Project Based Learning

Bethy
 What is Probject Based Learning?

• Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-

centered pedagogy that involves a
dynamic classroom approach in which it is
believed that students acquire a deeper
knowledge through active exploration of
real-world challenges and problems.
Students gain knowledge and skills by
working for an extended period of time to
investigate and respond to an authentic,
engaging, and complex question, problem,
 What is Project Based Learning?

• Students work on a project over an

extended period of time – from a week up
to a semester – that engages them in
solving a real-world problem or answering
a complex question. They demonstrate
their knowledge and skills by developing a
public product or presentation for a real
audience.
 What is Project Based Learning?

• As a result, students develop deep content

knowledge as well as critical thinking,
creativity, and communication skills in the
context of doing an authentic, meaningful
project.
• Thomas Markham (2011) describes
project-based learning (PBL) thus: "PBL
integrates knowing and doing. Students
learn knowledge and elements of the core
curriculum, but also apply what they know
to solve authentic problems and produce
results that matter.
• PBL students take advantage of digital
tools to produce high quality, collaborative
products. PBL refocuses education on the
student, not the curriculum—a shift
mandated by the global world, which
rewards intangible assets such as drive,
passion, creativity, empathy, and resiliency.
These cannot be taught out of a textbook,
but must be activated through experience."
 Why PBL?
• Project Based Learning can be
transformative for students. By presenting
students with a mix of choice and
responsibility, cognitive concepts and
practical activities, within an environment
of real-world authenticity, projects engage
students in learning that is deep and long-
lasting.
• Engaged hearts and minds

• Students actively engage with PBL

projects which provide real-world
relevance for learning. Students can solve
problems that are important to them and
their communities.
• Deeper learning

• PBL projects lead to deeper understanding

and greater retention of content
knowledge. Students are better able to
apply what they know to new situations.
• Exposure to adults and careers

• Through PBL, students interact with adults,

businesses and organizations, and their
community, and can develop career
interests.
• A sense of purpose

• A great project can be transformative for

students. Seeing a real-world impact gives
them a sense of agency and purpose.
• 21st century workplace skills

• Beyond basic knowledge, students learn

to take initiative and responsibility, solve
problems, and communicate ideas.
• Rewarding teacher relationships

• Teachers work closely with active,

engaged students doing meaningful work,
and share in the rediscovered joy of
learning.
• Creativity and technology

• Students enjoy using a spectrum of

technology tools from research and
collaboration through product creation and
presentation.
 Essential Project Design Elements

• Challenging Problem or Question

• The heart of a project – what it is “about,”
if one were to sum it up – is a problem to
investigate and solve, or a question to
explore and answer. It could be concrete
(the school needs to do a better job of
recycling waste) or abstract (deciding if
and when war is justified). An engaging
problem or question makes learning more
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. The problem or question should
challenge students without being
intimidating.
• When teachers design and conduct a
project,It is better for the teachers
(sometimes with students) to 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?”).
• Sustained Inquiry
• 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 resources to help
answer them, then ask deeper questions –
and the process repeats until a
satisfactory solution or answer is
• Projects can incorporate different
information sources, mixing the traditional
idea of “research” – reading a book or
searching a website – with more real-world,
field-based interviews with experts, service
providers and users. Students also might
inquire into the needs of the users of a
product they’re creating in a project, or
the audience for a piece of writing or
multimedia.
• Authenticity
• When people say something is authentic, they generally
mean it is real or genuine, not fake. In education, the
concept has to do with how “real-world” the learning
or the task is. Authenticity increases student motivation
and learning. 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 President
recommending policy).
• Student Voice & Choice
• Having a say in a project creates a sense
of ownership in students; they care more
about the project and work harder. If
students aren’t able to use their
judgment when solving a problem and
answering a driving question, the project
just feels like doing an exercise or
following a set of directions.
• 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.
• Reflection
• John Dewey, whose ideas continue to
inform our thinking about PBL, wrote,
“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.
• 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.
Reflection on the content knowledge and
understanding gained helps students
solidify what they have learned and think
about how it might apply elsewhere,
• Reflection on success skill development
helps students internalize what the skills
mean and set goals for further growth.
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.
• Critique & Revision
• 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. This common-
sense acknowledgement of the
importance of making student work and
student products better is supported by
research on the importance of “formative
evaluation, ” which not only means
teachers giving feedback to students, but
students evaluating the results of their
learning.
• Public Product
• There are three major reasons for
creating a public product in Gold Standard
PBL – and note that a “product” can be
a tangible thing, or it can be a presentation
of a solution to a problem or answer to a
driving question. First, like authenticity, a
public product adds greatly to PBL’s
motivating power and encourages high-
quality work. Think of what often happens
when students make presentations to their
classmates and teacher.
• The stakes are not high, so they may slack
off, not take it seriously, and not care as
much about the quality of their work. But
when students have to present or display
their work to an audience beyond the
classroom, the performance bar raises,
since no one wants to look bad in public. A
certain degree of anxiety can be a healthy
motivator. But too much anxiety can of
course detract from performance – the
trick is to find the sweet spot, not the
sweat spot – so it’s important that
students are well prepared to make their
• 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
• Finally, making student work public is an
effective way to communicate with parents,
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.”
• 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.
 References
• https://performingineducation.com/project-
based-learning
• http://www.bie.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project-
based_learning
• Markham, T. (2011). Project Based
Learning. Teacher Librarian, 39(2), 38-42
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