Project-Based Learning
(PBL) is an instructional approach where traditional, direct classroom instruction and tests are replaced by authentic, often interdisciplinary projects, usually designed by the student with guidance from instructors/coaches, addressing real-world problems as the assessment instead of a test. It also is closely related to deeper learning, challenge-based learning, interest-based learning and more.
Real-Life Examples of Design Thinking in the Classroom
Design thinking centers on a pedagogy aimed at creating and facilitating future innovators and breakthrough thinkers. It is about creating creative and collaborative workflows engineered to tackle big projects and prototyping to discover new solutions.
Save The Planet–Starting Today
If we have a list of the issues that will shape the future--an earth owner’s manual--when and how should we introduce them to young people? What does it mean to be really ready and why should we be encouraging young people to engage with the world’s most important issue? Tom Vander Ark answers these questions and more.
Every School Needs a Garden
When our school opened in 2008, we knew we wanted a garden. Since then, I have come to believe quite ardently that growing food is an important life skill, as it is a perfect way to teach students how to use wherever they're at for rich learning experiences.
Want Authentic PBL? Take Students to the Farm
This was not a hypothetical project, dreamed up in a classroom far removed from the outside world. It was a real project with real problems, consequences and opportunities for growth.
Integrating the Engineering Design Process and Challenge-Based Learning in STEM
By: Jamie Back. When I first learned how to integrate Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) and the Engineering Design Process (EDP) into my lessons, it was a total gamechanger. Here's what it meant for my instructional practice.
10 Really Hard Decisions Coming Our Way
The most powerful tools the world has ever known have been created- and while they have the potential to make lives better, there's a bigger problem we must be aware of. AI Advancements are moving faster than civic infrastructure can handle. Here’s 10 issues we're not prepared for.
Combining Inquiry and PBL: 3 Guidelines for Success
By: Kelsey Bednar. In my experience supporting educators who are making the shift to PBL, I hear one challenge voiced more consistently than others: how do I facilitate student inquiry? Here are three tips to help you get started.
5 Tech-Free Classroom Innovations, and Ideas for Getting Started
We don’t need unlimited funding or fancy high-tech toys to innovate our practice. Often, we just need to think differently. Here are five simple tech-free innovative learning experiences that will help you and your students think differently.
Making Project-Based Learning Authentic
By: Sheldon Soper. Students who participate in high-quality project-based learning develop skills, processes and products that are an ideal match for the demands of the 21st-century, but creating authentic projects is key for engaging them.
Project Management for Education
Business project management and project-based learning have had little overlap. Ask PBL teachers if they’ve ever had any training in project management - not many hands go up. "Project Management for Education" provides a blueprint for change.