The goal of PBL is to give students the opportunity to solve real world problems that relate to our curriculum. PBL is so effective because students are engaged and interested in investigating the problem and finding practical solutions. This is an opportunity for students to work collaboratively and use their critical and creative thinking skills to benefit the community. If you want to find out what students think of PBL, then watch “It really, actually changed my life”.
I was totally overwhelmed when reading through the directions for this assignment because it is challenging to create a good essential question that relates to the curriculum but is also broad enough that it relates to life in general so students can find the applicability in today’s world. Thankfully we had a really good set of resources to show a variety of essential questions and PBL examples that helped get my gears spinning. Project-based learning is such an exciting endeavor in that it can cover so many standards and skills in one unit. I’m guilty of cutting out some of the more creative assignments in the past because “we don’t have enough time for this.” Now I can see how PBL units effectively cover a variety of standards and skills in such an engaging way that allows students to take ownership of their learning and develop skills that will help them be successful in the future.
Although I created a four week unit, you can start with PBL lessons that take one or two days to get a sense of the process. I’m here to help you when you’re ready to get started!
References
Buck Institute for Education. "It really, actually changed my life." (2009, July 19). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/uZxYSe26O9I