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Design and share beautiful flyers just like this one!

Spread the word with an online flyer. They're easy to make and impossible to mess up :)

Try it now

1st Grade PBL Project Space

Big Ideas

How do family customs and traditions impact culture? What does multiculturalism look like?

Standards and Skills

Social Studies (Tennessee)
1.1 Explain with supporting details the culture of a specific place, including a student's community and state.
1.2 Define multiculturalism as many different cultures living within a community, state, or nation.
1.3 Re-tell stories from folk tales, myths, and legends from other cultures.
1.4 Use collaborative conversations with diverse partners to discuss family customs and traditions.
1.5 Present the student's family culture through the use of drawing, writing, and/or multimedia.
Writing
1.W.TTP.2 With prompting and support, write informative/explanatory texts, naming a topic, supplying some facts about the topic, and providing some sense of closure.
ISTE Student Standards

Empowered Learner

Knowledge Constructor

Global Collaborator

Digital Citizen

Innovative Designer

Creative Communicator

AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge

2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge

3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society

4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth

Driving Question

How do family traditions contribute to multiculturalism in our community/state/nation?

Project Timeline

Entry Step (Librarian): Read Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan. Have students browse/read books, highlighting various traditions, with a partner. Have students share different traditions they found in their texts. Make text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world connections. Brainstorm other traditions they might have thought of during the share time. Record student responses on chart paper. [1 day]

Milestone check: Exit Slip (See Assessment Padlet)

Step One: Review statements and questions. What is the difference? Watch question video on YouTube. Brainstorm questions to ask friends/family members to find out more about their traditions. Form list of questions to take home for interview. [1 day]

Step Two: Interview friends/family and record responses via video or have person interviewing write down their responses to questions. This portion of the project will require more help from an adult. Student will bring back interview answers to school to share with classmates. [1 week]

Step Three: Have students share what they learned from the interview with classmates. Gather together and model how to dig deeper and form a research question ("I wonder" statement). For example, I learned that my friend has a piñata at her birthday party every year. I want to learn more about a piñata and what it is. This could lead to research about Hispanic culture. Have students work on finding something they want to research further. This could be something that spoke to them during their interview or something that sparked their interest from the entry event. Group students with like interests together. [2 days]

Step Four: Teach students how to research on the computers. Show them how to navigate the student resources section on Smore. Give them a graphic organizer to record new things they learn from their research. [2 days]

Milestone check: Graphic organizer (See Assessment Padlet)

Step Five: Each student will compile their research and decide how they want to present it on the class SeeSaw blog. Students can either write about their tradition and take a picture of their writing to upload or record a video presenting about what they learned. Show students different examples and explain the SeeSaw blog's purpose and how it will be used to communicate their ideas. Use technology coach and act out what the decision making process will look like! [1 day]

Step Six: Students will work on writing their informative piece on paper. Guide students through all the steps of the writing process. [approximately 1-2 weeks]

Milestone check: Use informative writing rubric for 1st grade

Step Seven: Students will share their writing on SeeSaw in the format of their choice. This will take place in the computer lab where each child will be able to log onto SeeSaw using our unique class code. [2 days]

Milestone check: Final project assessment rubric (See Assessment Padlet)

Step Eight: Students will review and comment on each other's SeeSaw posts. [2 days]

Step Nine: Students will self-assess their learning about tradition and multiculturalism. [1 day]

Milestone check: Self-assessment guide (See Assessment Padlet)

PBL Resources for Educators

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Design and share beautiful flyers just like this one! Spread the word with an online flyer. They're easy to make and impossible to mess up :) Try it now 1st Grade PBL Project Space How do family customs and traditions impact culture? What does multiculturalism look like?

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Invasive Mosquito Project As A Means To Study Science - Lessons - Tes Teach

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Entry Event Video Recruiting Students in Fight Against Zika.Entry Event Assignment.NGSS Science & Engineering Practices.NGSS Cross Cutting Concepts.NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas.Timeline with Milestones.Invasive Mosquito Project Resources.IMP Powerpoint with important facts.IMP class reading.IMP class readings.IMP collection notes.IMP directions.IMP data collection form.Formative Assessment Milestone.Mosquito project bookmarks to get your started.Research Graphic organizer.Digital Presentation Rubric..Presentation technology links.Revise & Practice Presentations.Research Links....Developing A Scientific Explanation Tool.docx - Google Docs.

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PBL lesson example

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Revitalizing Rochester: Illuminating Standards Video Series

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This video features an extraordinary civic project in which students successfully led a campaign to revitalize the downtown of Rochester, NY through re-watering derelict sections of the Erie Canal. The project features science, engineering, math, political science and civics, and uses Common Core literacy standards in service of effecting real-world change and improvement.

The Illuminating Standards Project
In the last two decades of the ‘standards movement’ in American public education, many educators have concluded that ‘teaching to the standards’ and project-based learning are incompatible. Ron Berger (Expeditionary Learning) and Steve Seidel (Harvard Graduate School of Education), co-directors of The Illuminating Standards Project, wondered if this conclusion was true. Indeed, they speculated that long-term, interdisciplinary, arts-infused, community-connected projects may well be one of the best ways to actually see what state standards look like when fully realized in the things students make in school—to make the standards visible. 

Three questions frame the work of The Illuminating Standards Project:

~ What does it look like when state standards are met with integrity, depth, and imagination?

~ How can we use standards to open up and enrich curriculum, rather than narrow and constrain it?

~ How can we use student work to raise the level of our understanding of standards and our dialogue about them?

The Videos
Collaborating with Berger and Seidel on The Illuminating Standards Project, over 30 students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have explored these questions by choosing projects from the Student Work Archive in the Center for Student Work and considering the ways in which those projects did—and didn’t—meet specific state standards. Further, they examined how the student work illuminated the standards—and vice versa. Many of those students created short films and 13 of those films are presented here.

We invite you to watch these films and we encourage you to use them as the catalyst for discussions with your colleagues about the relationship between your commitment to meet demanding state standards and approaches to designing powerful learning experiences for our students.

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PBL lesson example

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Water Quality and the Future Use of Loon Pond: Illuminating Standards Video Series

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Ninth grade students in Springfield, MA used scientific field work to conduct a full, professional water quality assessment of a city pond, that was closed, to support its use for swimming. All graduates from this urban high school are accepted to college. This video features interviews with teacher and with former students, now college graduates. Illuminates CCSS ELA standard RST.9-10.1, 9-10.2, 9-10.3, and W.9-10.4 thru 7.

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by TeachThought Staff

Projects in the classroom are as old as the classroom itself.

'Projects' can represent a range of tasks that can be done at home or in the classroom, by parents or groups of students, quickly or over time. While project-based learning (PBL) also features projects, in PBL the focus is more on the process of learning and learner-peer-content interaction than the end-product itself.

While some examples of project-based learning might be helpful, it's also useful to understand the big picture: While PBL is a different approach to learning, it's not hugely different from traditional learning from a broad enough perspective. The learning process is simply personalized in a progressive PBL environment by students asking important questions, and making changes to products and ideas based on individual and collective response to those questions. In PBL, the projects only serve as an infrastructure to allow users to play, experiment, use simulations, address authentic issues, and work with relevant peers and community members in pursuit of knowledge.

By design, PBL is learner-centered. Students don't simply choose between two highly academic projects to complete by a given date, but instead, use the teacher's experience to design and iterate products and projects-which often address issues or challenges that are important to them.

The chart by Amy Mayer at the bottom of this post is helpful to clarify many of the important differences between projects and PBL. Ultimately, the biggest difference is the process itself.
Projects
The audiences are generally in the school

Are more about the end-product and less about the learning and process

They are pre-planned and clear

They are based on directions and criteria

They can be done at home without teacher guidance or collaboration

They can be outlined in detail on one piece (or even two pieces) of paper by the teacher

In a project, the 'teacher work' mainly occurs after the work is complete

Are less open-ended and more uniform

Projects are 'turned in' rather than 'published,' presented, or otherwise managed on an ongoing basis (like a business, for example)
PBL
In PBL, the audience is generally outside the school

PBL includes 'need to knows' and progress checkpoints

Input from peers, teachers, community members, experts, and others can help guide and improve the project

The 'teacher work' is done mainly before and during the process itself

PBL Is often based on a driving question and ongoing inquiry, discovery, and iteration

PBL depends on background knowledge, learner choice, technology tools, support from others, and dozens of other factors that result in a process of learning that produces very different results

Image attribution flickr user josekevo; © Amy Mayer, @friEdTechnology, The Original WOW! Academy, www.friEdTechnology.com

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What's the difference between projects and PBL? In PBL, the focus is not on projects but the process of learning through them.

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So you're using Project/Problem-Based Learning in your classroom now and you're a little disappointed with what the kids are turning in to you. You don't want to tell them exactly what to make/build/design/develop, but apparently they need some help because their work is just ... well ... for lack of a better term, their work is shoddy. Sure, they worked hard(ish). Yes, they learned a lot ... you think. But you're just not sure they're learning all they could be, according to the promises that PBL is supposed to deliver. So what do you do? Some teachers throw up their hands, blame the kids or the supposed lack of structure of PBL and go back to their lecture/worksheet, teacher-directed ways. But you...you know there's gotta be more, right? Right?! Yes. There's more.
Every month I get to go into classrooms around the US and I see teachers who are working hard on practicing their PBL approaches. But they're not satisfied with the final results. So what can we do right now to help move our kids forward in the quality of their work?

1. Be clear in your expectations. Be careful! We're not telling them what to do, but instead, share with them - or better yet, help them develop a plan for - what the end result/impact will be. What is the challenge? How will you KNOW the work is to top-quality? And at first, we might need to guide them on what top quality is. Help them research something similar out there in the world. How do you create something of that quality. Because if the learning experience matters, then we want to be looking out to the world for our exemplars and models - not just "getting done." And kids will fight us on this, particularly bright high school students who had years to perfect their intellectual laziness. Love them through the struggle. Be kind, but keep the pressure and encouragement to look beyond the next assignme nt for the purpose of school.

2. Have them answer a big question as a driving force to their presentation. The launch is the 'first date impression' to a challenge. It had better be interesting and it had better be pretty obvious what they're doing. "How would you stop the rise of Hitler?" "Reimagine the airplane as if the Wright brothers had never built theirs." And so in their final work, they would be expected to be pointing all their work and learning back to the original question or challenge. And it helps them refocus on the job at hand when it's very possible to get spun deeply into tangents of adjacent learning.

3. Have them use the KWL chart (either as a class or as a group). Have them show you the plan before they are approved to start researching. And when I say KWL, I don't mean the standard "Know, Want to Know, Learned" chart. I mean something a bit different. This helps keep them focused on the smaller steps each day without us having to remind them. It's a great group-organizer that carries over to adult life, managing small to larger problems.

4. Research together as a whole class (when everyone's looking at same topic). Sometimes kids will dilly-dally on the research. Remember the old days of going to the library to research? Nowadays we can spend a fraction of the time learning the basics of any topic with the Internet and quickly keep moving forward. So when you have 25 hands on keyboards, researching and dropping information into a Google Doc, you can suss out a TON of information quickly. The teacher's job then is to keep prompting with bigger questions (that kids will get better asking themselves by using this process regularly), help keep them organizing the growing info in the GDoc, and making sure they're citing their sources. This is a quick n dirty form of initial research so then they can dig slower and deeper into finite portions of information later. I've seen too many classrooms where the kids mess around individually, Googling and calling it 'research' and literally wasting days of time picking up only surface-level info.When time is wasted, kids get to the deadline and turn in half-quality work. This is simply unacceptable. But more importantly than turning in shoddy schoolwork, in today's information age, the ability to search, filter, and use information must come at speeds never before experienced. And the only way our kids will get there is by practicing. THAT is the skill we're looking to develop.

5. Before they start building their product, ie a video, they have to have a storyboard, an outline, or a plan. Pre-planning. It's an essential in a PBL classroom. Otherwise, time is wasted and when time is wasted, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, kids rush at the end and turn in a shoddy product. So we must have a plan and kids must have it seen and checked off before beginning the product. And this check-off procedure doesn't have to be graded or be a big deal. Can they show you they have thought about what they're doing and why? And how? And by when? Then let 'em go! Raise your expectations for complexity as they get more experience. Sometimes, for some kids, just having ANY plan is a win. Don't overburden your win with too much curricular luggage. Get them in the habit of planning first, then raise expectations. And it helps many of them from waiting until the last nite to start to build. Get them to pre-plan; to think ahead. As my hillbilly dad used to say, "Those who think ahead do so because they have one." I hated that statement then, but only because I wasn't a pre-planner. I was one of the intellectually lazy ones!

6. Be sure they're working well with others and using their time wisely throughout. We can use contracts they've created for themselves to hold one another accountable for their work/actions. I don't do a lot of crowd control other than reminding them of deadlines and sitting next to and visiting with each group regularly. Want to know how to use contracts effectively in a PBL classroom?

7. Do a side-workshop to help them learn how to present, or build a great presentation, or any other finite right/wrong skill practice they need. Pull kids aside for 10-15 minutes for a mini-workshop about that skill. Do it in small groups or as a whole group. Be sure you've created a situation where they realize they need that info from you. But it doesn't have to be you. It could be a short video. Or a tutorial from a fellow student. Or another teacher. Or someone else. Just keep it short, keep it to the point, and be sure they know they need it. Sometimes kids need discrete instruction. That's where YouTube or Instructables, or expert advice is awesome in real life too!

8. Lastly, make sure their challenges are meaningful to them. That what they're doing is happening for a purpose. And that having high quality results actually matters - to them! If the work we're asking them to do doesn't resonate with why it's important to them, what are we doing? And simply telling them it's important isn't enough. They have to know it. And they know if you're trying to pull a fast one. If it doesn't matter to their lives, then why are you pushing it? Seriously. And "to pass the next class" is about the least genuine thing I think you can tell a student.

There are so many complexities of what a great PBL teacher is doing constantly to be sure that her students are working to optimal quality without just handing them everything. And the skills the kids develop will carry them though whatever path they choose to seek for their futures, I promise!
Ginger Lewman shares her 10+ years of PBL experience with educators across the US and beyond. She connects heart to heart with teachers who are in the trenches, making it happen for kids every single day. And she can do the same for your school.

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So Your Kids' PBL Work Sucks? 8 Ways to Improve It!

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So you're using Project/Problem-Based Learning in your classroom now and you're a little disappointed with what the kids are turning in to you. You don't want to tell them exactly what to make/build/design/develop, but apparently they need some help because their work is just ... well ...

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by Susan Verner 6,853 views

Sometimes the process of getting there is more valuable than the final project itself. That's the idea behind project based learning. It's not about the destination; it's about the journey. And sending your ESL students on that type of a journey can be great for their language learning. Learning English is about using it, after all. So if you're unfamiliar with project based learning, here are the basics along with some tips for implementing it in the ESL classroom.

What Is Project Based Learning?

Project based learning is a process through which students grow in their knowledge and experience. They are given a real life problem to solve. And together with their classmates, they determine what steps are necessary to find a solution to that problem and then take the steps to get there. It is not just about accumulating information. Project based learning is about working together, solving problems, and presenting solutions to an audience. If you haven't noticed already, these are all different types of communication, which is the primary goal of learning English, and that's what makes project based learning great for ESL students.

What Does Project Based Learning Entail?

Generally, for a project based lesson, you will go through the following six steps.

1. The teacher present students with the problem to be solved.

2. Students determine the information they will need and what steps are necessary to solve the problem.

3. Students make a plan for getting that information.

4. Students research the problem.

5. Students determine the best, creative solution to the problem.

6. Students present their solution to an audience using a multimedia approach.

Why Is Project Based Learning Good for ESL Students?

The beauty of working with ESL students in project base learning is that you can do your project on just about any topic that interests your students. If you were teaching chemistry, for example, you would be limited in the topics you might assign to your students. Because most ESL classes don't have to cover any particular content, you are free to tap into your students' interests and passions when you assign a problem. This will instantly increase their involvement and investment in the project.

Everything is connected. When you do traditional lessons in the ESL class, it's not unusual to separate reading from speaking from grammar from listening. That's not how language works in the real world. Everything is mixed together in a haphazard manner, focused on the function of language rather than the different aspects of it. In real life English, the lines aren't clearly defined. And that means that approaching language in PBL may be challenging at first because it is so much all at once. But this is how English is going to treat them in the real world, so blending the lines actually makes things better for students in the long run.

Project based learning depends on successful communication at every step in the process, and that should be our greatest goal in our ESL classes - getting students to communicate with English. Since they are continually talking to each other, reading research, and planning how to present information to the class as they reach for the best solution to their problem, they are communicating continually.

What Makes a Good Problem for Project Based Learning?

The problem you present to your students should have the following qualities.

It should have more than one right answer.

It should be an authentic problem in a real life setting.

If you are teaching advanced students, it should mirror a problem they will face once they are outside the classroom.

What Is the Teacher's Role in Project Based Learning?

It may be tempting to give students an extensive assignment and then sit back and work on lesson plans while they complete the steps you have outlined, but your role in project based learning should be far more active than that. While the end result of the project is important, it is not the most important part of the process for your ESL students. How they approach and accomplish the goals related to the assignment is the point of this type of learning in ESL classes.

This means that your role throughout the process is to be continually checking in with your students, offering your observations on their performance, and giving them direction to reach a successful conclusion. You should be facilitating the entire process for your students. This is where your communication becomes so important. You should be meeting with students on a regular basis to check in on their progress and offer guidance. But consider a more frequent interaction than formal evaluations. Have students sent you status reports (a great way to include some business writing in the assignment) or even an informal email saying what they have accomplished, what their next goal is, and any problems they are having. A simple email isn't too much to do every day, and you will have a great read on where your students are at throughout out the entire project.

7 Tips for Successful Implementation of Project Based Learning in the ESL Classroom

1. Set a schedule or series of goals for students to accomplish throughout the project.

2. Give students a choice of how they will present the information to the class. (For example, write and produce a film, give an in class presentation with visuals, create a fictional newspaper, etc.) Ask students for input on how they would like to present their solution to the class.

3. If you plan on doing more than one project with your class, require them to do a different type of presentation for each problem.

4. Consider having students keep a blog on the project, their process solving the problem, and the results. You can do this on a class blog or have individuals set up their own blogs on free blog sites.

5. Invite feedback from the public or those knowledgeable about the topic on your students' final presentations.

6. Give your students feedback throughout the process. Don't wait till the end and just assign a grade for the completed project.

7. Guide students through the process. Continually meet with them to evaluate how they are addressing the checklist. Give them guidance on how they might better accomplish their goals. Help them periodically set new goals as needed.

We ESL teachers and our students can get in the habit of thinking language is the end goal.

And when you look at a given semester or school year that may be relatively accurate. But when you look at the larger picture, the one that expands beyond your classroom walls into the rest of your students' lives, English is a means to an end. It is a tool for accomplishing other things. Whether it's social interaction, academic success, business success, or something else, your students will be using English to reach other goals. With project based learning, you bring that big picture attitude into how you teach and how your students learn.

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Looking at the Bigger Picture: 7 Tips for Using Project Based Learning in the ESL Classroom

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by Susan Verner 6,853 views Sometimes the process of getting there is more valuable than the final project itself. That's the idea behind project based learning. It's not about the destination; it's about the journey. And sending your ESL students on that type of a journey can be great for their language learning.

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Bibliography citations with notes about PBL

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Bibliography citations with notes about PBL

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Citation Description Main Ideas Thoughts/Questions Use     √ Initials Larmer, J. (2015).  Debunking 5 Myths about Project-Based Learning. Edutopia.  Retrieved February 12, 2017 from:  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/debunking-five-pbl-myths-john-larmer  5 myths listed with supporting de...

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Misconception #1
PBL is the same as "making something," "hands-on learning" or "doing an activity."
Fact Check: PBL is often focused on creating physical artifacts, but the artifacts are not as important as the intellectually challenging tasks that led to them. For example, it's not truly PBL if students are simply making a collage about a story, constructing a model of the Egyptian pyramids, or analyzing water samples from a lake. These artifacts and activities could be part of a rigorous project if they help students meet a complex challenge and address a Driving Question. And not all "projects" involve creating a physical product. A broad definition of PBL includes projects in which students solve a complex problem and defend their solution in an oral presentation or in writing.

Misconception # 2
PBL isn't standards-based. It focuses on "soft skills" like critical thinking and collaboration, but doesn't teach enough content knowledge and academic skills.
Fact Check: Some projects in the past may have been guilty of being "content-lite" but PBL models today are different. In well-designed projects students gain content knowledge and academic skills as well as learn how to solve problems, work in teams, think creatively, and communicate their ideas. When planning a project, teachers should align the Driving Question, student products and tasks with important standards, and use rigorous assessment practices to document evidence of achievement. PBL marries the teaching of critical thinking skills with rich content, because students need something to think critically about -- it cannot be taught independent of content.

There is research to back up the claims for PBL's effectiveness, which you can find on Edutopia's Project-Based Learning page as well as the Buck Institute for Education's research page.

Misconception # 3
PBL takes too much time.
Fact Check: It is true that projects take time, but it is time well spent. A project is not meant to "cover" a long list of standards, but to teach selected important standards in greater depth. The key is to design a project well, so it aligns with standards, and manage it well, so time is used efficiently. Not all projects need to take months to complete -- some can be only two weeks long. And a teacher does not have to go all-PBL, all the time -- even one or two projects a year is better than none. Some teachers are concerned that planning a project takes too much time. PBL does require significant advance preparation, but planning projects gets easier the more you do it. You can also save planning time by collaborating with other teachers, sharing projects, adapting projects from other sources, and running the same project again in later years.

Misconception # 4
PBL is only for older students . . . or fluent English speakers . . . or those who don't have learning disabilities.
Fact Check: Elementary-age students benefit from engaging, authentic projects just as much as high school students. Teachers might have to manage a project differently with young children, but PBL can and is being done successfully in many K-5 schools today. To those who think young children are not ready for rich content, point out that knowledge plays an important role in early literacy. Content-rich projects, often based in science or social studies, build background knowledge that influences comprehension. Literacy skills can be taught in the context of the project. Projects can increase student motivation to read, write, and learn mathematics because they are engaged by the topic and have an immediate, meaningful reason to apply these skills.

Projects are effective for students learning English because reading and writing is purposeful and connected to personally meaningful experiences. ELL students also benefit from the peer interaction that a project involves. For students with disabilities, teachers can use the same support strategies during a project as they would use in other situations, such as differentiation, modeling, and providing more time and scaffolding. Since a project involves working in small groups, it gives teachers more time and opportunities to meet individual student needs. And projects can provide students who may sometimes feel "left out" with the chance to show their strengths and feel included in the classroom.

Misconception # 5
PBL is too hard to manage and/or it would not fit with my teaching style.
Fact Check: Although some teachers do find project work to be "messy" -- they aren't in total control of their students' every step -- they can use project management practices to make the work time productive. It is important to teach students how to work well in teams, manage time and tasks, conduct inquiry, and use formative assessment to improve their products. For teachers only used to direct instruction, it may be challenging at first to manage students working in teams and handle the open-endedness of PBL, but with more experience it gets easier. And teaching in a PBL environment does not mean giving up all traditional practices; there's still room for teacher-directed lessons, mini-lectures, textbooks, and even worksheets. PBL may not be for everybody, but most teachers who stick with it say they would never go back

So, next time you're faced with a PBL skeptic, see if a fact check helps clear up any misconceptions first. If they're still doubtful, encourage them to take a leap of faith and wait for the evidence -- which they'll see when they watch a well-designed, well-managed project in action.

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Debunking 5 Myths About Project-Based Learning | Edutopia

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PBL is the same as "making something," "hands-on learning" or "doing an activity." Fact Check: PBL is often focused on creating physical artifacts, but the artifacts are not as important as the intellectually challenging tasks that led to them.

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Librarian extrondinarie Heidi Neltner's blog entry on PBL

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Post originally published at FTISEDTech Introduction to Project Based Learning For Further Reading and Discussion Chec...

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Video with overview and examples.

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Introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) Process

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Project Based Learning for all. We build the capacity of teachers and school leaders to design and facilitate quality Project Based Learning.

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George Lucas thinks it's a great idea!

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5 Keys to Rigorous Project-Based Learning

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Well-designed project-based learning (PBL) has been shown to result in deeper learning and engaged, self-directed learners. Learn more about the five core elements of successful PBL.

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Amazon Prime can hook you up!

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An overview of the 7 Essential Project Design Elements in the PBLWorks model for Gold Standard PBL. Adapted from "Gold Standard PBL: The Essential Project Design Elements" white paper by John Larmer and John Mergendoller (2015).
Gold Standard Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning is a powerful and transformative pedagogy that-when done well-can help all of our students learn and thrive. But what are the features that differentiate Project Based Learning (PBL) from other instructional approaches, and how can teachers ensure that they are implementing PBL in ways that will be most impactful for their students? In order to help teachers do PBL effectively, PBLWorks has developed a comprehensive, research-informed model for PBL - a "gold standard" to help teachers, schools, and organizations to reflect on and grow their practice. Our framework for Gold Standard PBL is designed to meet the needs of all learners, and includes several key components:

Essential Project Design Elements: These seven elements (the focus of this article) are the characteristics that differentiate a Gold Standard project from other forms of instruction- the key features that are evident in the design of an effective project.

Project Based Teaching Practices: These practices are the instructional moves teachers make to bring a project to life in the classroom. Many of them are familiar practices to teachers, but they look different in the context of a project. In addition to focus areas such as scaffolding and assessment, these teaching practices include the intentional practices teachers use to build a culture of interdependence in the classroom. (Learn more.)

An Equity-Centered Vision for PBL: In addition to knowing the nuts and bolts of PBL pedagogy, effective PBL teachers hold a clear vision for how their project design and implementation will meet the needs of all of their learners. This includes attending to four "levers" for equitable PBL- knowledge of students, cognitive demand, literacy, and shared power- and regularly using these levers to reflect on and refine practice. (Learn more.)

Each component of the Gold Standard frameworks is intended to support all students in deep learning of meaningful and relevant learning goals, so let's begin our discussion there.

Student Learning Goals

Student learning of academic content and skill development are at the center of any well-designed project. Like the lens of a camera, our framework puts the focus of PBL on helping students gain the knowledge, understanding, and success skills they need to thrive:

Key Knowledge and Understanding: Gold Standard PBL teaches students the important content standards, concepts, and in-depth understandings that are fundamental to school subject areas and academic disciplines. In good projects, students learn how to apply knowledge to the real world, and use it to solve problems, answer complex questions, and create high-quality products.

Key Success Skills: Content knowledge and conceptual understanding, by themselves, are not enough. In school and college, in the workplace, as community members, and in their lives generally, people need to be able to think critically and solve problems, work well with others, and communicate effectively. They also need to manage projects and approach novel tasks with creativity and innovation. We call these kinds of competencies "success skills." They are also known as "College and Career Readiness Skills" and are often seen in "Graduate Profiles" created by schools and districts.

It's important to note that success skills can only be taught through the acquisition of content knowledge and understanding. For example, students don't learn critical thinking skills in the abstract, isolated from subject matter; they gain them by thinking critically about math, science, history, English, career/tech subjects, the arts, and so on.

We recommend that each project explicitly teach and assess one or two specific success skills, even though students may learn other skills as well. Projects can also help students to develop and strengthen other personal qualities (such as perseverance and compassion), rooted in the needs and values of students and their local community.

Essential Project Design Elements

So what characterizes an effective project? Based on an extensive literature review and the distilled experience of the many educators we have worked with over the past several decades, we believe the following Essential Project Design Elements outline what is necessary for an effective project that maximizes student learning and engagement.

Challenging Problem or Question

The What: The heart of a project - what it is "about" - is a problem to investigate and solve, or a question to explore and answer. This question should be aligned to learning goals and, as much as possible, should connect to students' interests, identities, and communities. The challenge could be concrete (the school needs to do a better job of recycling waste) or abstract (deciding if and when war is justified). When teachers design and conduct a project, we suggest they (sometimes with students) write the central problem or question in the form of an open-ended, student-friendly "driving question" that focuses their task, like a thesis focuses an essay (e.g., "How can we improve our school's recycling system, so we can reduce waste?" or "Should the U.S. have fought the Vietnam War?"). Note that this problem or question should not be simple to answer, but should be cognitively demanding for students and require them to engage in deep and original thought.
The Why: A well-designed problem or question makes learning meaningful for students. They are not just gaining knowledge to remember it; they are learning because they have a real need to know something, so they can use this knowledge to solve a problem or answer a question that matters to them. This also helps students develop a problem-solving disposition, and creates the context for building skills and confidence that students can apply to other challenges in their lives, communities, and work.

Sustained Inquiry

The What: To inquire is to seek information or to investigate - it's a more active, in-depth process than just "looking something up" in a book or online. The inquiry process takes time, which means a Gold Standard project lasts more than a few days. In PBL, inquiry is iterative; when confronted with a challenging problem or question, students ask questions, find and use resources and other learning experiences to help develop answers to those questions, then ask deeper questions - and the process repeats. Projects can incorporate different modes of seeking answers, mixing the traditional idea of "research" - reading a book or searching a website - with other learning experiences such as labs, field trips, or interviews with experts and end-users.

The Why: Learning through sustained inquiry helps students engage with the world from a place of curiosity. Students who do inquiry-based projects develop the capacity to ask meaningful questions and the agency to effectively seek answers to those questions. Sustained inquiry also helps content and skills "stick:" students are not just passively receiving knowledge, they are actively seeking and co-constructing it.

Authenticity

The What: When people say something is authentic, they generally mean it is real or genuine, not fake or contrived. In education, the concept has to do with how "real-world" the learning or the task is. A project can be authentic in several ways, often in combination. It can have an authentic context, such as when students solve problems like those faced by people in the world outside of school (e.g., entrepreneurs developing a business plan, engineers designing a bridge, or advisors to the City Council recommending policy). It can involve the use of real-world processes, tasks and tools, and performance standards, such as when students plan an experimental investigation or use digital editing software to produce professional quality videos. It can have a real impact on others, such as when students address a need in their school or community (e.g., designing and building a school garden, improving a community park, providing support to local immigrant families) or create a product or service that will be used or experienced by others. Finally, a project can have personal authenticity when it speaks to students' own concerns, interests, cultures, identities, and issues in their lives.

The Why: When a project is designed with authenticity in mind, students are engaged in learning for a purpose. Their motivation increases because they see why what they are learning matters. Students also understand how to transfer their learning, as they apply the concepts and skills from the standards to life beyond the classroom. Finally, designing projects with authenticity in mind helps to bridge the gap between school and home, and provides an opportunity for students to use and share the knowledge and skills they bring into the classroom (including cultural competency, community wisdom, place-based knowledge, and language skills).

Student Voice & Choice

The What: Gold Standard projects include opportunities for students to make their voices and perspectives heard, within and beyond the classroom. Students are invited to speak in their own ways and to express their own opinions, rather than speak in ways they think the teacher wants.

Effective projects are also shaped by student choice: students can have input and (some) control over many aspects of a project, from the questions they generate, to the resources they will use to find answers to their questions, to the tasks and roles they will take on as team members, to the products they will create. More advanced students may go even further and select the topic and nature of the project itself; they can write their own driving question and decide how they want to investigate it, demonstrate what they have learned, and how they will share their work.

The Why: Having a say in a project creates a sense of ownership in students; they care more about- and bring more of themselves to- the project. When student voices are centered in projects, they are able to learn from one another, and they learn that their voices and ideas matter.

Creating opportunities for student choice in a project also increases student engagement and ownership. Additionally, students learn how to evaluate options and strategically approach challenges- critical skills that will support their leadership and agency within and well beyond the classroom walls.
Finally, both voice and choice within a project contribute to a culture of shared power- students learn to recognize their own power and that of their peers, and learn to use that power responsibly to benefit each other and the larger community.

Reflection

The What: John Dewey, whose ideas continue to inform our thinking about PBL, pointed out that we do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience. Throughout a project, students - and the teacher - should reflect on what they're learning, how they're learning, and why they're learning, as well as how they are changing as learners. Reflection can occur informally, as part of classroom culture and dialogue, but should also be an explicit part of project journals, scheduled formative assessment, discussions at project checkpoints, and public presentations of student work.

The Why: Reflection on the content knowledge and understanding gained helps students solidify what they have learned and think about how it might apply elsewhere, beyond the project. Reflection on the project itself - how it was designed and implemented - helps students decide how they might approach their next project, and helps teachers improve the quality of their PBL practice. And reflection on their own growth as learners- including in the area of success skill development- helps students to take ownership of their learning, celebrate success, and identify new goals for continued growth.

Critique & Revision

The What: High quality student work is a hallmark of Gold Standard PBL, and such quality is attained through thoughtful critique and revision. Students should be taught how to give and receive constructive peer feedback that will improve project processes and products, guided by rubrics, models, and formal feedback/critique protocols. In addition to peers and teachers, outside adults and experts can also contribute to the critique process, bringing an authentic, real-world point of view.

The Why: Giving and receiving purposeful feedback helps students build a shared understanding of what quality work looks like with regard to the targeted content and skills. It also expands responsibility for formative assessment and collective learning from the teacher alone to the whole class, helping to create a culture of interdependence and investment in collective learning. Finally, regularly engaging in critique and revision processes helps students to develop a growth mindset- moving from a paradigm in which work is "right or wrong" to a paradigm in which work is always improving.

Public Product

The What: In Gold Standard PBL, students share the work they create with an audience beyond the classroom. This can take many forms: a tangible product that students design or build, or the presentation of a solution to a problem or an answer to a driving question. A public product can be complex- the launch of a large-scale event, website, or change effort in the community- or simple- a video conference with classroom family members or a presentation to another class in the school. What's important is that someone beyond the teacher will see students' work and hear about their learning.

Many PBL schools and districts reinforce this message by repurposing the traditional "open house" into an exhibition of project work, which helps build understanding and support for PBL among stakeholders. When the public sees what high-quality products students can create, they're often surprised - and eager to see more.

The Why: There are three major reasons for creating a public product in Gold Standard PBL. First, like authenticity, a public product adds greatly to PBL's motivating power and encourages high-quality work. When students have to present or display their work to an audience beyond the classroom, the stakes- and the bar for student performance- are raised.

Second, by creating a product, students make what they have learned tangible and thus, when shared publicly, discussible. Instead of only being a private exchange between an individual student and teacher, the social dimension of learning becomes more important. This has an impact on classroom and school culture, helping create a "learning community," where students and teachers discuss what is being learned, how it is learned, what are acceptable standards of performance, and how student performance can be made better.

Finally, making student work public is an effective way to communicate with families, community members, and the wider world about what PBL is and what it does for students. When a classroom, school, or district opens itself up to public scrutiny, the message is, "Here's what our students can do - we're about more than test scores."

The Essential Project Design Elements are designed to serve as guideposts for teachers when planning Gold Standard projects for their classrooms. They are also intended to be developed over time- not all Elements will be strong in a teacher's first project, but they will become more evident as teachers and their students gain experience and confidence with the project process. What's most important as teachers begin to work with the Essential Project Design Elements is that they do so with a focus on the transformative impact that PBL can have for all students.

Yes, we provide PBL training for educators!

PBLWorks offers a variety of PBL workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches - whether you're just getting started or advancing your practice.

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Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements

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An overview of the 7 Essential Project Design Elements in the PBLWorks model for Gold Standard PBL. Adapted from "Gold Standard PBL: The Essential Project Design Elements" white paper by John Larmer and John Mergendoller (2015).