How can we create an impactful PBL experience?

by Dr. Candice Wilson-McCain

Let's explore how to plan a high-quality project-based learning experience for students. You will find several planning methods because, as you know, educators plan differently based on what works for them. After training hundreds of teachers on planning and implementing project-based learning experiences, I've found success with the method I'm sharing.

I created a name for my planning method, called the Impactful PBL Roadmap™, and I'm going to provide an overview in this post. Over the past few years, I've developed and refined this planning method utilizing theory and experiences learned from training educators, receiving their feedback, through countless hours of researching and studying project-based learning best practices.

I've previously mentioned that my current doctoral research focuses on project-based learning. Let me clarify that I train teachers to incorporate the essential elements created by PBL Works. Therefore, the Impactful PBL Roadmap is not to replace the essential elements or components of a quality PBL. The Impactful PBL Roadmap™ is the process I use to help teachers break down the planning process so they can write a high-performance PBL unit.

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The Impactful PBL Roadmap™ has nine steps.

Step 1: Identify your students' learning goals. Use your pacing guide to determine which content standards and objectives students will learn during this PBL unit.

Step 2: Map the scenario and students' driving question. Choose an interesting topic and connect the driving question that will guide students' learning process and draft a plot to provide a background to make the project more interesting.

Step 3: Plan the students' assessments. Examine the variety of methods available to assess student learning. Brainstorm how you plan to measure students' mastery of the content or subject area and their ability to explore the challenge and create a solution. Set students up for success using various assessment strategies.

Step 4: Attract students' attention. Brainstorm engaging ways to introduce the problem or challenge to students. The goal is to get them excited about the project-based learning experience. Getting students on board with the project is essential because they will explore this challenge over an extended period, and you want to sustain students' interest.

Step 5: Create students' daily learning experiences. Write a unit plan and describe what students need to learn each day. Draft your daily lessons to guide students' learning of the content. Remember to plan project tasks and milestones. For example:

• At what point should students research their solution to their driving question? 

• When will students create their product or practice for sharing with an audience?

• When planning daily lessons, think about how you will teach this content. ex: direct instruction, small groups, workshop models, stations, etc. 

Basically, this step is about creating a project-based learning unit plan.

Step 6: Track students' progress. Set up project management tools to help students stay organized. As an educator, you know how difficult it can be for students to manage documents. Think about how many random pieces of paper teachers find on their classroom floor at the end of the school day.

With project-based learning, students are most likely working in groups, so they must have a system for effective collaboration for teachers. Furthermore, it can become chaotic to monitor each group's progress. Depending on the grade level and subject area, it's possible to find yourself managing five projects or twenty-five projects, which can be overwhelming. As a result, it's crucial to create a solid tracking system.

Step 7: Finalize students' showcase agenda. When I say showcase, I'm referring to the way students will exhibit, display, or share the public product with an authentic audience. Earlier in this planning process, you explored how students will display their knowledge, but during this phase, it's time to plan the logistics. For example:

• How will students showcase what they know?

• Who will you invite to the showcase?

• Where will the showcase occur?

• When will it occur?

• What help do you need to make this showcase happen?

Step 8: Unite students and build a collaborative culture. As you know, creating a positive and supportive classroom culture is an ongoing process. However, I like to call out this step to ensure that educators are intentional about this phase.

Sometimes, we assume that all students enjoy collaborating, can effectively handle conflict, and know how to interact with feedback. However, we as educators must teach students how to contribute effectively as groupmates.

Step 9: Lead students through the reflection process. Craft techniques to encourage students to think about their learning during and after the project-based learning unit. For example:

• What have you learned about yourself as a learner?

• After researching X, what new questions do you have? 

• How are you connecting what you have learned thus far to real life?

• How are you contributing to your group's progress?

Those questions are just a few examples. Leading students through a reflection process can be done in a variety of ways. The nine steps shared is what I call the Impactful PBL™ Roadmap.

Read Next > Launch PBL Series: What is project-based learning?