What are some common pitfalls and best practices in PBL?

Without well-defined learning objectives, students can become confused about the project’s purpose and what they are expected to achieve. This lack of clarity can result in unfocused efforts and difficulty in assessing progress. Students need clear criteria to measure their own success and stay motivated throughout the process.

I've noticed two ways teachers select learning goals for a PBL unit. Strategy 1: Brainstorm a "fun" topic and then attempt to align standards to the PBL unit. Or Strategy 2: Select learning goals first and then brainstorm a topic for the PBL unit that aligns with students' interests and connects to the real world. When leading professional development sessions, I suggest teachers lean toward strategy #2. The goal is to teach personal, academic, and social-emotional skills using PBL as the instructional method. The standards are what students are learning, and PBL is how they are learning it. Using the second strategy ensures students engage in a rigorous learning experience aligned with academic content.

The best projects are ones inspired by real world problems. Even better is to bring in experts to, not only help with the development of the project, but also to showcase the results to at the end. If students have a final showcase, open to guest speakers, other students and teachers, local media and community members & parents, it gives them a real-world deadline as well as the opportunity to show their learning to small groups and get meaningful feedback.

In my experience, it is good to find a framework that works for real world learning to provide some sort of structure to the project. I work for an organization, RevX, that plans real world PBL and our framework is called DEEDS (short for Discover, Examine, Engineer, Do and Share). On this journey, young people have a field trip or experience where they observe a real world challenge going on in their community. They are asked to research it and work with a community mentor to develop their own solution. Then, they actually put it into place in the world and are asked to give a final presentation to share with others. In this framework, students are empowered to be changemakers in their communities.

When projects are disconnected from real-world problems or don't engage a relevant audience, students may see the work as abstract or unimportant. Authenticity is crucial in PBL because it increases engagement and encourages students to see the value of their work. Real-world relevance and a genuine audience can lead to more meaningful and lasting learning experiences

We coach teachers in our network to design PBL experiences that encourage students to address challenges people face in their school or community. Collaborating with a cause-driven organization allows students to learn about how others are addressing the same challenge. For example, a 4th-grade team in our network used this DQ: How can we minimize the impact of weathering, erosion, and deposition on water quality in our local environment? They collaborated with their local water department to build authenticity. The water department led tours of the water treatment plant and discussed the factors that impact water quality. Working with community partners helped students understand the purpose and possible impact of exploring the topic.

As I've moved toward project-based learning in several of my upper-division level courses, I'm noticing that many of my students still need support in managing conversations with group members whom they don't "click" with immediately. I've created some opportunities within the in-person hours of the course for education focused on the "why" of the project, whether individual or group, and that has helped to motivate students. I've also led whole-group discussions on communication in general and am hoping that helps them!

Some students are reluctant to take on group projects, either because they end up doing all of the work, while other students do less, or they would rather just work on their own, or perhaps, even anxiety of group work. One way to navigate this is to give students the opportunity to pick their own groups, give a clear guideline for the various roles and expectations, and also the opportunity for self and peer evaluation. I often give an individual rubric to each group member, as well as a separate rubric for the entire group as a whole. This allows for students to take responsibility and ownership for their role in the group and their own evaluation.

Allowing students to be part of the group selection process can help address collaboration challenges. Project-based teachers within our network utilize various strategies when forming groups. 1). Teacher choice 2). Student choice 3). Student choice with teacher guidance I've seen the third option work well for students beyond third grade. Students create a "resume" to list their strengths and areas for growth. Students can read their peers' resumes' and then rank five people they think would make a good group mate. The teacher plays matchmaker when assigning groups. Students know they will have at least two people from their preferred list in their group. Students and teachers feel like they have a voice in the selection process.

When I lead introduction to PBL professional development workshops, one question I often receive is: How do I teach the required standards and do project-based learning? When I hear that question, I know that the teacher doesn't yet understand that the goal is to teach the standards through the PBL unit. All learning experiences (activities or lessons) should drive students to answer the driving question. It's not an either I teach the curriculum or do a project type situation. Therefore, ideally, students would need to master the academic content to create a public product that will answer the driving question. With a well-planned project-based learning unit, it's feasible to achieve both goals.

The project is the vessel for the curriculum. Many teachers say they don’t have time for projects because there is too much curriculum to teach before. True PBL the curriculum is learnt through the project, not before.

It's important to remember that becoming a highly effective project-based educator takes time and continuous practice. It's unlikely that a teacher can attend one workshop or facilitate one PBL unit and master this instructional method. During professional development, I stress how becoming a project-based educator is a journey that requires a cycle of learning. If a PBL experience didn't go well the first time, reflect on the experience, make changes, and try again. Fostering a project-based learning culture takes intentional effort.