Project-Based Learning: Benefits, Examples, and Resources (2024)

What Is Project-Based Learning?

Project-based learning (PBL) or project-based instruction is an instructional approach designed to give students the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills through engaging projects set around challenges and problems they may face in the real world.

Project-based learningis more than just “doing a project,” in the way you might remember from your own school days. As the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) explains, with PBL, students “investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex problemor challenge” with deep and sustained attention.¹ArchForKids, an organization that provides STEAM programs for young learners, puts it even more succinctly: PBL is “learning by doing.”²

Why Project-Based Learning? We Live in a Project-Based World

The truth is, many in education recognize that our modern world is sustained and advanced through the successful completion of projects. Or, as the Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget, put it, “knowledge is a consequence of experience.”³

It’s true! Your weekend chores, an upcoming presentation, or organizing a fundraising event—they’re all projects. This is the spirit behind PBL, and we see evidence of its increasing popularity in things like the growth of the maker movement.⁴When we help students have authentic experiences, we prepare them for the real world. In its purest form, PBL prepares students to be self-sufficient, creative, and critical thinkers that can take on any challenge.

For most modern workers, their careers will be marked by a series of projects rather than years of service to a specific organization. “Solving real-world issues that matter is important to us as adults—and it’s important to our students,” explain Lathram, Lenz, and Vander Ark in their ebook, Preparing Students for a Project-Based World.⁵

In short, if we are to prepare students for success in life, we need to prepare them for a project-based world. Therefore, when relating project-based learning benefits to students, we must always include examples of real-world application. Thiswill reinforce for students the notion that they can break down future problems into their component parts, assemble and lead a diverse team of stakeholders to process the problem, and implement a solution.

What Are the Essential Elements of Project-BasedLearning?

Although definitions and project parameters may vary from school to school, and PBL is sometimes used interchangeably with “experiential learning” or “discovery learning,” the characteristics of project-based learning are clear, constant, and share the spirit of John Dewey’s instrumentalism.

In essence, the PBL model consists of these seven characteristics⁶:

Focuses on a big and open-ended question, challenge, or problem for the student to research and respond to and/or solve
Bringswhatstudents should academically know, understand, and beable to do into the equation
Is inquiry-based, stimulates intrinsic curiosity, and generates questions as it helps students seek answers
Uses 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, among others.⁷
Builds student choice into the process
Provides opportunities for feedback and revision of the plan and the project, just like in real life
Requires students to present their problems, research process, methods, and results, just as scientific research or real-world projects must stand before peer review and constructive criticism

Following fifteen years of literature review and distilled educational experience, the Buck Institute for Education identified seven essential elements for PBL that focus on project design. Collectively these elements are called Gold Standard PBL.⁸According to the BIE, the key elements to project design include:

A challenging problem or question
Sustained inquiry
Authenticity
Student voice and choice
Reflection
Critique and revision
Public product

All of these elements, if combined well, result in students learning key knowledge, understanding, and skills for success.

An example where all these elements come togetheris in the Business Incubator class at Illinois’ Palatine High School.⁹Teams of students propose and design a product based upon a challenging need or intricate problem. These young entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to business and community leaders in an effort to gain support for launching their product. It’s likeShark Tankfor teens, and it’s awesome!

One team of students designed a mobile app providing real-time air quality readings at locations around the world.Raising awareness about air pollution, supporting health-conscious travelers, and making global connections weregalvanizing real-world catalysts for their project.

It’s worth noting that while project-based learning may seem like some specific or isolated instructional practice, the lists above should look familiar. They are simply the elements of great learning experiences. You don’t have tosubscribe to project-based learning to incorporate elements of it in your classrooms. Having said that, there are benefits that true project-based learning provides. Let’s dig into a few of the benefits of PBL now.

Benefits of Project-Based Learning

Too often, traditional learning never ventures beyond the realm ofthe purelyacademic. Project-based learning connects students to the world beyond the classroom and prepares themto accept and meet challenges in the real world ina way that mirrors what professionals do every day.

Instead of short-term memorization and summative regurgitation, project-based learning provides an opportunity for students to engage deeply with the target content, bringing about a focus onlong-term retention. PBL also improves student attitudes toward education¹⁰, thanks to its ability to keep students engaged.¹¹The PBL structure lends itself to building intrinsic motivation because it centers student learning around a central question orproblem and ameaningful outcome. Students end up wanting to understand the answerorsolution as much or more than the teacher wants to know what they know, understand, and are able to do!

Daniel Pink, inhis TEDTalkand influential book,Drive¹², says people are intrinsically motivated by three things—autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Popular terms like grit and rigor become embedded dispositions when learners sink their teeth into meaningful endeavors, like those provided during project-based instruction.

A recent collaborative study conducted by the University and Michigan and Michigan State University suggests the implementation of project-based learning correlated positively with student achievement, particularly in schools serving high-poverty communities.¹³This research emphasizes the importance of projects being standards-aligned and supported with research-proven instructional strategies.

Because of its focus on 21st-century skills,the PBL model also enhances students’ technology abilities. Project-based learning helps students develop teamwork and problem-solving skills¹⁴, along with the ability to communicate effectively with others. The collaborative nature of projects also reinforces the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs being implemented at progressive schools around the world.

These interpersonal aspects of PBL dovetail perfectly with the use of technology in the classroom. Technology-based projects are interdisciplinary, collaborative, inquiry-based, self-directed, motivating, and address the full range of student needs and learning styles.¹⁵Additionally, digital literacies and digital citizenship objectives become ingrained in tech-based projects, especially when the PBL opportunity is conducted seamlessly within the friendly confines of your school’s learning management system.

A quick review of ISTE’s recently revised standards for students will disclose the relevance of PBL to modern learning.¹⁶By highlighting standards including empowered learner, innovative designer, creative communicator, and global collaborator, you would think these standards were tailor-made with PBL in mind. International standards for technology skills and project-based learning objectives absolutely go hand in hand.

Challenges of Project-Based Learning

The Intel Corporation identified several reasons why project-based learning can represent such a radical departure from what we are used to in education: PBL requires you to coach more and instruct less, to embrace interdisciplinary learning instead of remaining locked in single-subject silos, and to be more comfortable with uncertainty and discovery during the learning process.¹⁷

For many instructors, PBL is a stark contrastto the traditional education they experienced. Change takes time and is seldom without apprehension and challenges. However, when we consider the types of educational experiences we value for our modern learners, it becomes apparent the traditional “sageon the stage” instructional model falls significantly short.

The truth is, though, you can overcome these PBL challenges. Good problems or ideas can come from your students, parents, or community members. Instead of lectures and book learning, teachers can think through the steps required to solve a problem and use those steps as project-learning activities. Instead of planning a massive project, the learning process can be made more manageable by chunking the project into smaller parts, with frequent checkpoints built into the timeline. Instead of a traditional summative exam, authentic assessments can be developed by communicating with professionals in the field regarding what a presentation would look like related to a particular project. As challenging as PBL may appear at first, it can ultimately be sofreeingfor educators!

Project-Based Learning Examples

Inone science-based project, students begin with a visit to a zoo, learning about animal habitats and forming opinions on which habitats best suit a selected animal.¹⁸For this example, the project component included teams of students collaborating to develop a research-supported habitat plan that they would then present to professional and student zoologists.

While the sciences fit neatly into the PBL environment, the instructional strategy lends itself naturally to interdisciplinary learning.

In another example, one that blends English language arts and social studies, students answer the question, “What role does censorship play in society?”¹⁹Following introductory instruction, students select a banned book, read it, compose a persuasive essay, and take part in a censorship-related mock trial experience conducted in the presence of experts. That last part–the mock trial in front of a group of experts–is what really drives PBL. The learning is not just experiential but also frequently contains a public, real-world component.

Want a break from “drill-and-kill” math lessons? Consider developing an “escape room” activity in which students assume the role of a code breaker for the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or another federal agency.²⁰The outcome could be anything from decoding a message that could potentially reveal the location of a planned terror attack on the United States, ferreting out an organized crime syndicate, or any number of scenarios. As a follow-up to the initial activity, students could present their solutions on the day a professional in a related field (e.g., FBI agent) visits the class to connect the activity to a real-world experience and potential career path. In such cases, you are limited only by your professional imagination²¹The outcome could be anything from decoding a message that could potentially reveal the location of a planned terror attack on the United States, ferreting out an organized crime syndicate, or any number of scenarios. As a follow-up to the initial activity, students could present their solutions on the day a professional in a related field (e.g., FBI agent) visits the class to connect the activity to a real-world experience and potential career path. In such cases, you are limited only by your professional imagination.

Are you looking for more examples of PBL schools? John Larmer, Editor and Chief for the Buck Institute for Education PBL Blog, shares several shining examples of schools making a commitment to deeper learning through PBL instruction. Larmer suggests investigating schools belonging to theDeeper Learning Network. These innovative schools include the essential elements frequentlymentioned in BIE’s Gold Standard PBL.

Project-Based Learning Lesson Plans

The Buck Institute also provides a hub for PBL lesson plans that align to Common Core standards. They make it easy to search their database by the source of the lesson plan, the subject, and the course.

A few quick examples of the more than 100 PBL lessons include:

The Ultimate Design Challenge—Students design solutions to a current problem using mathematical models.
Lending a Helping Hand—Students become financial advisors and are challenged to make the best use of $25 in a way that impacts their community most.
Lost!—In this project, students are isolated somewhere in the world and must design a civilization that stands the test of time.

It’s important to note that some of the lesson plans in this resource library are free, while others come at a cost. Many of the lesson plans that require payment do provide sample pages, so you can get an idea of how to recreate it in your own way. Additionally, the above examples and lesson plans are fully customizable and can work in either the online or in-person classroom. So whether you return to full-time in-person instruction in the fall or maintain a cadre of online or hybrid learners in your district, you’ll be ready.

Now that you know what PBL is, what it looks like in the classroom, and where to find lesson plans, let’s look at how you can actually get started.

Getting StartedWithProject-Based Learning

Every journey may begin with a single step, but sometimes that step can seem daunting. Carol Ann Tomlinson, writing about differentiation in the classroom, advised teachers to start with“small, well-orchestrated changes.” They should select a few targeted goals each year and focus on doing those things well while concentrating on growth.²²

The same concept applies to project-based learning. Dreambig, butstart small. Writing for Edutopia, Andrew Miller advised teachers to keep things simple by limiting the scope and duration of a project, using or renovating an existing project, and takingthe time to get meaningful feedback and engage in professional reflection.²³

You can also approach project-based learning from your students’perspectives. Begin by giving them the resources they need to understand PBL as a concept, then introduce them tothe practical steps once they’re engaged in the process. This is a powerful, metacognitive way to approach your first foray into project-based instruction.

Tom Vander Ark and Emily Liebtag have shared a helpful introductory framework for high-quality PBL.²⁴This framework includes six criteria meant to support students, parents, and educators as they embark on their PBL journeys. These criteria include authenticity, challenge, collaboration, and reflection, which are all powerful 21st-century skills.

Project-based learning is easier than you may think and well within your grasp. Still, coming up with project ideas can sometimes present an initial stalemate for students. This post fromTeachThoughtincludes resources for teachers as well as project ideas for students. How would you like42 promptsfor your students so they can design their own projects? You can start small, think practically, andchangethe way you and your students view content learning and mastery. Project-based learning benefits are for everyone.

It’s Time to Seriously Consider Project-Based Learning

What doeslearninglook like? Under what conditions does our most profound and best learning occur? For most of us, we learn best by doing, examining, reflecting, and iterating. Project-based learning takes the essential characteristics of what we value most about education and puts them front and center of our formal learning environments. It is a popular and noble aspiration for educators to inspire and develop life-long learners, and PBL gets us away from the high-stakes testing mandates of the last 20 years and closer to the core of what education should be. PBL helps prepare students for the “real world” since that is where their learning naturally occurs.

So, what project will you be diving into today?

Project-Based Learning Research, Resources, and Further Reading

Below are resources and research you should check out to start or better your PBL practice.

Resources

Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.).Project based learning for all.PBLWorks.https://www.pblworks.org
Arch for Kids LLC. (2015, March 12).What is project-based learning?Noodle.
https://www.noodle.com/articles/what-is-project-based-learning
Martinez, S. (2014, October 1).The maker movement: Standing on the shoulders of giants to own thefuture. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/maker-movement-shoulders-of-giants-sylvia-martinez
Ibid.
Lathram, B., Lenz, B., & Vander Ark, T. (2016).Preparing students for a project-based world. GettingSmart.
https://www.gettingsmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Preparing-Students-for-a-ProjectBasedWorld-FINAL.pdf
Arch for Kids LLC. (2015, March 12). What isproject-based learning? Noodle.
https://www.noodle.com/articles/what-is-project-based-learning
Battelle for Kids. (n.d.). Our mission is to realize the power and promise of 21st century learning for everystudent – in early learning, in school, and beyond school – across the country and around the globe.
https://www.battelleforkids.org/networks/p21
Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.). Gold standard PBL: Essential project design elements.PBLWorks.
https://www.pblworks.org/blog/gold-standard-pbl-essential-project-design-elements
Journal & Topics. (2019). From Palatine High School Incubator Project HeadsToKickStarter.
https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/from-palatine-high-school-incubator-project-heads-to-kickstarter/
Hosler, A. (2013). What you should know about project-based learning. Education World.
https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/project-based-learning-benefits-best-practices.shtml
Gonzalez, T. (2016, June 26). Project based learning: Start here. Cult of Pedagogy.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/project-based-learning/
Pink D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Riverhead Books.
Duke, N. K., & Halvorsen, A. (2017, June 20). New study shows the impact of PBL on studentachievement. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-study-shows-impact-pbl-student-achievement-nell-duke-anne-lise-halvorsen
Gonzalez, T. (2016, June 26). Project based learning: Start here. Cult of Pedagogy.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/project-based-learning/
Love, C. (2021, February 17). Six benefits to project based learning and technology integration.TechnoKids Blog.
https://www.technokids.com/blog/technology-integration/benefits-project-based-learning/
International Society for Technology in Education. (2021). ISTE standards for students.
https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
The Intel Corporation. (2012). Overview and benefits of project-based learning.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/program/education/us/en/documents/project-design/projectdesign/benefits-of-projectbased-learning.pdf
Buck Institute for Education. (n.d.).Sample project: A home for everyone.PBLWorks.
https://my.pblworks.org/resource/document/a_home_for_everyone
Koh, P., & Russo, K. (2006). Banned in America!!! Envision Schools Project Exchange.
http://www.envisionprojects.org/pub/env_p/78.html
College of Charleston. (2021, May 10). Active learning scenario games in teaching & learning: Escape Rooms.
https://libguides.library.cofc.edu/immersivescenariogames/escaperooms
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed.).ASCD.
Miller, A. (2012, August 6). Getting started with project-based learning. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-getting-started-basics-andrew-miller
Vander Ark, T., & Liebtag, E. (2018, March 7). Introducing a framework for high quality project basedlearning. Getting Smart.https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/03/introducing-a-framework-for-high-quality-project-based-learni ng/