Are you looking for more engaging ways to teach students?
Then you may have heard about project-based learning and desperately wanted to ask your colleagues about their engagement strategies, but couldn’t bring yourself to raise your hand.
I get it. In the education world, we all want to feel confident in our effectiveness as teachers.
Today, you’re in luck because I’m going to show you everything you need to know about project-based learning but were afraid to ask, including how to differentiate it from its cousin experiential learning.
You’ll be ready for your first day at school with new ways to engage your learners.
What is Project-Based Learning?
I’m not here to bury the lede; in simple terms, project-based learning means learning experiences that are designed to address real-world problems, where students integrate content across multiple subjects and leverage skills such as inquiry, critical thinking, and collaboration. This describes how teachers encourage students to explore a topic of interest with great depth in order to answer a question or solve a problem.
Project-based learning aims to build students’ capacity to work through challenging problems, engage students in real-world scenarios that are of interest to them, and provide opportunities to work across disciplines and make connections.
It also requires students to generate multiple ideas and then iterate potential solutions and test them in real-world settings.
Want to know how to use project-based learning to your best advantage?
Download my PBL Project Planner for free today!
Why is Project-Based Learning Important?
You may come across people in education who believe implementing project-based learning (PBL) is all about the end result or presentation.
However, the real value of PBL is in the process, where students use inquiry, problem-solving, critical thinking, and reflection throughout the learning experience. This means that students are developing highly valued workforce skills and helps students apply their learning to practical contexts.
When you implement PBL, you’ll be able to engage and motivate students to solve authentic problems and see the relevance of what they are learning.
On top of that, you’ll be encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning.
For example:
Students learn how to work in groups, negotiate, delegate tasks, and articulate their thoughts and findings to their peers, and potentially a wider audience.
Background of Project-Based Learning
Don’t worry, this is no boring history class.
One of the best ways to understand a new concept is to travel back in time and understand where it comes from and the processes that led to its inception.
For PBL, we have to look back at the progressive education movement of the late 19th and early 20th Century.
Believe it or not, the advocacy of educators like John Dewey for learning by doing through practical experiences allowed for constructivist theories of learning (think Piaget and Vygotsky) that emphasized the importance of constructing learning through interactions with the environment.
This, in turn, led to Kolb’s experiential learning, which stressed the significance of practical experiences in the learning process, and then birthed interest in inquiry-based learning in the 1960s-1970s.
Problem-based learning emerged in the late 20th Century as an approach in medical education to present students with real patient cases as a way to promote clinical reasoning, collaboration, and self-directed learning. As technology has continued to advance, students have needed to develop skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability.
These and other skills have become known as “21st Century skills,” which align well with PBL as it provides opportunities for students to practice these skills in authentic contexts.
PBLWorks has an excellent course on Becoming a PBL Teacher, along with other great free resources and paid workshops. Check it out over here.
How Project-Based Learning Works
So far, we’ve stayed pretty theoretical in our exploration of project-based learning, and if you’re still unsure how you can implement it, I don’t blame you.
In fact, when I first started learning about PBL, I felt like there was no way I’d have time to plan and implement big projects while getting all the required content in. The fact that PBL actually integrates content and supports standards in a more relevant way, often with more rigor, shows that I was thankfully wrong.
Luckily, PBL is more complex in theory than in practice.
I’ve put together a few examples of how PBL can be implemented below to help you better understand and see it applied in different situations.
Example #1: Building “Soft Skills” through PBL
One of my clients has applied project-based learning in her work as a high school science teacher.
She says, “Our wonder projects allowed my students to not only connect the science concepts for the unit to something they were interested in deeply learning about, the projects also provided natural opportunities for collaboration, peer discussion and feedback, and deepening learning through critical thinking.”
She built her projects out for six-week implementation. Beginning with a class discussion around the unit objectives, students engaged their curiosity around a topic related to the unit. The students discussed their ideas for possible projects with a partner, then began to research their questions individually over a couple of weeks.
Next, the students framed their wonder question into a scientific question and formed a hypothesis. They conducted further research or set up an experiment to create data around the scientific question. This data led them to establish a claim that was supported with evidence. The students then presented their claim and evidence to their families.
Then, students brainstormed in small groups how to present their data, identifying a specific soft skill they wanted to build proficiency in, and creating a teaching visual to share their information with others. They presented their projects to the class, and then discussed again in small groups about connections across the various projects.
Finally, the project concluded with individual reflection on the concepts learned, and the compilation of a portfolio to show their growth in the unit science concepts and their selected soft skill. The portfolios were used in student-led conferences to demonstrate to parents what the student was learning.
This means that students were engaged in the inquiry process while making relevant connections from theory to practice, and developing skills that will serve them in their future college and career placements.
Even more exciting, her students scored 25 percentage points higher than the state average on their state tests, and significantly higher than prior year scores for the school!
Example #2: Integrating Across the Curriculum
This is one of the best ways to implement project-based learning. But it definitely requires all of the content teachers to be on board!
An example of this is one middle school’s collaboratively designed project on “EcoExplorers: Investigating Biodiversity and Sustainability.” The project aimed to immerse students in a cross-disciplinary journey of discovery and action.
The teachers began by identifying essential learning objectives from each subject area – science, social studies, language arts, and math. Their goal was to center the project around a real-world issue, so they chose biodiversity and sustainability. The following key components were identified for the project:
- Exploring Local Ecosystems. In science class, students would study local ecosystems, learn about native species, and understand the delicate balance that supports biodiversity.
- Researching Environmental Issues. In social studies, students would investigate global environmental challenges, such as deforestation and climate change, and their impacts on biodiversity.
- Writing Persuasive Essays. In language arts, students would craft persuasive essays advocating for the projection of a specific endangered species. The essays would be supported by research and evidence from science and social studies.
- Data Analysis and Graphing. In math, students would collect and analyze data related to the population of their chosen species. They would then use the data to create graphs and charts to visualize trends.
Throughout the unit, students were organized into teams, each focusing on a different endangered species. This encouraged collaboration and peer learning, allowing students to share their expertise from each subject area.
Students began by conducting research, then worked on their persuasive essays. Peer review sessions were leveraged to strengthen their writing skills and ensure their arguments were well-constructed. As they collected data, students learned how to represent the data visually and drew conclusions about the species’ status.
As a culminating activity, each team prepared a multimedia presentation. They combined their essays, data analysis, and visual aids to educate their classmates about their chosen species and the urgent need for conservation.
Ready to Implement?
The best process to implement this in your own classroom is:
- Step 1: Define the problem. Projects start with students asking questions about a problem.
- Step 2: Generate ideas. Students brainstorm and discuss their ideas for solving a problem.
- Step 3: Prototype solutions. Students expand on their ideas and convey how a solution to the problem might look or feel.
- Step 4: Testing. Students test their prototypes in a “live” setting to see how well it works in a real-world context.
Here’s how you can apply it:
Start by presenting your students with a thought-provoking question or problem that relates to your curriculum or a real-world issue. For example, you might ask, “How can we improve water conservation in our community?” This question should spark curiosity and lead to meaningful discussions about the topic.
Next, organize a brainstorming session where students can freely share their ideas related to the problem. Encourage them to think creatively and consider various angles. Provide them with tools like sticky notes or whiteboards to jot down their thoughts. Then, divide them into small groups to discuss and combine their ideas, fostering collaboration and generating even more innovative solutions.
Then, guide your students in selecting one of their generated ideas and developing it further. This could involve sketching, writing, drawing, or even creating physical prototypes, depending on the nature of the problem. For example, if the problem is related to improving school sustainability, students could design models of eco-friendly classrooms or create digital presentations showcasing energy-saving initiatives.
Finally, encourage your students to test their prototypes in a real setting. This could involve presenting their solutions to the class, the school, or even the wider community. For instance, if they designed eco-friendly classroom models, they could present them to school administrators, seeking feedback and potential implementation. During this phase, students should gather insights, observe reactions, and make improvements based on feedback.
Throughout the entire process, emphasize the importance of critical thinking, collaboration, and effective communication. Guide your students in documenting their journey, from defining the problem to testing their solutions. This documentation can be in the form of written reflections, presentations, or multimedia reports.
Remember, the goal is not just to find a solution. We want to foster a deeper understanding of the problem, encourage creative thinking, and empower students to take ownership of their learning and contribute positively to their community.
Explainer Video Time: Project-Based Learning
Still not sure you get project-based learning well enough to start implementing it in your classroom? We all learn in different ways.
Check out this video to see if it helps you out:
Wasn’t that a helpful explainer? My favorite part is the way the project teams were able to structure their projects differently and then presented their work to a relevant audience.
I hope project-based learning is crystal clear to you now.
I first launched Empowered Educators because I wanted to help teachers engage students in more authentic learning experiences.
Do you still have questions? No shame in that! You can contact me here or find me on social media, where I’m always happy to answer any questions.
One thing you can do to get started with project-based learning is grab my free PBL Project Planner. Click the image below to download it now.
