Key 2: Core to Learning

Building Rigorous Projects That Are Core to Learning 

                                           

• PBL is not something to do at the end of the unit for fun.
• Start with the standards (what has to be taught) in mind. It's called "backwards design".
• Start with what the final exams/ unit exams will look like.
• Make the test ahead of time and then plan all the appropriate activities that students are going to do for the project.
• Students develop critical thinking skills while they are learning the content.
• They learn to collaborate with others.
• They have the opportunity to be creative in the way they think about the problem and then put their own spin on their solution to the problem.
• It's a shift in the delivery of instruction.
• Students not only get the knowledge, but they learn the application, so the knowledge then becomes relevant when they have to apply it to a real-world situation.