Project-based Learning
Overview
Project-based learning (PBL) actively engages learners in authentic tasks designed to create products or design solutions that answer a given question or solve a problem. When educators act as facilitators and promote projects that are relevant to students as a part of the curriculum, students have agency over their learning, promoting self-efficacy and Motivation through this experiential learning. Working collaboratively on multimodal or cross-disciplinary projects as leaders and team-members can provide opportunities to build on individuals' experiences and strengths. It also can develop learners' Collaboration, problem solving, Critical Thinking, and Communication skills while fostering a Sense of Belonging. Educators should recognize that not all students have had previous experience with student-driven learning and may need additional support, including opportunities to participate successfully, and ample time to review materials and make decisions. Additionally, strategies like translanguaging can be used to ensure multilingual students have access to a rich PBL experience, particularly if they are newer to the language of instruction.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
See how educators collaborate to develop an interdisciplinary project for their Pre-K students. This project engages students through PBL by giving them the opportunity to act as zookeepers, with the task of designing a habitat for the zoo animals, incorporating role play, science, math, arts, and more.
Design It into Your Product
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Active Learning Strategies
Encouraging young children to draw and to explain their drawings in the classroom, can support the development of Core Academic Literacies.
Students explaining their thinking during learning is a metacognitive process that involves actively self-questioning or being questioned while exploring new concepts, and explaining thoughts and reasoning in response.
Visiting places connected to classroom learning provides opportunities to add relevance to classroom topics and deepen understanding through firsthand experiences.
Free choice is when children have free or limited choice over their activities as they learn, and is child-directed rather than teacher-directed.
Games support learning as learners engage with new information in fun and informal ways.
Simulations involve students engaging in interactive experiences that mimic real-world scenarios to explore content, practice skills, and solve problems.
