essential Schools, which teachers may be familiar with.

Cons: Harder to write; may feel like advanced PBL practice because the task and product are not spelled out. Typically found more often in upper grade levels and certain subject areas (e.g., humanities) more than others (e.g. math, world languages, career/tech).

2. Driving Questions that specify a product to be created or a problem to be solved-to which the students' role may be added, such as:

How can we help protect an endangered species in our area?

How can we reduce bullying?

How can we create a guide to our community for new immigrants?

How can we, as historians, create podcasts that tell the story of our city?

How can we, as medical interns, diagnose a sick patient?

Pros: Easier to write. Helps focus younger students on their task in a project. Roles define the kind of thinking we want students to do (as historians, scientists, etc.), add a real-world element, and can be good for career exploration.

Cons: Can feel less engaging for students; sometimes simply states what the teacher wants students to do. Roles may feel fake to some students; older students in PBL especially may prefer being themselves.

As with many decisions teachers need to make when designing and facilitating PBL, how to write a driving question depends on your own style, your context, your students.

I lean toward student engagement as the most important criterion. I'd also advise teachers to get feedback from colleagues on your draft driving questions-and even from students in a focus group.

Or you could actually co-craft it with students... but that process is a whole 'nother story (see this post by our National Faculty member Sara Lev for more on that).
Feel free to reach me on Twitter @johnlpbl to share your driving questions and get feedback!

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A Tricky Part of PBL: Writing a Driving Question

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PBLWorks Editor in Chief John Larmer gives guidance for troubleshooting pitfalls and deciding which type of DQ fits your project.