Category: Projects

Q: How do I get started?

12/8/2011

Ain't nuthin' to it but to do it!

Ok, that's not entirely true. We suggest you read over these FAQ's, read over the rest of this website, look at the sample cards, buy some of the cards, hire us to come visit you (or come to a learning studio here), use Google search liberally, read the Edutopia articles on PBL, check out the Buck Institute website.

Yep. That will get you started.

Honestly, the work is in the planning. Sure, you're busy as a bee once the project starts too, but the planning is what makes it happen. To get started, you need to know...

your standards,
your timeline for implementation,
who your experts might be,
what content and what skills you want your students to learn/experience,
how you'll be grouping the students,
what the students will be producing,
how you will be assessing their learning,
which experts might be helpful as resources,
what you will be "hooking" the kids with in your driving questions/challenge,
that the parents and admin know what you're doing. Or at least know you're doing something different than traditional schooling.

Yep, that's a lot of stuff. PBL isn't for the weak of heart and they never taught us how to do this in our preservice classes.

No kidding. Contact us for more information if you would like some help. You don't want to start off on the wrong foot.

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Q: What's the difference between PBL and “doing projects”?

12/8/2011

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Sometimes we'll meet educators or parents who think that because their child is bringing projects home that they're doing PBL in their classes. This may not necessarily be true.

Projects are usually presented in the following fashion:
Students learn specific material by reading, finishing study guides, quizzes, or any number of approaches. At the culmination of their learning, they then select, or are assigned, a product or deliverable that they create to show what they learned. This deliverable could be a diorama, a speech, a newspaper, a video, or any number of wonderful things.

Project Based Learning is different because instead of learning and then doing, the students learn by doing.

Project Based Learning work is usually presented in the following fashion:
A teacher provides a challenge or scenario for the students to "hook" into. The challenge or scenario is presented in such a way that the student feels compelled to learn more about the topic. The students then set themselves to work to meet the challenge or solve the scenario, but must learn things in order to complete the challenge/scenario. For instance, a group might be challenged to create a Viking Ship museum display. As they set about creating that display, they find that they have to learn about the Vikings in order to create an accurate display.
Projects are learning and then doing, while Project Based Learning is learning by doing.

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Frequently in workshops and conferences, we get asked questions that are great and deserve to be answered.

We've decided to compile some of those Frequently Asked Questions here to help those educators who'd like to learn more about PBL.

If you have a question we've not answered, please do contact us to ask your question. You may find the answer here soon!

Q: How do I get started?

Q: What's the difference between PBL and “doing projects”?

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