Key takeaways
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Project-based learning is an approach to learning academic and 21st-century skills that strengthens student engagement through authentic, real-world application.
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Students who learn through project-based learning develop a deep understanding of academics while building important critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
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Students can engage in PBL as early as kindergarten.
Students in a first-grade classroom are learning about plants and measurement. Instead of providing worksheets with scenarios, their teacher poses a question: How can we grow plants and take care of them in our classroom garden? The students work in groups to measure and plan a garden plot. After their garden is complete, they invite their parents to share what they planted and present what they learned throughout the project. These students are learning through project-based learning, an approach to teaching and learning that involves engaging students in completing complex, real-world projects. This approach allows students to formulate questions that challenge them to delve deeply into a subject and to use 21st-century skills to generate their answers. And, projects must culminate in a presentation to an authentic audience.
Schools around the world are using project-based learning to shift from traditional education to student-driven inquiry, preparing students to succeed in a complex world where the skills and knowledge needed are ever-changing.
The Principles of Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is built on core concepts and design principles that set it apart from other educational methods. The core concepts of project-based learning are:
- Authenticity: The problems students address are real-world, complex, and relevant to them. Instead of building a project from a textbook question, students generate a question in response to a community problem and work to find the solution.
- Extended time: Students work on projects for weeks or months.
- Inquiry-based: Teachers and students work together to ask questions and research solutions, making the process part of the product.
- Public product: The end result of a project is a product or presentation that can be shared with a broader audience, not just the teacher or even parents. A class may focus on solving a community problem and present it to the city council. Or, they may explore a topic and share their research with a local expert.
- Teacher as coach: In project-based learning, the teacher steps out of the traditional role and into a coaching role. They are there to guide students and learn alongside, rather than direct student learning.
Strong projects–that drive student learning and create authentic change–involve the key elements of project-based learning:
- A driving question that gives a project meaning.
- A relevant final product that students create and share.
- Collaboration with community experts.
- Time to share the work with a relevant audience outside of the classroom.
- Assessment and feedback are built into the project so students know how they are improving and what they are learning.
- Reflection on the project and process.
PBL is an innovative approach to developing student skills and offers significant benefits for today’s students.
Benefits of Project-Based Learning
The world that students will graduate into hasn’t been created yet–a reality that has come into sharp focus with the invention and development of A.I. Educators know this, and know that teaching students reading, writing, and math just isn’t enough anymore. That’s where project-based learning comes in. The benefits of rigorous PBL (project-based learning) go beyond learning standards and moving through a curriculum. Students who learn through projects:
- Gain deeper learning as concepts are connected to real-world scenarios.
- Are more engaged in learning and find learning more relevant.
- Demonstrate independence and persistence in learning.
In fact, one study found that students who learned through project-based learning demonstrated stronger academic achievement and thinking skills, compared with students who engaged in traditional learning models. Furthermore, the benefits of project-based learning apply to all students, particularly those in low-income schools.
Skills Developed Through Project-Based Learning
In addition to the academic skills students develop through project-based learning, students also develop 21st-century skills, including critical thinking and communication. 21st-century skills are the skills students will need regardless of what happens to technology and the economy.
Through project-based learning, students are taught and required to use collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. It’s not about assigning a project and letting students figure it out for themselves; instead, students are taught the skills they need to succeed at the project they are working on.
For example, the school principal comes to the 4th-grade class and informs them that a spot on the playground is available for new playground equipment. The principal asks the students to identify how they could use that piece of land and gives them a budget. The class works together to measure the land, identify options, survey their classmates, and present their final project to the principal. The teacher leads lessons on measurement, data collection, collaboration, and presentation. The final decision is made, and the students’ suggested playground equipment is added. This project is real-world, relevant to students, and involves authentic collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and academic skills in math and presentation. It takes students’ learning much farther than a word problem that asks them to measure the area of a plot of land, read graphs, or calculate a budget.
In addition, project-based learning develops other skills, including:
- Inquiry and research to understand their question,
- Analysis and evaluation as students review information, compare ideas, evaluate sources, and make decisions,
- Metacognition as students reflect on their experience and how they completed their project, and
- Various forms of communication (oral presentations, informal debate, formal reports, informal note-taking).
Leadership and Instructional Design Considerations
It is the leader’s job to ensure their staff understands why scaffolding is important and, more importantly, how it improves teaching. The first step is giving them time to collaborate as a team about what works, share strategies, and learn from one another. Making scaffolding a regular part of team discussions shows a commitment to the practice. With consistency, it is easier for teachers to see its value in everyday practice.
Communication is key. Leaders can impact how teachers view scaffolding through their own communication. Clear messages about the importance of scaffolding and the high expectations around planning with scaffolding in mind let teachers know that it is a priority. When scaffolding is framed as a strength, teachers are more likely to use it confidently.
How to Implement Project-Based Learning
All projects will follow a similar pathway, from identifying learning goals to reflection. What students produce and how they engage in the work will change, but the structure is the same.
Imagine a 7th-grade class that is learning about sustainability, urban life, and architecture. The students have completed background reading on sustainability in cities, including how their own city addresses issues such as managing heat, garbage collection, and water. The teacher designs a project that students will complete on this topic. First, the teacher identifies the content standards and 21st-century skills that they want students to develop. In this case, the teacher collaborates with other teachers so students are working on data analysis in math, resources and human impact in science, and research and argumentative writing in ELA.
Then, the teacher presents an open-ended question. In this case, how can we design a city that meets residents’ needs while protecting the environment and using resources wisely? This question is open-ended and doesn’t have a clear right or wrong answer.
The teacher launches the project with a trip to the local city planning office. Students get a tour of the office and learn about the current concerns the engineers and city planners are working to address. They get the chance to generate questions that will drive their research.
Back at school, students take a day to create their work plan, including a timeline and checkpoints. Their ultimate goal is to create a presentation to the city planning office, so they set dates when they will have drafts completed for review and assign tasks to their group members.
As students work, the teacher provides guidance and ideas as students research, discuss, and focus their ideas. They provide access to additional educational resources. The teacher regularly gives feedback and provides opportunities for students to provide each other with feedback.
When students have finished their presentations, they present them to the city planning office. They may record their presentations, host the city planners at the school, or return to the city planning office, depending on what is possible. The point is to present their learning and receive feedback from experts in the field.
Finally, the teacher provides assessment feedback using a rubric for the project, and students complete a reflection about their learning and how their academic and thinking skills developed.
A project can take a few weeks to multiple months, depending on the scope. Projects are most successful when students and teachers have time to engage in each step:
- Identify the content standards and skills.
- Create an open-ended, engaging, real-life question.
- Launch the project.
- Break the project into manageable steps.
- Provide time for students to work with regular feedback.
- Create a demonstration of learning to share with a real audience.
- Assess and reflect.
Project-Based Learning Best Practices
In addition to generating project-based learning ideas, teachers should incorporate these best practices when designing and leading projects:
- Student voice and choice: Students should have input in project-based learning ideas and questions, when possible.
- Sustained inquiry: Each project should involve research and thinking over time. Great projects allow time and space for students to change course, decide that one hypothesis is incorrect, and try another.
- Cross-curricular: Projects provide opportunities for teachers to collaborate in unique ways.
- Feedback: As students develop their skills, feedback helps them improve in real time. Students should receive feedback from their teacher, peers, and real-world experts.
Celebrations of learning: When PBL occurs across a school or even just a grade level, regular celebrations of learning or presentations of projects showcase what students are learning.
