Reading: What is PBL and
how can we use it?
What is Project Based Learning?
"Women doing a project together
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" by Karolina Gabrowska
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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a learning process that results in students completing
a project. So, how does PBL differ from traditional models of student projects? Project
based learning places the emphasis on the learning part of the equation, and less on
the end result. It is student-led, collaborative, and inquiry focused. PBL is meant to
simulate work being done in the real world by finding solutions to real-world problems.
For a project to truly be PBL, it follows through many steps. These steps may not be
linear; you may find that students need to go back and repeat a step in order to further
focus the project.
● Needs assessment: What are the problems that students can work towards
finding a solution for? How can students look at their communities and
identify a local problem? Depending on your school and your students, this
may be done by the teacher or by the students.
● Entry event: This is an event to get the students' interest and attention
focused on the problem. Teachers focus the students' attention on what is
important. This may involve looking at pictures, walking around the school
looking for plants or recycling opportunities, or asking the students about
problems in their community.
● Driving question: Students determine what the driving question is. The
driving question is the focus of the project. For instance, "How can we
spread awareness about deforestation in our country? or How can we ensure
cleaner water for our town?"
● Essential questions: These are follow-up questions that support the driving
question and focus language learning. These questions help scaffold
learning. For example: "What do we need to know to write letters to our
classmates about this problem? or What are some phrases I can use to
persuade someone?"
● Propose a project: Students should propose a final project, and something
they should work toward.
● Identify resources: Students and teachers determine what resources are
needed for the project. This includes research material as well as physical
resources such as paper and scissors.
● Scaffolding and assessment: Teachers determine how to scaffold and
support learning and decide on what assessments make sense for the
context. For instance, students can keep a log or journal of what they have
learned or there can be quizzes and writing activities that ensure language
learning.
● Culminating event: This is a presentation of the final project.
● Reflection: Students reflect on the success of their project. Did they answer
the driving question or solve the problem? Students may receive feedback
from the community or other members who benefited from the project.
Stimulating Writing Through
Project Based Tasks
One of the reasons that Project Based Learning is so appealing is that it gives students
agency over their learning. Many of us as students asked ourselves or our teachers,
"Why are we learning about this? How will I ever use it?" When students don't
understand the purpose of an assignment, or they question why something is
important to learn, they are much less motivated to pay attention to what they are
studying. PBL helps to eliminate this by focusing on real-world problems and
incorporating questions about why learning is important. When students know why
they are learning about a topic, they will be much more motivated to make an effort.
Writing can be an important tool to help your students think and reflect on why learning
is happening. You can use PBL principles for writing activities by incorporating
real-world situations into your students' writing exercises. Think about the assignments
you may give your students, and consider how you can ensure that you have
incorporated the core principles of PBL into your curriculum.
The Core Principles of PBL are:
● Authenticity: Are the student writing about real-world situations? Can they
relate to the topic? How do the students relate this idea in their own context?
● Collaboration: Are students working together? Are they sharing their ideas
with one another? How can they incorporate what they are learning in other
classes into their writing?
● Reflection: Do the students think about why they are writing what they are?
Are your students keeping a log of what skills they are using as they write?
● Voice and Choice: Do the students make any decisions about what they
write about? Can they pick the topic, or decide on the direction they want
their writing to take? What tools do the students need to ensure that their
voices are clear in their writing?
Read to Learn More
As you read the article below, keep in mind the following:
● Do the suggested projects fulfill all of the requirements of the core
principles? If they do, how? If not, what's missing?
● What are the real-world situations that students in your context can write
about?
Be sure to take the time to read carefully so that you can not only discuss the article,
but also apply the suggestions in your own classes. If you wish, you may use the
editable Word note-taking guide
Download Word note-taking guide
or the PDF note-taking guide
Download PDF note-taking guide
Here is a PDF of the article:
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