Getting Started with Project Based Learning #RealPBL

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

When planning a PBL unit, there are five potential starting points, none of which are mutually exclusive.

• Students: Find out what’s relevant to the students and use this as the basis for the project.
• Cool idea: Start with a cool idea that gets your students and/or you excited.
• A process: Build your project around a process, such as design thinking or the engineering cycle.
• The end in mind: Establish what you want your students’ main takeaways (what we refer to as High Impact Takeaways) [enduring understandings] to be, and plan backward from there.
• Academic standards: Flip through your academic standards, looking for inspiration, which can come from standards that promote learning that is hands-on, minds-on, and interdisciplinary.

No matter where we begin, our project should connect to the standards, unless students are engaged in something like Genius Hour (detailed in Chapter 8), or our organization isn’t held accountable for the standards.

While formulating ideas, you can also rely on the three tracks of project based learning, which range from most restrictive to least restrictive. Think of these tracks as a gradual release of responsibility, starting with Product Track and ending with Open-Ended Track.

• Product Track: All students create a product(s) or contribute to an event, but there’s flexibility regarding how they do it so students can exercise their creativity to own the process.
• Problem Track: The project starts with a problem (usually a real-world problem) that either the teacher gives to students or students find on their own. This approach is often referred to as problem-based learning or challenge-based learning.
• Open-Ended Track: Present students with the project’s High Impact Takeaways [enduring understandings], learning targets, and possibly an Umbrella Question [essential question], and ask them to demonstrate their knowledge however they’d like, with only a little more direction.

One track isn’t necessarily better than another. For any given project, choose the track that fits best with your specific context. For example, even when you and/or your students are comfortable with the Open-Ended Track, it might be more appropriate to use the Product Track, depending on what you want to accomplish. And yes, you might use more than one track during a PBL unit – students debating an issue (Product Track) in the midst of solving a problem (Problem Track) – but one track tends to drive the unit as a whole.

Here is a supporting excerpt from Chapter 8 of Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

Product Track

The Product Track is a potential starting point if you or your students have limited experience with project based learning, or if this is the first time you and your students are engaging in project based learning together. In the Product Track, students create a product(s) or contribute to an event. For clarity, this is different from a traditional project because even though all students may create or contribute to something similar, they can exercise their creativity to own the process, and all learning is done with the product or event in mind, as opposed to it being tacked on after the learning as an extra.

The Product Track can be differentiated based on how the product or event is determined. Sometimes, the teacher chooses the final outcome. In other circumstances, the teacher may frame the unit, offer options, and allow students to select their product or event. As another possibility, the teacher may frame the unit and allow students to come up with products or events of their own.

Some examples from the Product Track include:

• Movie trailer predicting a book’s sequel
• Monument illustrating a historic person or time period
• Healthy smoothie to enhance quality of life
• Debate on the effectiveness of homework
• Performance of skits for students in other classes

Problem Track

The Problem Track frames the learning experience around addressing a shared concern. This track is ideal if you or your students have identified an authentic issue that your class can address. Solving a problem offers an additional layer of motivation. Getting involved in fixing a real issue is often the extra inspiration a group of students needs to engage in courageous work.

The Problem Track also allows for differentiation in approach. The problem can be identified by the teacher, or the teacher can introduce a topic and ask students to identify an associated problem. If multiple problems arise, the class may decide to tackle one problem together, or the teacher may allow for each student or group to address their own problem.

Some examples from the Problem Track include:

• Student desks are uncomfortable
• It takes too long to get through the lunch line
• Low circulation rates at a local library need to be addressed
• A local diner (a neighborhood favorite) needs remodeling
• Endangered animals need help to survive

Open-Ended Track

Typically considered the least restrictive option, open-ended project based learning invites students to demonstrate their learning in any way that works for them, as long as they’re working toward the designated High Impact Takeaways [enduring understandings] and learning targets. This approach to a unit is usually best suited for teachers and students who have experience with project based learning. In a class of thirty students, with everyone involved in their own project, the teacher will need to feel comfortable having students take multiple paths to reach a similar destination. Students will also need to feel comfortable with the available options and resources so they can explore with minimal direction.

Optionally, for additional support, the teacher may consider providing students with an Umbrella Question [essential question] that’s either given to them or that they create together, or some written direction. If the teacher gives a form of guidance, they may want to guide students to explore an abstract question, conduct an investigation, or take a position on an issue (Larmer, Mergendoller, and Boss, 2015).