Before we talk about project based learning, let’s talk about food. It’s past noon and you skipped breakfast. Your stomach is growling. You crave something substantial. Which would be more fulfilling: that bowl of ice cream or that plate of pasta? When it comes to the projects we assign to students, we often default to dessert. Students learn in the “usual ways” throughout a unit, and a project is served up at the end to finish the meal – kind of like a treat. But the Buck Institute for Education sees projects in another way: as a main course in an approach called project based learning. That’s PBL for short, and it’s all about providing deeper, more meaningful and more memorable opportunities for students to learn. In project based learning, projects aren’t a wrap-up demonstration of knowledge and skills within a unit. Rather, the project is the unit. It’s a vehicle by which students learn. It becomes the central nervous system, supported by instruction, activities and assessments that make it whole. PBL focuses on meaningful, real-world issues. It challenges students to make decisions, create a plan and collaborate on a solution they can then share within a community. For example, students might… HQPBL.org, a global effort seeking to develop a framework for high-quality project based learning, defines the foundations for effective PBL experiences: In addition, PBL experts John Larmer and John Mergendoller advise that effective PBL also prioritizes: Finally, projects aren’t one-and-done assignments that fit neatly within one lesson. Rather, PBLWorks says, it’s a sustained inquiry that involves students in “a rigorous, extended process of posing questions, finding resources and applying information.” Though students make their own decisions, teachers still need to plan lessons and monitor progress. How will they introduce the project? What learning goals need to be met? How are students performing within the project? What instructional support do learners need? (So you’ll still find our Guide to Lesson Planning helpful!) Though schools in the U.S. have been slow to adopt project based learning, research on PBL is picking up steam – and showing exciting results. A recent University of Southern California and Michigan State University study suggests it improves test pass rates among AP students, increases the number of low-income students taking AP tests, and boosts test scores for elementary-level students across socioeconomic and reading ability levels.What is Project Based Learning?
A Lesson Planning Framework for PBL
PBL: More Than a Trend
And those who have adopted it within their own classrooms maintain that it’s a step worth taking. Shares one teacher-turned-author, “It wasn’t about adding something new to the plate. It was about reorganizing my plate.”