Teachers' Information

What is Project-based Learning?
Project-based learning (PBL) is a form of contextual learning that integrates students' interests and concerns with those of the "real world." Instead of passively receiving facts and information, students "learn as they do." Whether the projects are carried out by individual students, by a whole class or by small groups, students play an active role in defining the content of their learning and in choosing and creating the activities they will pursue. As a result, they are more engaged, more motivated to learn, and more intellectually challenged by the learning process.

Key elements of project-based learning

PBL:

• Starts with a driving question that is anchored in a real-world problem
• Provides opportunities for students to make active investigations that enable them to learn concepts across domains, apply information, and represent their knowledge in a variety of ways
  
• Prompts collaboration among students, teachers, and others in the community, drawing on both classroom and community resources
• Supports self-directed learning
• Involves activities that can be adapted to individual learning differences, giving students multiple ways to participate and to demonstrate their knowledge
• Demands critical thinking and problem-solving skills from all students
• Results in a product or a presentation for audiences both inside and outside of the school, allowing knowledge to be shared

What are the benefits?

Students:

• Take responsibility for their learning, because the content is personally relevant
• Retain more, because they are constructing their own knowledge
• Learn to take initiative
• Learn to function as members of a team
• Gain opportunities to contribute to their community
• Better understand how school subjects are integrated in "real life"
• Learn and apply skills that the workplace requires
• Are motivated to master sophisticated technological tools
• Experience and learn to value diverse opinions and perspectives
• Gain self-esteem, from all of the above

"PBL builds a dynamic school culture. Collaboration is the norm, not the exception." - Teacher

Additional Resources:

Buck Institute for Learning:
www.bie.org/pbl/index.html

George Lucas Educational Foundation:
http://glef.org
To subscribe to the Foundation's electronic newsletter, send an e-mail to
e-newsletter-on@glef.org

Houghton Mifflin's Project Based Learning Space:
http://college.hmco.com/education/pbl/background.html

Technology and Information Educational Services: www.ties.k12.mn.us/projects/

Global Schoolhouse:
www.gsn.org

Jason Project:
www.jasonproject.org

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