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PBL Projects for Learning and Engagement

ANDREW K. MILLER

andrewkmiller.com | @betamiller

ABOUT ME

SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOL

ASCDBUCK INSTITUTE for EDUCATION

EDUTOPIA

Where I Live

Where I’m From

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DRIVING QUESTIONHow can we design meaningful and effective PBL projects for our students?

?

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“Hooray! A project onthe Osmosis!”

- No one

ENTRY EVENTSHow did this create excitement and inquiry?

What are other features of Entry Events?

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ENTRY EVENTSHow did this create excitement and inquiry?

What are other features of Entry Events?

ENTRY EVENTS• Letter or Memo

• Field Trip

• Statistics

• Guest Speaker

• Discussion

• Short Reading or Video

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MAIN COURSE PROJECTS.How is this different that projects you have seen?

What can you already infer about PBL?

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MAIN COURSE PROJECTSHow is this different that projects you have seen?

What can you already infer about PBL?

ReflectionWhat have you learned? How have you learned?

What do you want to learn?

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1. KeyKnowledge,UnderstandingandSuccessSkills

2. SustainedInquiry3. ChallengingProblemorQuestion4. Authenticity5. CritiqueandRevision6. Reflection7. StudentVoiceandChoice8. PublicProduct

Gold Standard PBL:

Essential Project Design Elements

Buck Institute for Education 2015

It’s nice that Project Based Learning is becoming

popular, but popularity can bring problems.

Here at the Buck Institute for Education, we’re

concerned that the recent upsurge of interest in

PBL will lead to wide variation in the quality of

project design and classroom implementation.

If done well, PBL yields great results. But if PBL

is not done well, two problems are likely to arise.

First, we will see a lot of assignments and activities

that are labeled as “projects” but which are not

rigorous PBL, and student learning will suffer.

Or, we will see projects backfire on underprepared

To help teachers do PBL well, we created a

comprehensive, research-based model for PBL —

a “gold standard” to help teachers, schools, and

organizations to measure, calibrate, and improve

their practice. This term is used in many industries

and fields to indicate the highest quality process

or product. Our conception of Gold Standard PBL

has three parts: 1) Student Learning Goals (in the

center of the diagram below) 2) Essential Project

Design Elements (shown in the red sections of the

diagram), and 3) Project Based Teaching Practices

(which we explain elsewhere).

Student Learning Goals

Student learning of academic content and skill

development are at the center of any well-designed

project. Like the lens of a camera, our diagram

puts the focus of PBL on preparing students for

successful school and life experiences.

Key Knowledge and Understanding

Gold Standard PBL teaches students the

important content standards, concepts, and in-

depth understandings that are fundamental to

school subject areas and academic disciplines.

In good projects, students learn how to apply

knowledge to the real world, and use it to solve

problems, answer complex questions, and create

high-quality products.

Key Success Skills

Content knowledge and conceptual under-

standing, by themselves, are not enough in

today’s world. In school and college, in the modern

workplace, as citizens and in their lives generally,

people need to be able to think critically

teachers and result in wasted time, frustration,

and failure to understand the possibilities of

PBL. Then PBL runs the risk of becoming another

one of yesterday’s educational fads — vaguely

remembered and rarely practiced.

For more PBL resources, visit bie.org

© 2 0 1 5 B U C K I N S T I T U T E F O R E D U C A T I O N / 1 Instructional Coach, Consultant, and Learner

�Andrew Miller 2017 andrewkmiller.com @betamiller

Personalized PBL Continuum

Project as Supplement

Teacher Design

Single Discipline

Teacher Choice

In School Value

In Class Work

Alone

Teacher as Instructor

Teacher Assessment

Assessment of Learning

Project as Curriculum

Student Design

Not Discipline Specific

Student Choice

Real-World Value

Real-World Work

Collaborative

Teacher as Advisor

Student Assessment

Assessment as Learning

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Essential Project Design Elements Checklist

Whatever form a project takes, it must meet these criteria to be Gold Standard PBL.

Does the Project Meet These Criteria?

?

KEY KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, AND SUCCESS SKILLS

The project is focused on teaching students key knowledge and understanding

derived from standards, and success skills including critical thinking/problem

solving, collaboration, and self-management.

CHALLENGING PROBLEM OR QUESTION

The project is based on a meaningful problem to solve or a question to answer,

at the appropriate level of challenge for students, which is operationalized by

an open-ended, engaging driving question.

SUSTAINED INQUIRY

The project involves an active, in-depth process over time, in which students

generate questions, find and use resources, ask further questions, and develop

their own answers.

AUTHENTICITY

The project has a real-world context, uses real-world processes, tools, and

quality standards, makes a real impact, and/or is connected to students’ own

concerns, interests, and identities.

STUDENT VOICE & CHOICE

The project allows students to make some choices about the products they

create, how they work, and how they use their time, guided by the teacher and

depending on their age and PBL experience.

REFLECTION

The project provides opportunities for students to reflect on what and how

they are learning, and on the project’s design and implementation.

CRITIQUE & REVISION

The project includes processes for students to give and receive feedback on

their work, in order to revise their ideas and products or conduct further

inquiry.

PUBLIC PRODUCT

The project requires students to demonstrate what they learn

by creating a product that is presented or offered to people

beyond the classroom.

For more PBL resources, visit bie.org

© 2 0 1 5 B U C K I N S T I T U T E F O R E D U C A T I O N

“When will I use this ever?”

AUTHENTICCULMINATINGPRODUCTS

Press Release

Field Report

Social Media

Website

Scale Model

Business Plan

PSA Video

Brochure

Museum Exhibit

Skit/Play

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PBL PROJECT WEBSITES

bit.ly/hthcardsbit.ly/discoverycardspblu.org

bie.org/project_search

Driving QuestionFROM TOO BIG TO MANAGEABLE:

Why are rhetorical strategies important?

How do I convince people to fund my idea?

Driving QuestionFROM GOOGLABLE TO OPEN-ENDED:

What are linear questions?

How do we help each other pick the best cellphone plan?

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Driving QuestionFROM TOO BROAD TO LOCAL:

Why are gardens important?

How can we build a sustainable garden for our class?

Driving QuestionFROM TOO GENERAL TO CONCRETE AND CHALLENGING:

What are the complex decisions involved in building structures in cities?

Should we build a highway at the proposed location?

Driving QuestionFROM ”SOUNDS LIKE A TEACHER” TO ENGAGING AND RELEVENT:

How do we investigate and explains water’s role as a solvent based upon principles of polarity of substances?

How do we clean up potentially dangerous chemical spills?

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Driving QuestionGENERAL CRITERIA:

Will students understand it and find it engaging? Is is open-ended and require a complex answer? To answer it, will students need to learn content and skills?

Does it focus on an authentic problem, challenge or issue?

Instructional Coach, Consultant, and Learner

andrewkmiller.com

@betamiller

Driving Question Activity

Write a driving question for the proposed project idea:

1. Students work to preserve the water quality of their region. They work with local

experts to not only identify issues and problems, but also create campaigns and letters

to get the community to improve the quality of the water.

Driving Question: _________________________________________________________

2. Students are given the project to convince voters to vote a specific way on a campaign

or ballot issue. They work in teams to debate the topics, but then create individual

campaign commercials and opinion writing pieces that are shared with parents the

night before the election.

Driving Question: _________________________________________________________

3. Students discover how humans in

teract with nature in urban ecosystems. S

tudents’

research green building techniques, alternative transportation options and alternate

energy. Student collaborate in both science and humanities classes to present their

research in an Urban Ecology Magazine.

Driving Question: _________________________________________________________

4. Students assess the role of censorship in American society through a study of banned

books in America. Students write a clear, well-developed essay to present their

position on whether or not a book deserved to be banned at their school. In

completing this essay, students were required to ascertain what role censorship could

play within their high school community. Students complete a mock trial to convince a

panel of experts whether or not a teacher, author, stu

dent, or school should be

responsible for actions surrounding banned books.

Driving Question: _________________________________________________________

5. Students examine their kitchen to see if certain products are truly safe for use, and

how to address “what if”

spills in homes and community areas. T

hey conduct

experiments and pick specific products to make their parents aware of potential

dangers of household products and also how they could clean up potential spills. They

product pamphlets and create public service announcements.

Driving Question: _________________________________________________________

“What’s next?”

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THANK YOU!Any questions?

andrewkmiller.comtwitter @betamiller