Project-based learning

Author: Arlene Vinion Dubiel

Project-based learning (PBL) has received considerable attention over the past decades. Similar to other reformed teaching initiatives of the 1990s, PBL is based upon constructivism and uses student-centered instructional strategies. PBL requires time for students to investigate and respond to a complex task or challenge, with the result being a student-derived product that’s able to be shared as evidence of learning.

PBL has multiple benefits for students, but its implementation can be challenging. For one, few teachers have had authentic PBL experiences. For another, PBL takes time to implement, and many school pacing guides discourage the necessary flexibility in learning time. In practice, PBL allows students the freedom to explore content and make decisions for themselves. Instructors must be comfortable with giving up some control over learning, trusting that the process will still allow for standards and expectations to be met. However, there are research-supported benefits to PBL, ensuring that its use in the classroom will only increase with time.

In this post, we explore some of the benefits of engaging students in PBL while providing practical advice on implementing PBL successfully. We’ll also focus on PBL in relation to teaching and learning mathematics, in addition to addressing transitional math.

Elements of PBL

Project-based learning (PBL) shares many of the same elements as inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, task-based learning, and other teaching and learning strategies that are student-centered and require higher-order thinking skills. Much of the education research literature uses the term “project-based learning” or PBL despite there being slight differences between these strategies. One key feature is that PBL begins by presenting students with a complex task, question, or problem that addresses real-world issues and has multiple potential approaches, outcomes, and solutions. For example, when focusing on financial topics in math, students might be asked how much money they would need to buy a house or whether a gas or hybrid car is more cost-effective. These examples are good complex tasks with no defined correct answer or approach to solving.

Once presented with the project, students must then define and refine the project’s problem. Students are responsible for determining what materials, content knowledge, and skills are needed to engage in the project and carry it out. If students lack skills or content, they’ll learn it within the context of the project. The project drives math learning, not the other way around. It’s also not the end of a learning unit but rather the beginning. So, math learning has a purpose.

As with any complex project, multiple skills and points of view are necessary to be successful. Students work in teams, with each student contributing their own unique skill set. This way, individuals are accountable for their contributions to the group, and their valuable work-related skills, such as communication and collaboration, are fostered through PBL.

Success of PBL

In theory, PBL is an ideal strategy for motivating students to learn. The project has real-world applications and allows all students to utilize their unique skill sets to contribute to group success. Students are engaged in learning content because it can contribute to the success of the project. Research supports these ideas with studies showing that when implemented well, PBL improves attitudes towards learning and improves collaboration skills.

PBL can also increase students’ achievement on traditional standardized tests across grades and subjects. This is true for elementary and middle school science and elementary social studies, plus high school. Advanced Placement (AP) classes generally use lecture-based instruction due to the amount of content covered. A study out of the University of Washington compared students from classrooms utilizing traditional or PBL approaches to study AP Government and Politics or AP Environmental Science. Students engaged in the PBL classrooms had higher pass rates on AP exams than those in the traditional lecture-based classrooms. Thus, the benefits of PBL extend from the intangibles of attitude and collaboration to academic achievement results.

Implementing PBL

Given the research demonstrating success across multiple measures, PBL should be utilized in all classrooms to some extent. Although it may seem as though students are not learning the same material or learning at the same pace as with traditional strategies, the clear evidence of success should make PBL a strategy worth implementing.

Implementing PBL well can be challenging. When you identify a good project, imagine how the project will continue with students. Identify the possible pitfalls and challenges, ensuring that students have the skills needed to proceed or obtain those skills. Identify where students may go off track and consider how to get them back.

When implementing PBL in the classroom, arguably, the most challenging part is allowing students to control how the project proceeds. Even though you may have several ideas, students will inevitably find ways to engage in the project (even in ways you didn't anticipate). This can be disconcerting because the students may not be able to complete the project as you expect. But it can also be exciting to see your students' creativity.

PBL involves trust between the teacher and the student. The teacher must trust that the student can find his way back if he goes too far off track to complete a project. The student must trust that the teacher will guide (not correct) him, allowing him to figure it out for himself. With PBL, the teacher is the facilitator of learning, not the resident expert. We, as teachers, often do too much for students, wanting them to achieve the end-goal in the proper time frame. Learning is not a goal but a process. Students must try and sometimes fail in that process. As a result, they'll learn more from their failures than from their successes.

“Learning is not a goal but a process. Students must try and sometimes fail in that process. As a result, they’ll learn more from their failures than from their successes. The project drives math learning, not the other way around. It’s also not the end of a learning unit but rather the beginning. So, math learning has a purpose.”

One key feature to PBL success is the use of questions, prompts, and other talking points to center learning onto the student. Encourage thinking and discussion by listening quietly, repeating, redirecting, or asking open-ended questions. These strategies allow students to trust themselves without relying on their teachers for answers. Encouraging students to talk takes practice and patience. Instructors must know when to hang back and listen and when to help facilitate rather than direct learning.

Assessment of PBL must be multi-faceted with opportunities for students to demonstrate what they’re learning and receive targeted feedback to further the project. Since the task is complex, there should be multiple learning outcomes for content and skills. These are assessed throughout the unit with formal and informal checkpoints that could include exit tickets, reflection activities, or teacher observations and notes. The final project is usually student-designed artifacts, presentations, or reports assessed through rubrics that address multiple criteria.

PBL Online

The PBL classroom is active. Students are arranged in table groups to move around the room, gather materials, build their projects, and talk. The teacher walks from one group to the other to check on students. In short, the PBL classroom is not conducive to masks and social distancing, but PBL does work well for the hybrid classroom.

Having "roomies" and "Zoomies" together in a group minimizes the size of the table groups to one or two in-person students while still having a group of three or four students working altogether. The in-person students can physically manipulate provided materials, if needed, for the task. Remote students can use their online connection for needed background research. When students need to come together as a group, it is ideal to have a device at a table where the in-person students can connect with their remote group members.

In a fully online classroom, breakout groups are an ideal way to manage group work. As the teacher, check on your groups as needed. Let students know how this will work upfront. Rotate through the breakout rooms every five to ten minutes, entering with video and microphone off, just to listen. If student groups are struggling, they can send a direct chat message to the teacher, asking for help. With PBL, students often need to problem-solve on their own before bringing the work back to the group. The remote classroom allows students quiet work time without all the chaos of the classroom.

PBL and Transitional Math

Transitional math curriculum utilizes PBL almost exclusively. With transitional math, the emphasis is on preparing high school students for college and career necessary math. This is done by making connections between real-world applications and math content. Students in transitional math learn not to view math as a subject but rather as a tool to solve problems.

In practice, transitional math presents a complex task. Students further define and refine the problem and identify the mathematical skills they need to solve it. If students don't have the skills, they can gain them with support from their instructor. Students engage in group work and peer assessment, learning alongside their fellow students while supporting one another to complete the task. Standards-based rubrics are used to evaluate the evidence, ensuring that students achieve standards while engaging in learning. In short, if you are teaching transitional math, you are engaging students in PBL.

PBL and Almy Education

One of the reasons I chose to work with Almy Education is its dedication to supporting teachers in implementing PBL. While this is not officially in the mission statement, the resources and training available through Almy Education and the yourSTEM membership site promote student-centered instructional strategies and PBL.

Transitional math curriculum for all three pathways in Illinois is available, plus training. Kathleen Almy and Heather Foes’ book, Math Lit, can be used for high school transitional math and college developmental math. This text engages students in PBL strategies using focus problems for the units of study. These problems are complex, relate to real-world issues, and support students in learning the math to solve them.

When teaching PBL, you must start with a good curriculum. But good curriculum can be challenging to implement without good support. This is the purpose of yourSTEM, which provides support to math and STEM teachers. yourSTEM has weekly live training sessions from the experts on varied topics like using Math Lit focus problems and differentiating the STEM classroom. Topic and resource-focused training on Desmos, Graphs in the World, and more provide responsive support for teachers where needed. Discussion boards on yourSTEM help like-minded teachers to connect and problem-solve their teaching challenges together.

Project-based learning is beneficial for students. Allowing the task to drive the math learning can engage students and motivate them to complete the task. In practice, allowing students to control their learning can be a challenge, but the effort is well worth the reward. Like what our students go through in PBL, we as teachers must try, fail, reflect, and use each other as support to ultimately engage our students in successful PBL.

Project-based learning has multiple benefits for students but can be challenging to implement. Find a complex task and allow your students to engage in the task, facilitating rather than directing their learning. For ideas and supports with PBL, check out Almy Education resources.

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