PBL is an approach that welcomes a variety of instructional strategies. It uses multiple best teaching practices to help students answer the driving question. Like constructing a building, begin with a strong foundation. Students need clear expectations. They must understand the learning goals, problem or issue, driving question, available resources, and other key elements of your PBL design. When a construction crew adds new levels to a building, there is a lot to consider. The same is true for each phase of PBL. Students will make decisions as to the tools and methods that will best accomplish certain tasks. Many times, students will discover better alternatives and make revisions accordingly. Usually, no two buildings on a given street are the same. Similarly, no two PBL units will be exactly the same. Regardless of the project, thoughtful and innovative strategies will sustain students’ inquiry and enhance the entire learning experience.
In differentiation, not in uniformity,
lies the path of progress.
-Louis D. Brandeis, Justice of the Supreme Court (1916-1939)
For all learning activities, it is especially important to differentiate instructional methods and resources according to students’ needs. There is no “one-size-fits-all” in education. A typical PBL classroom consists of unique individuals with various skills and backgrounds who work towards shared or personalized learning goals. Think about how you can differentiate the strategies on this page to make PBL accessible to all students.
Questioning: PBL's Heartbeat
By pursuing answers to big questions, students will better understand their world. Questioning is not just a strategy for assessing content knowledge. Meaningful questions spark learning and promote 21st century skills. It shouldn't be the teacher who asks all the questions either. Students are the ones searching for answers, so they should be asking questions. Encourage students to think deeply about their efforts in reaching project goals. Reflection leads to questioning.
Delivering Instruction
There are numerous ways to deliver instruction during PBL. The traditional “sit and get” approach should not be one of them. Facilitate students’ understandings of new content using interactive and engaging techniques. There are many technologies and instructional strategies that support learning by doing even during whole class teaching. Students in a PBL classroom often need direct guidance through instruction, especially if they are struggling with core content knowledge or developing new skills. You are an expert teacher and your expertise should be utilized. Direct instruction should be as much a part of PBL as the other core elements. When preparing to deliver instruction during PBL, remember this from superintendent, Michael McDowell: “We are not, as PBLers “guides on the side” or “sages on the stage”. We provide our expertise of content and skill in the classroom directly when our students are struggling with surface level knowledge and adapt our level of instruction as they progress to deeper levels of understanding.” Brief mini-lessons are a great way to target specific objectives, address misconceptions, and model behaviors. Integrating direct instruction “as needed” allows teachers to scaffold support as students attempt to understand abstract concepts. Learn more.
Make it InteractiveCopying notes word for word from the white board is not an effective style of delivering instruction. We need to make students think! Digital interactive notebooks allow students to type and manipulate the content from different devices. Create interactive notebooks using Google Slides. When you have finished the template, share a “view only” copy so students do not edit the original. Students will make their own copy of the original that they can then edit. Watch this video to learn how to create digital notebooks. Use Flipgrid to ignite student discussion and engagement. Teachers post topics, videos, or links for discussions and students respond to the prompt and to each other with short video reflections. Talk about students interacting with content!
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Boost CollaborationStudents should not have to learn content alone. Especially when they are in a classroom filled with peers pursuing similar goals. Online learning management systems make it easy to integrate social learning into your PBL classroom. Many teachers use Google Classroom. Google Classroom streamlines assignments, boosts collaboration, and fosters seamless communication to make teaching more productive and meaningful. In Classroom, students can respond to questions and comment on announcements and assignments. Classroom gives students quick access to Google tools like Slides, Docs, and Sheets where they can collaborate with classmates. Share resources with students and let them explore content together.
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Check for UnderstandingThe purpose of delivering instruction is for students to learn content and develop skills. You will not know if your direct instruction is being effective unless you check for understanding. There are tech tools that make this quick, easy, and fun! Padlet is an online virtual “bulletin board," where students and teachers can collaborate, reflect, share links and pictures in one secure location. Simply pose a question on the board, share the URL with students, and let them comment. You can also assess students’ understanding by creating exit tickets with Google Forms. Responses are collected immediately and the results can be easily examined. Revise or design instruction based on student understanding.
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Note-Taking
Note-taking, when done right, stimulates critical thinking and enriches creativity. Recording information and thoughts lead to student-made questions that drive inquiry and engage learners. No one can tell you the style of note-taking you have to use in your PBL classroom. It is up to you and students to decide how best to collect information and make sense of it. Not all students have to use the same format. You can modify graphic organizers and offer alternatives to meet individual learner needs. Remember that notes should connect with the project’s learning objectives and promote higher-order thinking. Note-taking methods may begin with basic tasks like identifying facts, but they should result in synthesis and then application. Students will need to take notes throughout their PBL journey. This information will help students draw conclusions, design products, and create presentations. Explore different types of note-taking strategies and give your students a say in which options they believe will be most effective.
Digital Note-Taking
Discover new ways your students can record notes and process what they have learned. Instead of writing in a notebook, students can summarize and reflect by writing a blog post, using Google Drawing tools, or making an audio recording. Support students’ use technology to search information, save notes to multiple locations, and share research with others.
IndividualizedDitch the pen and paper and try Google Keep. Keep lets users quickly take and save notes, photos, voice memos, and checklists to Google Drive. Students can access their notes from any web-connected device. Between voice notes, image notes, and text, Google Keep has a number of features to help students stay organized. Learn more.
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CollaborativeGoogle Drive allows multiple people to edit the same file, allowing for real-time collaboration. For example, students can collaborate on a single Google Slides presentation. Students are able to add slides and insert content in one document. Encourage students to use the commenting feature to facilitate discussion. Learn more.
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CollectiveDigitizing notes makes them available to anyone, anywhere. Students can add collaborators to their G Suite tools. The Google Docs commenting system lets students discuss material back and forth right inside the file. Folders in Google Drive gives students a place to organize and share their notes with others. Learn more.
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Team PlayersDuring the Olympics you do not say, Group U.S.A. You say Team U.S.A. Teams focus on performance, dedication, and outcomes. One of the most common features of PBL is teamwork. What separates teams from groups? Teams focus on the commitment to each other's success. It is a collaborative effort. “Even if the product is individual, there should always be some form of group work within the project to give students the ability to receive critique and revision, to share resources and think deeper about what they’re learning, and to practice and develop the 21st century skill of collaboration (BIE)." Learn more about navigating teamwork.
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Connecting with Experts Near and Far
Student work should be made public. This enables individuals outside the classroom to talk with students about whether the work meets standards, how it could be improved, and how it can apply to the real-world. Do not wait until the end of a PBL unit for students to share their learning with others. According to a blog post by BIE, experts play two important roles when involved in a project. During a project, experts can act as advisors and ask students deeper questions to prod their thinking and improve the products they’re creating. At the end of a project, experts can ask students questions during presentations that a teacher or other students might not ask – and preparing for this is a great exercise in critical thinking, as students try to anticipate what the questions will be and how they will answer them. Make students’ work-in-progress public by developing it with input from experts.
- There are experts in your community; reach out to them!
- There are experts in your state; reach out to them!
- There are experts across your nation; reach out to them!
- There are experts around the world; reach out to them!
Search a SessionSkype in the Classroom is an online community that enables thousands of teachers to inspire the next generation of global citizens through transformative learning over Skype. There are exciting ways to bring the world into your classroom: Virtual Field Trips, Skype Lessons, Skype Collaborations, Mystery Skype, and Guest Speakers. Search sessions by subject, age group, and location.
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Join an EventYou can register for many virtual events at no cost. Discovery Education offers virtual field trips where students tour places alongside experts in the field. Check out Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants to connect with scientists and explorers from around the world. Can’t make a scheduled event? No worries. You can always watch the event’s recording later and explore other archived broadcasts.
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Schedule a SpeakerYou might realize that programmed virtual events do not relate to your PBL unit. In this case, contact individuals whom you believe will provide insight on student work and project goals. Carefully examine the organizations’ website to decide if its experts will benefit the project. If so, connect with them on social media or by email. You can easily correspond with these experts via Google Hangouts.
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Maker Mindset
Maker Culture, Make Movement, Maker Mentality. No matter the name, embracing a maker mindset opens new realms of possibilities. Maker education refers to using a wide variety of hands-on activities (such as building, computer programming, and sewing) to support academic learning and the development of a mindset that values playfulness and experimentation, growth and iteration, and collaboration and community (Digital Education). Many schools have established makerspaces—areas devoted to tinkering, creating, and inventing. Don't let a space confine your students' maker mindset. Integrate maker education in all facets of learning, including PBL. Students in a PBL classroom can make models, design inventions, test prototypes, and create unique final products. Makerspaces support personalized learning as students turn knowledge into action. Consuming content is necessary, but creating content is powerful.
"Making is fundamental to what it means to be human. We must make, create and express ourselves to feel whole. There is something unique about making physical things. These things are like little pieces of us and seem to embody portions of our souls."
-The Maker Movement Manifesto
-The Maker Movement Manifesto
Design ThinkingDesign thinking reconnects students to their creativity and helps them develop as deep thinkers and doers. Design thinking begins with empathy. If students do not spend time "walking in someone else's shoes," how will they know what people care about? Needs and passions drive the design thinking process. This strategy helps students develop solutions and products that support PBL goals.
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Design thinking and maker education go hand-in-hand. For students to be successful in creating, they must use the 4 C’s of 21st century learning: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. It is not enough to have students simply play with items in a makerspace or tinker with presentation tools. They need to plan. Planning, product development, and testing are not steps in a sequence and then it is finished. Students will find that they must hone their prototypes through multiple iterations until they have generated a viable solution to the challenge at hand.
Do you work with younger students who need a simpler process? Try the Imagine, Create, Evaluate (ICE) model developed by Heidi Neltner. Get a copy of the ICE digital notebook to use with your students. |
Inquiry Integration
The goal of inquiry is for students to be engaged and ask questions that interest them in order to provoke exploration of real ideas. Students are encouraged to do rich, engaging work that inspires, develops insight and stirs the imagination (Inquiry in Education).
The aim is for students to perform open inquiry. You may find that students need guidance with the inquiry process. Use the different levels of inquiry in the chart to scaffold instruction. By practicing limited and structured inquiry, students will develop the necessary skills to eventually perform guided and open inquiry. Students become more independent in their learning as they progress from limited inquiry to open inquiry. |
For students to buy-in to the inquiry process, teachers must trigger their curiosity. Give students the authority to explore questions that they help formulate. Through investigative research and product design, students will do more than master learning standards. They will find their voice by connecting the dots of passion, skill, and opportunity. In an article from Edutopia, the author identifies four major steps to inquiry-based learning:
- Students develop questions that they are hungry to answer.
- Students research the topic using time in class.
- Students present/share what they have learned.
- Students reflect on what worked about the process and what didn’t.
Information InquiryThe Big6 information literacy process is a six-stage model that helps students solve problems or make decisions by using information. Big6 integrates information search skills along with technology tools in a systematic process to find, use, apply, and evaluate information for specific reasons. There is also a version for young learners called Super3 where they plan, do, and review. During PBL, students will conduct a great deal of research. “While research can certainly exist as a stand-alone process, inquiry should ultimately drive students to view research as a means through which they can seek out new ideas, answer new questions, and wrestle with complex problems” (Edutopia).
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Scientific InquiryInquiry-based science adopts an investigative approach to learning where students investigate a problem, search for possible solutions, make observations, ask questions, test out ideas, and use their intuition (STEMvisions). The scientific method works great in PBL when students perform experiments. There are five basic steps (Khan Academy): 1) Make an observation. 2) Ask a question. 3) Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation. 4) Make a prediction based on the hypothesis. 5) Test the prediction. 6) Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions. When exploring scientifically oriented questions, students learn to give priority to evidence. They use this evidence to justify their decisions.
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Geo-Inquiry“The Geo-Inquiry Process relies on using a geographic perspective, offering a unique lens to analyze space, place, and the interconnections between both the human and natural world” (National Geographic). Students begin the process by asking a question. They collect information which is organized in the form of visual representations. Students use the information to create stories that are shared with the world. By using the Geo-Inquiry Process, students begin to see patterns and make connections as they look at the world differently in order to make informed predictions, well-reasoned decisions, and take action (Geo-Inquiry Educator Guide). Geo-Inquiry allows for the examination of issues at various scales: local, regional, or global.
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