definition of projects in education

What is PBL?

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

In Project Based Learning, teachers make learning come alive for students.

Students work on a project over an extended period of time – from a week up to a semester – that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a public product or presentation for a real audience.

As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. Project Based Learning unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers.

And in case you were looking for a more formal definition...

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Watch Project Based Learning in Action

These 7-10 minute videos show the Gold Standard PBL model in action, capturing the nuts and bolts of a PBL unit from beginning to end.

VIDEO: The Water Quality Project

VIDEO: March Through Nashville

VIDEO: The Tiny House Project

How does pbl differ from “doing a project”.

PBL is becoming widely used in schools and other educational settings, with different varieties being practiced. However, there are key characteristics that differentiate "doing a project" from engaging in rigorous Project Based Learning.

We find it helpful to distinguish a "dessert project" -  a short, intellectually-light project served up after the teacher covers the content of a unit in the usual way - from a "main course" project, in which the project is the unit. In Project Based Learning, the project is the vehicle for teaching the important knowledge and skills student need to learn. The project contains and frames curriculum and instruction.

In contrast to dessert projects, PBL requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. To answer a driving question and create high-quality work, students need to do much more than remember information. They need to use higher-order thinking skills and learn to work as a team.

Learn more about "dessert" projects vs PBL

The gold standard for high-quality PBL

To help ensure your students are getting the main course and are engaging in quality Project Based Learning, PBLWorks promotes a research-informed model for “Gold Standard PBL.” 

The Gold Standard PBL model encompasses two useful guides for educators: 

1)  Seven Essential Project Design Elements  provide a framework for developing high quality projects for your classroom, and

2)  Seven Project Based Teaching Practices   help teachers, schools, and organizations improve, calibrate, and assess their practice.

The Gold Standard PBL model aligns with the High Quality PBL Framework . This framework describes what students should be doing, learning, and experiencing in a good project. Learn more at HQPBL.org .

Yes, we provide PBL training for educators! PBLWorks offers a variety of workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches to get started and advance their practice with Project Based Learning. Learn more

See Sample Projects

Explore our expanding library of project ideas, with over 80 projects that are standards-aligned, and cover a range of grade levels and subject areas.

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Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning refers to any programmatic or instructional approach that utilizes multifaceted projects as a central organizing strategy for educating students. When engaged in project-based learning, students will typically be assigned a project or series of projects that require them to use diverse skills—such as researching, writing, interviewing, collaborating, or public speaking—to produce various work products, such as research papers, scientific studies, public-policy proposals, multimedia presentations, video documentaries, art installations, or musical and theatrical performances, for example. Unlike many tests, homework assignments, and other more traditional forms of academic coursework, the execution and completion of a project may take several weeks or months, or it may even unfold over the course of a semester or year.

Closely related to the concept of authentic learning , project-based-learning experiences are often designed to address real-world problems and issues, which requires students to investigate and analyze their complexities, interconnections, and ambiguities (i.e., there may be no “right” or “wrong” answers in a project-based-learning assignment). For this reason, project-based learning may be called inquiry-based learning or learning by doing , since the learning process is integral to the knowledge and skills students acquire. Students also typically learn about topics or produce work that integrates multiple academic subjects and skill areas. For example, students may be assigned to complete a project on a local natural ecosystem and produce work that investigates its history, species diversity, and social, economic, and environmental implications for the community. In this case, even if the project is assigned in a science course, students may be required to read and write extensively (English); research local history using texts, news stories, archival photos, and public records (history and social studies); conduct and record first-hand scientific observations, including the analysis and tabulation of data (science and math); and develop a public-policy proposal for the conservation of the ecosystem (civics and government) that will be presented to the city council utilizing multimedia technologies and software applications (technology).

In project-based learning, students are usually given a general question to answer, a concrete problem to solve, or an in-depth issue to explore. Teachers may then encourage students to choose specific topics that interest or inspire them, such as projects related to their personal interests or career aspirations. For example, a typical project may begin with an open-ended question (often called an “essential question” by educators): How is the principle of buoyancy important in the design and construction of a boat? What type of public-service announcement will be most effective in encouraging our community to conserve water? How can our school serve healthier school lunches? In these cases, students may be given the opportunity to address the question by proposing a project that reflects their interests. For example, a student interested in farming may explore the creation of a school garden that produces food and doubles as a learning opportunity for students, while another student may choose to research health concerns related to specific food items served in the cafeteria, and then create posters or a video to raise awareness among students and staff in the school.

In public schools, the projects, including the work products created by students and the assessments they complete, will be based on the same state learning standards that apply to other methods of instruction—i.e., the projects will be specifically designed to ensure that students meet expected learning standards. While students work on a project, teachers typically assess student learning progress—including the achievement of specific learning standards—using a variety of methods, such as portfolios , demonstrations of learning , or rubrics , for example. While the learning process may be more student-directed than some traditional learning experiences, such as lectures or quizzes, teachers still provide ongoing instruction, guidance, and academic support to students. In many cases, adult mentors, advisers, or experts from the local community—such as scientists, elected officials, or business leaders—may be involved in the design of project-based experiences, mentor students throughout the process, or participate on panels that review and evaluate the final projects in collaboration with teachers.

As a reform strategy, project-based learning may become an object of debate both within a school or in the larger community. Schools that decide to adopt project-based learning as their primary method of instruction, as opposed to schools that are founded on the philosophy and use the method from their inception, are more likely to encounter criticism or resistance. The instructional nuances of project-based learning can also become a source of confusion and misunderstanding, given that the approach represents a fairly significant departure from more familiar conceptions of schooling.

In addition, there may be debate among educators about what specifically does and doesn’t constitute “project-based learning.” For example, some teachers may already be doing “projects” in their courses, and they might consider these activities to be a form of project-based learning, but others may dispute such claims because the projects do not conform to their more specific and demanding definition—i.e., they are not “authentic” forms of project-based learning since they don’t meet the requisite instructional criteria (such as the features described above).

The following are a few representative examples of the kinds of arguments typically made by advocates of project-based learning:

• Project-based learning gives students a more “integrated” understanding of the concepts and knowledge they learn, while also equipping them with practical skills they can apply throughout their lives. The interdisciplinary nature of project-based learning helps students make connections across different subjects, rather than perceiving, for example, math and science as discrete subjects with little in common.
• Because project-based learning mirrors the real-world situations students will encounter after they leave school, it can provide stronger and more relevant preparation for college and work. Student not only acquire important knowledge and skills, they also learn how to research complex issues, solve problems, develop plans, manage time, organize their work, collaborate with others, and persevere and overcome challenges, for example.
• Project-based learning reflects the ways in which today’s students learn. It can improve student engagement in school, increase their interest in what is being taught, strengthen their motivation to learn, and make learning experiences more relevant and meaningful.
• Since project-based learning represents a more flexible approach to instruction, it allows teachers to tailor assignments and projects for students with a diverse variety of interests, career aspirations, learning styles, abilities, and personal backgrounds. For related discussions, see differentiation and personalized learning .
• Project-based learning allows teachers and students to address multiple learning standards simultaneously. Rather than only meeting math standards in math classes and science standards in science classes, students can work progressively toward demonstrating proficiency in a variety of standards while working on a single project or series of projects. For a related discussion, see proficiency-based learning .

The following are few representative examples of the kinds of arguments that may be made by critics of project-based learning:

• Project-based learning may not ensure that students learn all the required material and standards they are expected to learn in a course, subject area, or grade level. When a variety of subjects are lumped together, it’s more difficult for teachers to monitor and assess what students have learned in specific academic subjects.
• Many teachers will not have the time or specialized training required to use project-based learning effectively. The approach places greater demands on teachers—from course preparation to instructional methods to the evaluation of learning progress—and schools may not have the funding, resources, and capacity they need to adopt a project-based-learning model.
• The projects that students select and design may vary widely in academic rigor and quality. Project-based learning could open the door to watered-down learning expectations and low-quality coursework.
• Project-based learning is not well suited to students who lack self-motivation or who struggle in less-structured learning environments .
• Project-based learning raises a variety of logistical concerns, since students are more likely to learn outside of school or in unsupervised settings, or to work with adults who are not trained educators.

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The Comprehensive Guide to Project-Based Learning: Empowering Student Choice through an Effective Teaching Method

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Resources and Tools

In K-12 education, project-based learning (PBL) has gained momentum as an effective inquiry-based, teaching strategy that encourages students to take ownership of their learning journey. 

By integrating authentic projects into the curriculum, project-based learning fosters active engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. This comprehensive guide explores the principles, benefits, implementation strategies, and evaluation techniques associated with project-based instruction, highlighting its emphasis on student choice and its potential to revolutionize education.

What is Project-Based Learning?

Project-based learning (PBL) is a inquiry-based and learner-centered instructional approach that immerses students in real-world projects that foster deep learning and critical thinking skills. Project-based learning can be implemented in a classroom as single or multiple units or it can be implemented across various subject areas and school-wide. 

In contrast to teacher led instruction, project-based learning encourages student engagement, collaboration, and problem-solving, empowering students to become active participants in their own learning. Students collaborate to solve a real world problem that requires content knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills.

Students aren’t only assessed on their understanding of academic content but on their ability to successfully apply that content when solving authentic problems. Through this process, project-based learning gives students the opportunity to develop the real-life skills required for success in today’s world. 

Positive Impacts of Project-Based Learning

By integrating project-based learning into the classroom, educators can unlock a multitude of benefits for students. The research evidence overwhelmingly supports the positive impact of PBL on students, teachers, and school communities. According to numerous studies (see  Deutscher et al, 2021 ;  Duke et al, 2020 ;  Krajick et al, 2022 ;  Harris et al, 2015 ) students in PBL classrooms not only outperform non-PBL classrooms academically, such as on state tests and AP exams, but also the benefits of PBL extend beyond academic achievement, as students develop essential skills, including creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Additional studies documenting the impact of PBL on K-12 learning are available in the  PBL research annotated bibliography  on the New Tech Network website.

New Tech Network Project-Based Learning Impacts

Established in 1996, New Tech Network NTN is a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming teaching and learning through innovative instructional practices, with project-based learning at its core.

NTN has an extensive network of schools across the United States that have embraced the power of PBL to engage students in meaningful, relevant, and challenging projects, with professional development to support teachers in deepening understanding of “What is project-based learning?” and “How can we deliver high quality project-based learning to all students?”

With over 20 years of experience in project-based learning, NTN schools have achieved impactful results. Several research studies documented that students in New Tech Network schools outperform their peers in non-NTN schools on SAT/ACT tests and state exams in both math and reading (see  Hinnant-Crawford & Virtue, 2019 ;  Lynch et al, 2018 ;  Stocks et al, 2019 ).  Additionally, students in NTN schools are more engaged and more likely to develop skills in collaboration, agency, critical thinking, and communication—skills highly valued in today’s workforce (see  Ancess & Kafka, 2020 ;  Muller & Hiller, 2020 ;  Zeiser, Taylor, et al, 2019 ). 

NTN provides comprehensive support to educators, including training, resources, and ongoing coaching, to ensure the effective implementation of problem-based learning and project-based learning. Through their collaborative network, NTN continuously shares best practices, fosters innovation, enables replication across districts, and empowers educators to create transformative learning experiences for their students (see  Barnett et al, 2020 ;  Hernández et al, 2019 ).

Key Concepts of Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is rooted in several key principles that distinguish it from other teaching methods. The pedagogical theories that underpin project-based learning and problem-based learning draw from constructivism and socio-cultural learning. Constructivism posits that learners construct knowledge through active learning and real world applications. Project-based learning aligns with this theory by providing students with opportunities to actively construct knowledge through inquiry, hands-on projects, real-world contexts, and collaboration.

Students as active participants

Project-based learning is characterized by learner-centered, inquiry-based, real world learning, which encourages students to take an active role in their own learning. Instead of rote memorization of information, students engage in meaningful learning opportunities, exercise voice and choice, and develop student agency skills. This empowers students to explore their interests, make choices, and take ownership of their learning process, with teachers acting as facilitators rather than the center of instruction.

Real-world and authentic contexts

Project-based learning emphasizes real-world problems that encourage students to connect academic content to meaningful contexts, enabling students to see the practical application of what they are learning. By tackling personally meaningful projects and engaging in hands-on tasks, students develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and its relevance in their lives.

Collaboration and teamwork

Another essential element of project-based learning is collaborative work. Students collaborating with their peers towards the culmination of a project, mirrors real-world scenarios where teamwork and effective communication are crucial. Through collaboration, students develop essential social and emotional skills, learn from diverse perspectives, and engage in constructive dialogue.

Project-based learning embodies student-centered learning, real-world relevance, and collaborative work. These principles, rooted in pedagogical theories like constructivism, socio-cultural learning, and experiential learning, create a powerful learning environment, across multiple academic domains, that foster active engagement, thinking critically, and the development of essential skills for success in college or career or life beyond school.

A Unique Approach to Project-Based Learning: New Tech Network

New Tech Network schools are committed to these key focus areas: college and career ready outcomes, supportive and inclusive culture, meaningful and equitable instruction, and purposeful assessment.

In the New Tech Network Model, rigorous project-based learning allows students to engage with material in creative, culturally relevant ways, experience it in context, and share their learning with peers.

Why Undertake this Work?

Teachers, administrators, and district leaders undertake this work because it produces critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and collaborators who are vital to the long-term health and wellbeing of our communities.

Reynoldsburg City Schools (RCS) Superintendent Dr. Melvin J. Brown observed that “Prior to (our partnership with New Tech Network) we were just doing the things we’ve always done, while at the same time, our local industry was evolving and changing— and we were not changing with it. We recognized we had to do better to prepare kids for the reality they were going to walk into after high school and beyond.

Students embrace the Model because they feel a sense of belonging. They are challenged to learn in relevant, meaningful ways that shape the way they interact with the world, like  these students from Owensboro Innovation Academy in Owensboro, Kentucky . 

When change is collectively held and supported rather than siloed, and all stakeholders are engaged rather than alienated, schools and districts build their own capacity to sustain innovation and continuously improve. New Tech Network’s approach to change provides teachers, administrators, and district leaders with clear roles in adopting and adapting student-centered learning. 

Part of NTN’s process for equipping schools with the data they need to serve their students involves conducting research surveys about their student’s experiences. 

“The information we received back from our NTN surveys about our kids’ experiences was so powerful,” said Amanda Ziaer, Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives for Frisco ISD. “It’s so helpful to be reminded about these types of tactics when you’re trying to develop an authentic student-centered learning experience. It’s just simple things you might skip because we live in such a traditional adult-centered world.” 

NTN’s experienced staff lead professional development activities that enable educators to adapt to student needs and strengths, and amplify those strengths while adjusting what is needed to address challenges.

Meaningful and Equitable Instruction

The New Tech Network model is centered on a PBL instructional core. PBL as an instructional method overlaps with key features of equitable pedagogical approaches including student voice, student choice, and authentic contexts. The New Tech Network model extends the power of PBL as a tool for creating more equitable learning by building asset-based equity pedagogical practices into the the design using key practices drawn from the literature on culturally sustaining teaching methods so that PBL instruction leverages the assets of diverse students, supports teachers as warm demanders, and develops critically conscious students in PBL classrooms (see  Good teaching, warm and demanding classrooms, and critically conscious students: Measuring student perceptions of asset-based equity pedagogy in the classroom ).

Examples of Project-Based Learning

New Tech Network schools across the country create relevant projects and interdisciplinary learning that bring a learner-centered approach to their school.  Examples of NTN Model PBL Projects  are available in the NTN Help and Learning Center and enable educators to preview projects and gather project ideas from various grade levels and content areas.

The NTN Project Planning Toolkit is used as a guide in the planning and design of PBL. The Project-based learning examples linked above include a third grade Social Studies/ELA project, a seventh grade Science project, and a high school American Studies project (11th grade English Language Arts/American History).

The Role of Technology in Project-Based Learning

A tool for creativity

Technology plays a vital role in enhancing PBL in schools, facilitating student  engagement, collaboration, and access to information. At the forefront, technology provides students with tools and resources to research, analyze data, and create multimedia content for their projects.

A tool for collaboration

Technology tools enable students to express their understanding creatively through digital media, such as videos, presentations, vlogs, blogs and interactive websites, enhancing their communication and presentation skills.

A tool for feedback

Technology offers opportunities for authentic audiences and feedback. Students can showcase their projects to a global audience through online platforms, blogs, or social media, receiving feedback and perspectives from beyond the classroom. This authentic audience keeps students engaged and striving for high-quality work and encourages them to take pride in their accomplishments.

By integrating technology into project-based learning, educators can enhance student engagement, deepen learning, and prepare students for a digitally interconnected world.

Interactive PBL Resources

New Tech Network offers a wealth of resources to support educators in gaining a deeper understanding of project-based learning. One valuable tool is the NTN Help Center, which provides comprehensive articles and resources on the principles and practices of implementing project-based learning.

Educators can explore project examples in the NTN Help Center to gain inspiration and practical insights into designing and implementing PBL projects that align with their curriculum and student needs.

Educators can start with the article “ What are the basic principles and practices of Project-Based Learning? Doing Projects vs. PBL . ” The image within the article clarifies the difference between the traditional education approach of “doing projects” and true project-based learning.

Project Launch

Students are introduced to a project by an Entry Event in the Project Launch (designated in purple on the image) this project component typically requires students to take on a role beyond that of ‘student’ or ‘learner’. This occurs either by placing students in a scenario that has real world applications, in which they simulate tasks performed by adults and/or by requiring learners to address a challenge or problem facing a particular community group.

The Entry Event not only introduces students to a project but also serves as the “hook” that purposefully engages students in the launch of a project. The Entry Event is followed by the Need to Know process in which students name what they already know about a topic and the project ask and what they “need to know” in order to solve the problem named in the project. Next steps are created which support students as they complete the Project Launch phase of a project.

Scaffolding

Shown in the image in red, facilitators ensure students gain content knowledge and skills through ‘scaffolding’. Scaffolding is defined as temporary supports for students to build the skills and knowledge needed to create the final product. Similar to scaffolding in building construction, it is removed when these supports are no longer needed by students.

Scaffolding can take the form of a teacher providing support by hosting small group workshops, students engaging in independent research or groups completing learner-centered activities, lab investigations, formative assessments and more.

Benchmarks (seen in orange in the image) can be checks for understanding that allow educators to give feedback on student work and/or checks to ensure students are progressing in the project as a team. After each benchmark, students should be given time to reflect on their individual goals as well as their team goals. Benchmarks are designed to build on each other to support project teams towards the culminating product at the end of the project.

NTN’s Help Center also provides resources on what effective teaching and learning look like within the context of project-based learning. The article “ What does effective teaching and learning look like? ” outlines the key elements of a successful project-based learning classroom, emphasizing learner-centered learning, collaborative work, and authentic assessments. 

Educators can refer to this resource to gain insights into best practices, instructional strategies, and classroom management techniques that foster an engaging and effective project-based learning environment.

From understanding the principles and practices of PBL to accessing examples of a particular project, evaluating project quality, and exploring effective teaching and learning strategies, educators can leverage these resources to enhance their PBL instruction and create meaningful learning experiences for their students.

Preparing Students for the Future with PBL

The power of PBL is the way in which it encourages students to think critically, collaborate, and sharpen communication skills, which are all highly sought-after in today’s rapidly evolving workforce. By engaging in authentic, real-world projects, and collaborating with business and community leaders and community members, students develop the ability to tackle complex problems, think creatively, and adapt to changing circumstances.

These skills are essential in preparing students for the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the future job market, where flexibility, innovation, and adaptability are paramount. 

“Joining New Tech Network provides us an opportunity to reframe many things about the school, not just PBL,” said Bay City Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Patrick Malley. “Eliminating the deficit mindset about kids is the first step to establishing a culture that makes sure everyone in that school is focused on next-level readiness for these kids.”

The New Tech Network Learning Outcomes align with the qualities companies are looking for in new hires: Knowledge and Thinking, Oral Communication, Written Communication, Collaboration and Agency.

NTN schools prioritize equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge to pursue postsecondary education or training successfully. By integrating college readiness and career readiness into the fabric of PBL, NTN ensures that students develop the academic, technical, and professional skills needed for future success. 

Through authentic projects, students learn to engage in research, analysis, and presentation of their work, mirroring the expectations and demands of postsecondary education and the workplace. NTN’s commitment to college and career readiness ensures that students are well-prepared to transition seamlessly into higher education or enter the workforce with the skills and confidence to excel in their chosen paths.

The Impact of PBL on College and Career Readiness

PBL has a profound impact on college and career readiness. Numerous studies document the academic benefits for students, including performance in AP courses, SAT/ACT tests, and state exams (see  Deutscher et al, 2021 ;  Duke et al, 2020 ;  Krajick et al, 2022 ;  Harris et al, 2015 ). New Tech Network schools demonstrate higher graduation rates and college persistence rates than the national average as outlined in the  New Tech Network 2022 Impact Report . Over 95% of NTN graduates reported feeling prepared for the expectations and demands of college. 

Practices that Support Equitable College Access and Readiness

According to  a literature review conducted by New York University’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools  ( Perez et al, 2021 ) classroom level, school level, and district level practices can be implemented to create more equitable college access and readiness and these recommendations align with many of the practices built into the the NTN model, including culturally sustaining instructional approaches, foundational literacy, positive student-teacher relationships, and developing shared asset-based mindsets.

About New Tech Network

New Tech Network is committed to meeting schools and districts where they are and helping them achieve their vision of student success. For a full list of our additional paths to impact or to speak with someone about how the NTN Model can make an impact in your district, please send an email to  [email protected] .

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What Is Project-Based Learning?

Project-based learning is the student-centered process of learning through the design, development, and completion of projects.

Project-Based Learning? A Definition.

by Terry Heick

In one sentence, project-based learning (PBL) is the process of learning through projects.

To be a bit more specific, PBL is the process of learning through the design, development, and completion of projects.

It can be useful to think of it in terms of what it’s not– The Difference Between Projects And Project-Based Learning , for example. PBL is not completing projects or it’d be called ‘Learning-Based Projects’–or just ‘projects.’ In quality PBL, the goal is learning and the projects help facilitate that learning. That is, projects act as vehicles.

PBL depends on background knowledge, learner choice, technology tools, support from others, and dozens of other factors that result in a process of learning that produces very different results and ‘projects’

In 3 Types Of Project-Based Learning , we gave a definition for project-based learning that we’re using as a basis to push the idea a bit further.

Characteristics Of Project-Based Learning

What are the characteristics of PBL? According to Joseph S. Krajcik and Phyllis C. Blumenfeld in The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (2006)–who quote the research of Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Krajcik, et al., 1994; Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 2002)–PBL experiences:

“They start with a driving question, a problem to be solved.

Students explore the driving question by participating in authentic, situated inquiry – processes of problem-solving that are central to expert performance in the discipline. As students explore the driving question, they learn and apply important ideas in the discipline.

Students, teachers, and community members engage in collaborative activities to find solutions to the driving question. This mirrors the complex social situation of expert problem-solving.

While engaged in the inquiry process, students are scaffolding with learning technologies that help them participate in activities normally beyond their ability.

Students create a set of tangible products that address the driving question. These are shared artifacts, publicly accessible external representations of the class’s learning.”

Benefits Of Project-Based Learning

• Requires critical thinking (e.g., design, evaluation, analysis, judgment, prioritizing, etc.). This is in contrast to other forms of learning that hope to ‘promote’ critical thinking but can be accomplished without it.
• Driven by inquiry
• Combines knowledge and competencies/skills
• Illuminates learning as iterative and recursive (as opposed to learn–>study–>assess–>move on)
• Student-Centered
• Unifies other disparate skills
• Easy to align with standards

Teaching Through Project-Based Learning

From a teacher’s perspective, Project-Based Learning is a method of structuring curriculum around projects to promote learning of prioritized academic content. These projects highlight the process of learning itself by offering authentic, inquiry-based activities for learners to access content, share ideas, and revisit their own thinking.

At the risk of becoming redundant, return again to the difference between projects and project-based learning–primarily that Project-Based Learning is about the process , and projects are about the product that comes at the end. 

Project-Based Learning often requires students not simply to collect resources, organize work, and manage long-term activities, but also to collaborate, design, revise, and share their ideas and experiences with authentic audiences and supportive peer groups in the classroom, or within physical and digital communities the student is a member of and contributes to.

Founder & Director of TeachThought

What is Project-Based Learning?

Sources: " "Learning from Teaching: Exploring the Relationship between Reform Curriculum and Equity" ( Journal for Research in Mathematics Education , 2002); "Doing with Understanding: Lessons from Research on Problem- and Project-Based Learning" ( The Journal of the Learning Sciences , 1998); “ "Effect of Problem-Based Learning on Knowledge Acquisition, Knowledge Retention, and Critical Thinking Ability of Agriculture Students in Urban Schools" (University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007); "Learning, Beliefs, and Products: Students' Perspectives with Project-based Learning " ( Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning , 2011)

“Intelligence is exhibited in so many different ways,” teacher Simon Hauger told FRONTLINE in Fast Times at West Philly High . “Students need to be engaged in different ways.”

Project-Based Learning (PBL) tries to tackle that. It’s an alternative approach to education that encourages students to seek solutions to challenging and relevant problems — and bridge the gap between school and the real world.

How It Works

There is no single approach for implementing PBL in the classroom. All projects vary and so can the methods for student evaluations and grading. But the main goal is to create rigorous challenges designed to promote critical thinking. Teachers then track the students’ progress.

Some other key characteristics:

• The instructor and students come up with complex problems that are applicable to real-world issues. (What’s one way to address the housing blight in our city? How can we persuade residents to use energy-efficient light bulbs?)
• The teachers act as facilitators, laying down the initial framework for the project, establishing project guidelines and evaluating the students throughout the processes.
• Working in groups, students brainstorm solutions.
• Grades are determined by overall student performance and the quality of the final projects. Instructors will look at the student’s teamwork, individual contribution, understanding of concepts and realization of the project. There are no single solutions or answers — though some are better than others.

Where It Came From

Early foundational theories of PBL date back nearly a century ago. Philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey proposed the learning-by-doing method. The 20th century Italian educator and physician Maria Montessori suggested that in a well-fostered and prepared environment, children are able to teach themselves, and self-direct their learning.

Nearly a half-century later, in the 1960s, what we now know as PBL was formally developed. It was first introduced at McMaster University in Canada and became a standard practice in medical education. By the 1980s and ’90s, the practice was adapted in some K-12 schools.

Is It Successful?

Few studies have measured the effect of a PBL curriculum on students’ successes, since the method is so broad. But some of the most widely cited studies on PBL suggest that the approach does work.

A study by Stanford professor Jo Boaler (2002) compared the academic achievement of students in mathematics over the course of three years.  The findings revealed that students who went to schools that used PBL outperformed students who went to traditional schools.

A second popular study by Stanford’s Brigid J.S. Barron and others at Vanderbilt University’s Learning Technology Center (1998) tested students working collaboratively using a PBL method to develop a series of video simulations. A control group developed a second series of video simulations using traditional methods of learning.  The students using PBL scored higher in problem solving and planning than the control group.

What Are the Limitations?

Critics say students lack the knowledge to understand the concepts behind a given project, and that independent research can give students a false sense of understanding.

One survey of undergraduate students who took a project-based learning course found that some found the challenge overwhelming. First-time students struggle to identify what they need to know in order to solve problems.

Who’s Doing It?

While there’s no exact number, Boaler says that few schools in America — perhaps around 1 percent — employ project-based learning on a wide scale.”This makes sense given teachers’ experiences and the pressure from the state standards they have had to use in recent years,” she told FRONTLINE over email.

There are some, however who’ve bucked this trend.

An early adopter, California’s Buck Institute for Education , began in employing and promoting PBL in the mid-90s. Another California school, New Tech High School in Napa, Calif., started around the same time and, to date , has “graduated 1091 students, sending them to an impressive list of top colleges and internships with nearby Silicon Valley companies.”

Founded in 2000 as a charter school in San Diego,  High Tech High  has since expanded into a K-12 program focused on project-based learning. Students have constructed functional robots to enter in competitions, produced a bilingual cookbook, wrote, directed and performed in a historical drama to understand the Vietnam War, and constructed museum displays to demonstrate centrifugal force and the concept of pitch.

As for West Philly’s Simon Hauger , the engineer-turned-teacher started a new program last year for high-school students centered around project-based learning.  The Sustainability Workshop  is a pilot program linked to the Philadelphia school district, based on the idea that kids learn best when they’re interested in what’s being taught.

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Project-Based Learning

This teaching guide explores the different types of project-based learning (PBL), its benefits, and tips for implementation in your classes.

Introduction

Project-based learning (PBL) involves students designing, developing, and constructing hands-on solutions to a problem. The educational value of PBL is that it aims to build students’ creative capacity to work through difficult or ill-structured problems, commonly in small teams. Typically, PBL takes students through the following phases or steps:

• Identifying a problem
• Agreeing on or devising a solution and potential solution path to the problem (i.e., how to achieve the solution)
• Designing and developing a prototype of the solution
• Refining the solution based on feedback from experts, instructors, and/or peers

Depending on the goals of the instructor, the size and scope of the project can vary greatly. Students may complete the four phases listed above over the course of many weeks, or even several times within a single class period.

Because of its focus on creativity and collaboration, PBL is enhanced when students experience opportunities to work across disciplines, employ technologies to make communication and product realization more efficient, or to design solutions to real-world problems posed by outside organizations or corporations. Projects do not need to be highly complex for students to benefit from PBL techniques. Often times, quick and simple projects are enough to provide students with valuable opportunities to make connections across content and practice.

Implementing project-based learning

As a pedagogical approach, PBL entails several key processes:

• Defining problems in terms of given constraints or challenges
• Generating multiple ideas to solve a  given problem
• Prototyping — often in rapid iteration — potential solutions to a problem
• Testing the developed solution products or services in a “live” or authentic setting.

Defining the problem

PBL projects should start with students asking questions about a problem. What is the nature of problem they are trying to solve? What assumptions can they make about why the problem exists? Asking such questions will help students frame the problem in an appropriate context. If students are working on a real-world problem, it is important to consider how an end user will benefit from a solution.

Generating ideas

Next, students should be given the opportunity to brainstorm and discuss their ideas for solving the problem. The emphasis here is not to generate necessarily good ideas, but to generate many ideas. As such, brainstorming should encourage students to think wildly, but to stay focused on the problem. Setting guidelines for brainstorming sessions, such as giving everyone a chance to voice an idea, suspending judgement of others’ ideas, and building on the ideas of others will help make brainstorming a productive and generative exercise.

Prototyping solutions

Designing and prototyping a solution are typically the next phase of the PBL process. A prototype might take many forms: a mock-up, a storyboard, a role-play, or even an object made out of readily available materials such as pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and rubber bands. The purpose of prototyping is to expand upon the ideas generated during the brainstorming phase, and to quickly convey a how a solution to the problem might look and feel. Prototypes can often expose learners’ assumptions, as well as uncover unforeseen challenges that an end user of the solution might encounter. The focus on creating simple prototypes also means that students can iterate on their designs quickly and easily, incorporate feedback into their designs, and continually hone their problem solutions.

Students may then go about taking their prototypes to the next level of design: testing. Ideally, testing takes place in a “live” setting. Testing allows students to glean how well their products or services work in a real setting. The results of testing can provide students with important feedback on the their solutions, and generate new questions to consider. Did the solution work as planned? If not, what needs to be tweaked? In this way, testing engages students in critical thinking and reflection processes.

Unstructured versus structured projects

Research suggests that students learn more from working on unstructured or ill-structured projects than they do on highly structured ones. Unstructured projects are sometimes referred to as “open ended,” because they have no predictable or prescribed solution. In this way, open ended projects require students to consider assumptions and constraints, as well as to frame the problem they are trying to solve. Unstructured projects thus require students to do their own “structuring” of the problem at hand – a process that has been shown to enhance students’ abilities to transfer learning to other problem solving contexts.

Using Design Thinking in Higher Education (Educause)

Design Thinking and Innovation (GSM SI 839)

Project Based Learning through a Maker’s Lens (Edutopia)

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• Project-Based Learning: An In-Depth Look

Learn all about project-based learning, from its definition and history to its key benefits and how to use it in the classroom.

In recent years, project-based learning (PBL) has become an increasingly popular teaching approach at Saint Peters University Online and in classrooms around the world. This project-based teaching strategy is based on the belief that students learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning process and when they can apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems, such as GCSE Biology tutoring or project-based A level chemistry help . Additionally, our online physics tutors also utilize this approach to provide project-based learning opportunities for students. While there have been numerous studies examining the efficacy of project-based learning, there is still much to learn about this teaching method, especially in terms of its implications for sociology at Saint Peter's University Online.

University tutors at Saint Peter's University Online can play a key role in this process, providing invaluable guidance and support to students as they engage in project-based learning, helping them to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, including those related to a level maths solutions. Additionally, private online tutors can be a great resource for those looking to study coding with a private online tutor .For those looking for the best online tutoring site to help with their project-based learning, university tutors can provide the best support and guidance. For those looking for the best online tutoring site to get help with project-based learning, university tutors can be a great resource. For those seeking the best online tutoring site for project-based learning, university tutors can provide invaluable assistance and support. For those looking for the best online tutoring site to help them with their project-based learning, university tutors can be an excellent resource. For those looking for more specialized tutoring, private online GCSE Physics tutoring can be a great resource for students who need extra help in their studies. Additionally, for those looking to prepare for Oxbridge college tests, a comprehensive Oxbridge college test preparation guide can be a great resource. In this article, we will take an in-depth look at project-based learning and discuss the benefits it has to offer both students and educators from a sociological perspective. Additionally, this approach can be particularly beneficial for those preparing for entrance tests such as the Guide to Oxbridge entrance tests or for those enrolled in Saint Peter's University Online. It also encourages collaboration among students, fostering a sense of community and responsibility. Additionally, PBL can be adapted to fit different learning styles and needs, allowing for a more personalized approach to instruction. We will explore the history of project-based learning, the benefits it offers, and the strategies teachers can use to implement it in their classrooms.

Project-Based Learning (PBL):

Key benefits:, challenges:, strategies for overcoming challenges:, creating a successful project-based learning lesson plan:, types of projects:, using technology:, challenges of project-based learning, lack of resources, student motivation, using technology for project-based learning.

Online collaboration tools can be used to help students work together on projects from different locations. This can help to foster collaboration and promote teamwork among students, allowing them to share ideas and get feedback from each other. Tools such as Google Docs, Trello, and Slack are all popular tools for collaborating on projects. Virtual reality can be used to create immersive experiences in the classroom.

Students can explore virtual environments, observe and interact with objects, and learn about topics in a more engaging way. For example, virtual field trips can be used to teach students about history, culture, or geography in an interactive way. Technology can also be used to facilitate research. Students can use the Internet to access a wealth of information, making it easier for them to find reliable sources and conduct research on any given topic.

Search engines like Google are great tools for finding information quickly and efficiently. In addition, technology can be used to provide feedback on student work. For example, teachers can use video or audio recordings of student presentations as a teaching tool, allowing them to see how students are performing and identify areas of improvement. By using technology in the classroom, teachers can create an engaging learning environment that is tailored to their students’ individual needs.

Benefits of Project-Based Learning

Improved critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, self-direction, what is project-based learning.

In PBL, students are motivated to build knowledge and skills by working on meaningful tasks that draw on multiple subject areas, and they learn by doing. PBL has been used in classrooms for centuries, but its modern form began to emerge in the late 20th century as educators sought to develop more active learning strategies. Some of the earliest examples of PBL involved students being asked to build structures such as bridges or houses, or to design experiments or simulations in the sciences. At the heart of PBL are three key components: the challenge, the process, and the product.

The challenge is the problem or question that the students must answer or solve. The process involves the steps that students take to work through the challenge. This can include research, planning, designing, and creating. Finally, the product is the outcome of their work, which can range from a presentation or paper to a prototype or model.

Creating a Successful Project-Based Learning Lesson Plan

An engaging topic that is relevant to their lives can help students become more invested in the project. It is also important to ensure that the topic is age-appropriate and will not present any safety risks. Once a topic is selected, it is important to set clear goals for the lesson. Goals should be specific and measurable, such as “Students will be able to explain the process of photosynthesis by the end of the project.” This will help keep students on track as they work on their projects. After setting goals, teachers should create tasks that will help students reach those goals.

Tasks should be broken down into manageable steps and can include activities like research, writing, or creating presentations. Teachers should also provide resources and materials that students may need to complete the tasks. In addition to tasks, teachers should assign roles to each student. Roles could include things like research coordinator or group leader. Assigning roles helps foster teamwork and allows each student to contribute in different ways. Finally, it is important to provide feedback throughout the project.

Types of Projects for Project-Based Learning

Research projects:, problem-solving projects:, artistic projects:, simulations:.

Through simulations, students can role-play different characters or scenarios related to the subject they are studying. For example, a student studying the French Revolution could role-play as a member of the court during the Reign of Terror. Simulations help students gain a better understanding of how certain events unfolded and why they happened. Project-based learning is a teaching method that encourages students to explore and understand a subject in depth. It offers a variety of benefits, including enhanced engagement and critical thinking, as well as increased collaboration and problem solving .

Additionally, it enables teachers to design creative, engaging projects that can be tailored to the needs and interests of their students. However, it is important to consider the challenges of project-based learning, such as lack of structure and organization, and plan accordingly. By creating a successful project-based learning lesson plan, incorporating technology when appropriate, and selecting the right type of project for the lesson, teachers can help ensure that their students have a successful experience. For more information on project-based learning, there are many online resources available.

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Shahid Lakha

Shahid Lakha is a seasoned educational consultant with a rich history in the independent education sector and EdTech. With a solid background in Physics, Shahid has cultivated a career that spans tutoring, consulting, and entrepreneurship. As an Educational Consultant at Spires Online Tutoring since October 2016, he has been instrumental in fostering educational excellence in the online tutoring space. Shahid is also the founder and director of Specialist Science Tutors, a tutoring agency based in West London, where he has successfully managed various facets of the business, including marketing, web design, and client relationships. His dedication to education is further evidenced by his role as a self-employed tutor, where he has been teaching Maths, Physics, and Engineering to students up to university level since September 2011. Shahid holds a Master of Science in Photon Science from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Bath.

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Implementing the Project Approach in an Inclusive Classroom: A Teacher’s First Attempt With Project-Based Learning (Voices)

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Thoughts on the Article | Barbara A. Henderson,  Voices  Executive Editor

Stacey Alfonso was teaching in an inclusion preschool in New York City, serving children with a range of special learning and developmental differences when she conducted this research. As she strove to embrace the child-centered inquiry that is at the heart of the project approach, she struggled with general expectations within her school culture that curriculum and instruction be teacher directed instead of cocreated with the children. Her teacher research makes a valuable contribution to the literature because she provides clear and believable examples of how the project approach worked for the children with special needs and examples of the challenges she faced due to the newness of her approach, her lack of mentors, and the varied learning strengths of the children. Stacey is especially effective in communicating the voices and work products of the children, showing how they are fully capable and eager to undertake inquiry and direct their own learning. Her trust in the children and her joy at their discoveries provided a turning point in her career that informs her current teaching in a forest school.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during my years teaching in an inclusive prekindergarten classroom was differentiating instruction. I was constantly searching for methods to engage all children because their wide range of abilities and needs required me to offer varied outlets for learning. My school held to a theme-based curriculum with a strong backbone of structure that guided classroom activities and children’s learning. I held to this approach as well, until, as I gained experience as an educator and learned more about child development, I began to question what I was doing and to seek alternative methods.

I wanted the children in my classroom to be motivated, authentically engaged, and excited to learn. I wanted them to take hold of their learning and drive their own experiences. The children were learning; still, I felt that their experiences should be more personal than I had been able to provide using a teacher-derived curriculum. I thought this could be best accomplished in an open-ended environment where children are free to explore and follow their interests. But how could this be done within my school’s current approach? I found my answer when I discovered the project approach.

The literature I read presented a pedagogy that would motivate and engage children with a diverse range of abilities, allowing them the freedom to explore their own interests, yet still provide enough structure to fit into my school’s current culture (Harris & Gleim 2008; Beneke & Ostrosky 2009; Katz, Chard, & Kogen 2014). My research question for this study was, How can I implement the project approach in my inclusive classroom in a preschool that has a history of structured, teacher-driven curriculum?

Review of literature

John Dewey was among the first to suggest that an ideal way for children to learn is by planning their own activities and implementing those plans, thereby providing opportunities for multilevel instruction, cooperative learning, peer support, and individualized learning (Harris & Gleim 2008). Today, many teachers find that project-based learning meets Dewey’s goals (Beneke & Ostrosky 2009; Yuen 2009; Brewer 2010). Overall, the project approach is viewed as empowering to children because they are active participants in shaping their own learning (Harris & Gleim 2008; Harte 2010; Helm & Katz 2011)

The project approach: A brief overview

The project approach seemed to be a good fit with my goal of finding a new way to engage and intrinsically motivate the children in my classroom, while meeting a wide range of needs. My research also suggested this approach would produce a well-organized curriculum that was straightforward to implement. The project approach involves children’s in-depth investigation of a worthwhile topic developed through authentic questions (Mitchell et al. 2009; Katz & Chard 2013). The teacher’s role is to support children through their inquiry. Teachers help children become responsible for their work, guide them to document and report their findings, and provide opportunities for choice (Katz & Chard 2013; Katz, Chard, & Kogen 2014).

I was encouraged that the project approach uses a specific three-phase design, because this structure seemed compatible with my school’s culture. During phase one,  selecting a topic , teachers build common experiences by talking with children about their personal experiences to determine interests and helping children articulate specific questions as a topic emerges (Mitchell et al. 2009; Yuen 2010; Helm & Katz 2011; Katz & Chard 2013).

Phase two,  data collection , emphasizes meaningful hands-on experiences. Children are researchers, gaining new information as they collect data to answer their questions. This phase is the bulk of the project investigation and takes place through direct and authentic experiences such as field trips, events, and interviews with visiting experts (Harte 2010; Katz & Chard 2013). Children can also gather data through secondary sources, including books, photos, videos, and websites.

Phase three,  the culminating event , is a time to conclude the experience, usually through a summarizing event or activity (Mitchell et al. 2009). The children’s role continues to be central and the class often holds discussions on what they have learned to create a plan to share their insights (Harte 2010).

Methodology and research design

After reading extensively about the project approach, I felt ready to implement it in my classroom.

Setting and participants

I conducted my study in a small private preschool on the Upper West Side in New York City. The school has a decades-long history in the neighborhood, and families have come to trust and love the educators there. The school’s traditional curricular model of teacher-driven, thematic-based learning is well established and, as far as I know, had not been previously challenged or adapted.

Study participants included 13 pre-K children, my two coteachers, and myself. The children had a diverse range of abilities. Seven children had significant sensory processing issues, two had severe cognitive and language delays, and four had mild language delays and/or mild sensory processing issues. Most children who enroll at the school can attend and participate independently, although some require one-on-one support with a therapist.

Data collection and analysis

Throughout the study, I collected and analyzed data through field notes, a reflective journal, children’s work, and anecdotal records that included photos, videos, and audio recordings. My primary source of data was field notes, which I used to provide a day-to-day recollection of how the project-based curriculum affected the children. The Teacher Notes app on the iPad and iPhone helped me collect and analyze the field notes. I kept project planning journals using a notebook and the Evernote app on my iPad. The software provided me with flexibility because it was accessible via iPad, iPhone, and computer; therefore, I was able to take ample notes and continually reflect upon my plans and implementation.

Helping children understand that they could find answers to their questions made a difference.

I collected work samples from the children—their writing, drawing, and artwork. The samples helped me assess children’s progress, and they became an additional source for documenting the growth in children’s participation throughout the project. Finally, I used videos, audio recordings, and photographs to document children in the process of working.

At least weekly, I read and reflected on my field notes to identify emerging themes. At least twice a week during prep time, I reflected on my Evernote journal to help with planning. Additionally, I continually reviewed and organized children’s work using Teacher Notes and listened to and watched audio and video recordings as they accrued, noting themes such as children using research terms or working independently to find answers to their questions.

Organizing and maintaining this ongoing analysis helped tremendously with my summative data analysis. Using Teacher Notes ,  I pulled up applicable field notes and data sources in many different arrangements. I then printed and sorted the notes by hand, which provided me with a means of discovering the themes that best captured the scope of my findings.

As I had hoped, I saw the children happily engaged and enthusiastic about learning as we developed our project—a study of the neighborhood. However, the journey also came with challenges and surprises not recorded in the literature I had reviewed. My findings are organized into three themes: (1) children as researchers, (2) learning and growing through research, and (3) challenges with the culminating event.

Children as researchers

To allow the children to get to know their new school and to provide some practice with research skills, we began the school year with a mini teacher-initiated project about the school before starting our child-initiated project. My coteachers and I introduced the words  research  and  investigate . Soon, the children adopted this new vocabulary. For example, a question about our school kitchen led a child to excitedly report, “I investigated the kitchen, and I found ice cream!”

The children responded well to my intentional efforts to honor their questions, including those that were not directly related to the project content. For example, shortly after starting our neighborhood project, a group was working on a craft using glue sticks. One girl asked, “Why are there lines on this glue stick?” I took her question seriously and responded, “I don’t know, let’s find out.” She was completely engaged from that moment, and we made a plan to research her question. We decided to open her glue stick and look inside. She hadn’t expected me to embrace her question, much less suggest a firsthand experience of discovery in which I allowed the destruction of the glue stick to honor her curiosity.

After a couple weeks, I found that children started to use the research vocabulary and inquiry approaches more independently. For example, we read a book and then discussed the similarities and differences between our neighborhood and the one in the story. One girl stated, “We don’t have a Laundromat, I think. We don’t have it here because my mommy does it at home.” Another girl disagreed. Then a third child said, “We can take a walk and look.” I was elated to find the children’s independent conversations included a foundation of inquiry. The emphasis we had placed on helping children understand that they themselves could find answers to their questions had already made a difference.

In addition to finding answers from firsthand experience, the children learned that they could find answers from books. They initially needed guidance and leading questions to help them locate secondary sources, but their abilities developed over time. For example, the children wondered what vehicles were in the neighborhood. So in mid-September, a group of children sat in a park and tallied vehicles, including cars, taxis, buses, bicycles, trucks, and ambulances. Upon returning from this research endeavor, a child wanted to build a bus from clay. Without teacher prompting, a friend went to the bookshelf to get a book that depicted a bus. They looked at the book together to understand the parts of a bus and then recreated them with clay. This shift was important, as it was becoming clear that children were conducting a form of research and doing so independently. Indeed, beginning in September, research had already become an important part of our classroom, and the children’s skills and range of approaches grew throughout the fall. 

Learning and growing through research

One instance in which this inquiry was evident occurred when two girls independently extended an activity to create a large drawing of our neighborhood. The children’s initial goal was to determine whether the neighborhood contained things like signs, fire hydrants, specific businesses, and trees, and we were able to verify those questions on one of our walks. After the walk, the class collectively summarized what we had found by completing our previously created checklist. When I made the list available so the children could add drawings of things they had seen on our walk that were not included on their list, the two girls took this activity to the next level. They began making little drawings on the chart, and then, realizing they were going for something bigger, they turned the paper over to “draw our neighborhood.”

Another example came from the children’s growing interest in the metal scaffolding they observed around buildings. After an earlier walk during which we saw a building surrounded with scaffolding, one boy returned to the classroom and enthusiastically drew a picture of the “worker building.” On our next walk, we paid close attention to the scaffolding and encouraged the children to touch and explore it closely. The next day, the same child who had drawn the worker building created buildings with scaffolding all around themin the block area. He talked with a peer as they built collaboratively, and they both incorporated the new word  scaffolding  correctly. They balanced the blocks and talked about symmetry as they completed their structure. Weeks later, when we discussed how to make a model of our neighborhood for our culminating event to showcase what we had learned, the children noted that we would need scaffolding because “we have a lot of it.”

I found that the active, hands-on experiences common to the project approach also helped some children stay on task. One child had a great deal of enthusiasm and eagerness to participate, but it was challenging for him to contribute successfully and stay focused in the classroom. This boy loved our research walks through the neighborhood; he was able to stay on topic as we discussed the buildings while he was touching and looking at them. For example, he made many on-topic contributions to conversations as we peered into store windows. Later, he was even able to produce a drawing of the school, saying, “This is our school. There is a top and a door and a window.” The drawing was one of the most detailed he had ever created, and he completed it right after we had investigated the building in which our school is located.

Challenges with the culminating event

Throughout our study, the children showed excitement as we went on our research walks, and they were consistently focused and serious when working in the classroom. It became clear, however, that we should begin to wrap up the neighborhood study when, in late October, the children’s interests shifted toward leaves and a nearby field where they could run through the accumulating piles. They were less excited about investigating our neighborhood, and I knew that to keep true to the project approach, we needed to conclude our study and share what the class had collectively learned (phase three). However, the culminating event presented some major difficulties I had not anticipated.

When I suggested to the children that we conclude our project, they showed little to no interest. Forging onward, I began a class discussion by saying, “We learned so much about our neighborhood, it would be wonderful to share this with the other class, the administration, and even your parents.” When I asked for ideas, I received a carpet full of blank stares. One girl responded, “I don’t know.” When I mentioned that parents would love to learn what we had been doing, another child responded by talking about his family. Finally, after much teacher prompting, we decided to build a model of our neighborhood and have the children’s families come in to see it.

The next day I held a short planning meeting with the children to figure out how we could build our neighborhood. I brought out materials for them to consider, including pipe cleaners, paper plates, straws, streamers, boxes, and drawing materials. I hoped that the variety would give them something concrete to work with to ignite their ideas, but the lesson felt forced, and the children were not authentically engaged. One child said, “We need a lot of buildings,” yet could not generate suggestions for how to make them. A girl noted we needed to make bicycles, which we had seen and talked about during discussions about vehicles in the neighborhood. When I asked her how we should make them, she said that we should draw them, and this then became her default response for how we should represent all aspects of the neighborhood. It was also hard for the children to focus on the idea of the culminating plan. For example, one boy spoke only about the dinosaur bones we had seen at the American Museum of Natural History.

Later in the week, I began working one-on-one and in small groups with the children to expand on and execute some of their admittedly sketchy plans for our neighborhood display. One boy told us we needed trees in the neighborhood. After talking one-on-one about trees, we made a plan to create trees by using paper towel rolls for the trunks and tissue paper for the leaves. With support, he was able to successfully and proudly participate in constructing the trees.

Working mostly in small groups throughout the week, we ended up with a complete and attractive neighborhood model built inside one of the sensory tables. Our end product was nice, but the process was not authentic because it required so much teacher direction.

According to project approach literature, the culmination is a time for the children to be creative and involved in the planning process (Harte 2010; Katz & Chard 2013). I had read about many successful culminating events, so why was the conclusion of the project so difficult for us? Perhaps I had waited too long. By the time I realized we should plan our culminating activity, the children’s interest in the neighborhood project had already faded. Maybe the idea of a culminating event was too abstract for this group, particularly since I was the first in the school to try the project approach. We were without examples—either as displays or as events that the children might have experienced. Although my underlying assumption is that these children are competent and capable, I wondered how the mix of children’s abilities in this inclusion class might have made the student-initiated planning of a coordinated final event harder than I expected.

Ultimately, I realized that they had accomplished many complex tasks during the project. Between the group of children I taught that year, myself as a novice with the project approach, and whatever other factors played into our difficulty at the end of the project, the planning and execution of the project’s culmination was challenging and a bit frustrating.

Discussion and recommendations

This teacher research study provides an example of a teacher attempting the project approach independently in a small pre-K inclusion setting, without formal training or support. I faced some resistance from the administration and doubt from colleagues because they were unsure whether this approach would be appropriate for some of the children with special needs in our care. The experience revealed to me that moving from a completely teacher-derived curriculum to an emergent curriculum such as the project approach is a big shift. The project approach can be very engaging for children, but it would have been helpful to have a mentor guide me through the difficulties and questions I faced.

Most of my experiences mirrored what I had come to understand about the topic. As the literature suggests (Beneke & Ostrosky 2009; Yuen 2009; Harte 2010), I saw the children get excited about learning, based on questions they were asking and topics that interested them. Also in line with the literature, the children showed strong motivation to conduct their own investigations to find answers. Further, I felt the project was an empowering experience for the children. When we used the children’s questions to ignite a study, or when we simply followed through on their questions and helped them find answers, they felt respected and proud. The children now know they have the power to find answers and conduct research. They know that not just teachers and other adults can answer real questions; they can, too.

Beneke, S., & M.M. Ostrosky. 2009. “Teachers’ Views of the Efficacy of Incorporating the Project Approach Into Classroom Practice With Diverse Learners.”  Early Childhood Research & Practice 11 (1).

Brewer, R.A. 2010. “The Canada Goose Project: A First Project With Children Under 3.”  Early Childhood Research & Practice  12 (1).

Harris, K.I., & L. Gleim. 2008. “The Light Fantastic: Making Learning Visible for All Children Through the Project Approach.”  Young Exceptional Children  11 (3): 27–40.

Harte, H.A. 2010. “The Project Approach: A Strategy for Inclusive Classrooms.”  Young Exceptional Children  13 (3): 15–27.

Helm, J.H., & L.G. Katz. 2011.  Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years.  2nd ed. Early Childhood Education Series. New York: Teachers College Press; Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Katz, L.G., & S.C. Chard. 2013. “The Project Approach: An Overview.” In  Approaches to Early Childhood Education , 6th ed., eds. J. Roopnarine & J.E. Johnson, 268–84. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Katz, L.G., S.C. Chard, & Y. Kogen. 2014.  Engaging Children’s Minds: The Project Approach . 3rd ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Mitchell, S., T.S. Foulger, K. Wetzel, & C. Rathkey. 2009. “The Negotiated Project Approach: Project-Based Learning Without Leaving the Standards Behind.”  Early Childhood   Education Journal  36 (4): 339–46.

Yuen, L.H. 2009. “From Foot to Shoes: Kindergartners’, Families’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of the Project Approach.”  Early Childhood Education Journal  37 (1): 23–33.

Yuen, L.H. 2010. “A Valuable Experience for Children: The Dim Sum and Chinese Restaurant Project.”  Early Childhood Research & Practice  12 (1): 23–31.

Voices of Practitioners: Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education , NAEYC’s online journal, is a vehicle for publishing teacher research.

Visit NAEYC.org/publications/vop to learn more about teacher research and to peruse an archive of Voice of Practitioners articles.

Photographs: 1 © iStock; 2, 3, courtesy of the author

Stacey Alfonso, MSEd, is a lead teacher at Fiddleheads Forest School, a completely outdoor nature-based preschool program in Seattle, Washington. Stacey continues to search for inquiry-based methods to teach young children and help them develop a love for learning.

Vol. 72, No. 1

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• Published: 06 January 2022

The key characteristics of project-based learning: how teachers implement projects in K-12 science education

• Anette Markula 1 &
• Maija Aksela   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9552-248X 1  

Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research volume  4 , Article number:  2 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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The aim of this multiple-case study was to research the key characteristics of project-based learning (PBL) and how teachers implement them within the context of science education. K-12 science teachers and their students’ videos, learning diaries and online questionnaire answers about their biology related PBL units, within the theme nature and environment, were analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis ( n  = 12 schools). The studied teachers are actively engaged in PBL as the schools had participated voluntarily in the international StarT programme of LUMA Centre Finland. The results indicate that PBL may specifically promote the use of collaboration, artefacts, technological tools, problem-centredness, and certain scientific practices, such as carrying out research, presenting results, and reflection within science education. However, it appeared that driving questions, learning goals set by students, students’ questions, the integrity of the project activities, and using the projects as a means to learn central content, may be more challenging to implement. Furthermore, although scientific practices had a strong role in the projects, it could not be defined how strongly student-led the inquiries were. The study also indicated that students and teachers may pay attention to different aspects of learning that happen through PBL. The results contribute towards a deeper understanding of the possibilities and challenges related to implementation of PBL and using scientific practices in classrooms. Furthermore, the results and the constructed framework of key characteristics can be useful in promoting research-based implementation and design of PBL science education, and in teacher training related to it.

Introduction

Project-based learning (PBL) can be a useful approach for promoting twenty-first century learning and skills in future-oriented K-12 science education. PBL refers to problem-oriented and student-centred learning that is organised around projects (Thomas, 2000 ). This means that the intended learning of new skills and content happens through the project that students carry out in groups (Condliffe et al., 2017 ; Parker et al., 2013 ; Thomas 2000 ). Thus , PBL can be described as a collaborative inquiry-based teaching method where students are integrating, applying and constructing their knowledge as they work together to create solutions to complex problems (Guo et al., 2020 ). It is important that students practice working like this at school, as future generations will need to be able to overcome global environmental problems. As such, science education has to equip students with deeper learning instead of simple memorising of facts; students need the ability to apply their scientific knowledge in situations requiring problem-solving and decision-making (Miller & Krajcik, 2019 ).

PBL relies on four significant ideas from learning sciences: learning is most effective when students (1) construct their understanding actively and (2) work collaboratively in (3) authentic learning environments, whilst being sufficiently scaffolded with (4) cognitive tools (Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ). Compared to traditional teacher-led instruction, PBL has been found to result in greater academic achievement (Chen & Yang, 2019 ; Balemen & Özer Keskin, 2018 ). Additionally, it has been shown to improve students’ skills in critical thinking and question-posing (Sasson et al., 2018 ). There is also some evidence that PBL might contribute to developing students’ intra- and interpersonal competencies (Kaldi et al., 2011 ).

Within science and technology education, one of the key benefits of PBL is arguably immersing students in using scientific practices, such as asking questions (Novak & Krajcik, 2020 ). Whilst various approaches can be taken to PBL, scientific practices are often considered as one of its key characteristics (see Table  1 for discussion about the key characteristics of PBL). The idea is that in PBL, students should participate in authentic research in which they use and construct their knowledge like scientists would (Novak & Krajcik, 2020 ). Using scientific practices has been found to contribute towards students’ engagement when learning science (Lavonen et al., 2017 ), and PBL does indeed appear to have a positive impact on students’ attitudes and motivation towards science and technology (Kortam et al., 2018 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ). PBL allows students to see and appreciate the connection between scientific practices and the real world, significance of learning, carrying out investigations and the open-endedness of the problems under investigation (Hasni et al., 2016 ).

Nevertheless, according to the review done by Condliffe et al. ( 2017 ), the efficacy of PBL in terms of student outcomes is not entirely clear. In a more recent review, however, Chen & Yang ( 2019 ) found more distinctive benefits to learning compared to previous studies. As they suggest, it may be that implementation of PBL has developed between 2000 and 2010, potentially owing to the better availability of training programmes and materials. Nonetheless, whilst Chen & Yang ( 2019 ) did find that PBL improves students’ academic achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), they also found that the positive effect of PBL appeared to be somewhat bigger in social sciences compared to STEM subjects. Additionally, the various distinctions between different researchers for what makes PBL different from other closely related instructional approaches, such as inquiry-based and problem-based learning, make it challenging to confidently determine exactly how effective PBL is as an instructional method (Condliffe et al., 2017 ).

However, PBL is supported by governments, researchers, and teachers in many countries (Novak & Krajcik, 2020 ; Condliffe et al., 2017 ; Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ; Annetta et al., 2019 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ) . Studies have found that teachers consider PBL as an approach that promotes both students’ and teachers’ learning and motivation, collaboration and a sense of community at school level, student-centred learning, connects theory with practice and brings versatility to teachers’ instruction (Viro et al., 2020 ; Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ). However, regardless of teachers’ enthusiasm towards PBL, they can still struggle with its implementation (Tamim & Grant, 2013 ). PBL is a challenging method to use in practice, as it requires a fundamental understanding of its pedagogical foundations (Han et al., 2015 ), and it appears that teachers tend to have limited and differing conceptions about PBL (Hasni et al., 2016 ). For example, PBL is often defined through its distinct characteristics (Hasni et al., 2016 ; Thomas, 2000 ), but these tend to be unknown to teachers (Tamim & Grant, 2013 ). What is more, research has indicated that in order for PBL to be implemented as it is described by researchers, teachers require training and multiple years of practice with it (Mentzer et al., 2017 ). In fact, students display greater learning gains when their teacher is experienced with PBL (Capraro et al., 2016 ; Han et al., 2015 ), and it appears that partial or incorrect implementation of PBL may even have negative consequences for students’ academic performance (Capraro et al., 2016 ; Erdoğan et al., 2016 ).

Both Viro et al. ( 2020 ) and Aksela & Haatainen ( 2019 ) found that according to STEM teachers, the most challenging aspects of implementing PBL are project organisation (for example, time management), technical issues, resources, student-related challenges and collaboration (Viro et al., 2020 ; Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ). As PBL requires students to study a certain phenomenon in detail by using scientific practices, it takes longer than more traditional approaches (Novak & Krajcik, 2020 ). Researchers have also reported that teachers consider irrelevance to subject teaching and an unfamiliar teaching style among the significant negative aspects of PBL (Viro et al., 2020 ). Implementation of PBL should focus on teaching twenty-first century skills, being student-centred, and building strong and personal interaction between students and teachers (Morrison et al., 2020 ). This requires both teachers and students to take on new roles. In PBL, teachers are often having to act simultaneously as designers, champions, facilitators and managers, and students are expected to be self-directed learners who are able to endure the ambiguity and open-endedness of PBL projects (Pan et al., 2020 ).

Despite the move towards student-centred approaches (for example, inquiry-based teaching) in many national curricula, such as in the United States (National Research Council, 2012 ), Finland (Lähdemäki, 2019 ) and throughout much of Europe (European Commission, 2007 ), there is a distinct lack of research about PBL that is initiated by teachers (Condliffe et al., 2017 ). There is very little research into how teachers understand and use PBL when they are not guided by university researchers, and the models they develop for its implementation (Hasni et al., 2016 ). It is also important to research what kinds of changes teachers make to PBL curricula to adapt them to their classes, and how this process could be supported (Condliffe et al., 2017 ). Often the reality in classrooms differs from the visions in curricula (Abd-El-Khalick et al., 2004 ), and simply reforming the science curricula does not mean that teachers understand how to implement the new concepts into their teaching (Severance & Krajcik, 2018 ). In order to gain a better understanding of how teachers implement PBL and the related possibilities and challenges in practice, and to promote the use of PBL in education, PBL units from K-12 schools were studied from the perspective of key characteristics of PBL. The studied schools were from several different countries and they all had participated in the international StarT programme ( https://start.luma.fi/en/ ) by LUMA Centre Finland (see ‘Participants’).

Key characteristics of PBL

Most projects done at schools are not considered to be PBL, as PBL is often defined more specifically through its distinct characteristics (Hasni et al., 2016 ; Thomas, 2000 ), also referred to as ‘design principles’ (Condliffe et al., 2017 ). However, there is still ambiguity among researchers about what the exact key characteristics or design principles of PBL are (Condliffe et al., 2017 ; Hasni et al., 2016 ). Krajcik & Shin ( 2014 ) propose the following six features as key characteristics of PBL: (1) driving question, (2) learning goals, (3) scientific practices, (4) collaboration, (5) using technological tools, and (6) creating an artefact. These characteristics, including their purpose and features, have been discussed based on the literature review in Table 1 .

In this study, the PBL units were researched by using the six key characteristics found in Table 1 as a framework (Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ). The categories in the content analysis (see Table  2 in ‘Methods’) were based on these characteristics. At the time of doing the analysis, the model proposed by Krajcik & Shin ( 2014 ) was the most recent and detailed description of the characteristics of PBL that allowed study into the quality of the PBL units in practice. Additionally, their framework is in line with the views of other authors who focused on the characteristics of PBL, including the recent systematic review by Hasni et al. ( 2016 ) into the characteristics of STEM PBL used by researchers, and with the reviews done by for example, Condliffe et al. ( 2017 ) and Thomas ( 2000 ). However, in order to study the quality of PBL units under each of the characteristics, the framework was developed further by using the most current literature. For example, the phases of inquiry-based learning (Pedaste et al., 2015 ) were used to study how scientific practices were carried out by the schools.

Most earlier science education studies have looked at teachers’ perceptions of PBL through questionnaires and interviews (Hasni et al., 2016 ), but this study analysed teachers and students’ reports of their projects in practice. Considering the widely recognised challenges in the implementation of PBL, and the shift in many national curricula towards PBL and similar approaches, there is an urgent need to understand how teachers are managing the change, and what kinds of models they are developing for the implementation of the new curricula in their classrooms. The aim of this study is to understand possibilities and challenges related to the implementation of PBL in practice through the key characteristics (Table 1 ). The detailed research questions are: (1) Which key characteristics of PBL do teachers implement in the projects? and (2) How do teachers implement these characteristics in practice?

This study was carried out as a multiple-case study (Yin, 2014 ) on schools that participated in the international StarT programme by LUMA Centre Finland from different countries. A multiple case study allows for comparison between the differences and similarities between the cases (Yin, 2014 ), and therefore to gain a preliminary idea of characteristics or issues that might be common across the schools. The PBL units of twelve K-12 schools were studied (see ‘Participants’ for further details on the selection criteria). The schools participated in the international StarT competition organised by LUMA Centre Finland ( https://start.luma.fi/en/ ) during the academic year of 2016–17 or 2017–18.

The StarT programme

StarT encourages teachers to share their best models for implementing PBL, and students to present the products and research they have done within their groups (StarT programme). The competition has two categories: teachers’ descriptions of the PBL units that were carried out by the schools (‘ best practices’ ), and ‘ students’ projects ’ that describe what individual student groups studied, created and learned during the school’s PBL unit. Each school was able to upload one entry to the teachers’ category, describing the implementation of the project unit from teachers’ perspective as a best practice for other schools, and an unlimited number of students’ projects related to this unit. As such, each ‘ student project ’ is part of the same PBL unit organised by the school, but it describes what one student group produced under the PBL unit implemented by the teachers. Depending on the school and how much freedom the students had in the PBL unit, the student groups might have had completely different research topics, or they might have just produced slightly different artefacts to the same problem.

To participate in each category, the schools needed to upload a three-minute-long video describing the best practice or the project and to answer questions on an online form. Additionally, student groups were required to upload a learning diary, the format of which could be freely chosen. As such, the schools had significant freedom in terms of what they wanted to report about their PBL units. At the time of the data collection, the participants did not receive any professional development training from StarT, but depending on how closely they followed the online channels of StarT, they had access to project ideas and videos from other participants via the programme website, and the programme also included voluntary webinars and newsletters. However, these materials were freely available to anyone on the internet, and participating in the competition did not require any other engagement with the StarT programme.

Content analysis

Deductive content analysis is suitable for research that aims to study an existing model or theory (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ). The key characteristics of PBL shown in Table 1 were used as a basis for the deductive and inductive content analysis, where it was determined which characteristics teachers implemented in the projects, and how they did this. In qualitative content analysis, data is analysed by reducing it to concepts that describe the studied phenomenon, for example, through pre-defined categories, whilst also acknowledging the themes rising from the data (Elo et al., 2014 ; Cohen et al., 2007 ). The final categories used in the deductive analysis, and discussion about decisions regarding them, can be seen in Table 2 . The data was looked at inductively within these categories (Marshall & Rossman, 2014 ). An example of the coding combining inductive and deductive content analysis is given in Table  3 .

The analysed materials ( n  = 12 project units and n  = 17 students’ projects; see details under ‘Participants’ and in Table  5 ) were written responses to questions on an online form, videos and learning diaries. The units considered in the analysis were words, sentences, and paragraphs from verbal communication. As the students’ projects were what individual student groups produced within the PBL unit of the school, all of the materials provided by an individual school were considered as an entity when studying how the school carried out PBL. Therefore, there was no differentiation between the source of the information (for example, learning diary or best practice video) but instead all materials from a single school were treated as equal evidence of how the characteristics of PBL were implemented (see Table 3 ). However, since two schools provided multiple student groups’ works as student projects, and there were differences in the approaches that different student groups took to carrying out their project work, also the number of student projects displaying each of the key characteristics is included in Table  6 under ‘Results’.

In order to see how the six key characteristics of PBL were distributed across the projects, the overall frequencies of characteristics displayed in a project unit (1 = present, 0 = not present) were counted. Table  4 displays the sections from the coding framework that were included in the frequency count. Each row in the second column was counted as ‘1’ if it was observed and as ‘0’ if it was not. Including these features in the frequency count allows a satisfactory picture of the distribution of the key characteristics across the studied schools to be drawn (See Fig.  1 and Table 6 ). Scientific practices are emphasised in the count due to their many subcategories, but this was deemed appropriate since they are a good indication of how inquiry-based and student-led the projects were. Learning goals and gains have a significant role too, but their role is similarly justified by their importance – they determine largely whether the projects have resulted in their intended purpose, learning. The results regarding the implementation and distribution of the key characteristics can be found under ‘Results’.

In order to improve the reliability and validity of the study, triangulation was employed (Turner et al., 2017 ) through the use of different types of materials as sources of information. This increases the reliability of studies looking at human behaviour (Cohen et al., 2007 ) and case studies (Yin, 2014 ), as that allows cues from different sources to be combined into a more representative image of a case (Baxter & Jack, 2008 ). Firstly, the materials consisted of three different types of media: written descriptions and answers to questions on an online form, videos, and a learning diary, the medium of which was not pre-defined for the participants. Secondly, the studied schools only consisted of learning communities that had participated in both the teacher category of StarT with a ‘best practice’ (a description of the PBL unit from teachers’ point of view) and the student category with at least one ‘student project’ (description of the work one student group did during the PBL unit). As such, this study includes the viewpoints of both teachers and students. Additionally, the results from coding were agreed upon by both of the authors.

Participants

The study analysed students’ projects and teachers’ best educational practices at K-12 school level ( n  = 12 project units and n  = 17 students’ projects; see Table 5 for details) that were implemented in 2016–2017 or 2017–2018. The projects were mostly ( n  = 9) created and implemented by teachers and students, and as such they reflect the reality of schools when it comes to implementing PBL. Only n  = 3 schools mentioned that they had participated in a (university-led) development programme. As such, the studied PBL units provide a plausible reflection of the reality of active teachers implementing PBL (see ‘Limitations’ for further discussion).

The studied PBL units within the theme ‘Nature and environment’ were chosen from the learning communities that participated in the international StarT programme in 2016–2017 and in 2017–2018. The other themes that the StarT participants could choose for their projects were ‘Technology around us’, ‘Mathematics around us’, ‘This works! A mobile toy’, ‘Stars and space’, ‘Well-being’, ‘Home, culture and internationality’. ‘Nature and environment’ was the most popular single theme during both years of data collection: n  = 132 learning communities from all n  = 277 learning communities indicated that they had done a project related to it in 2016–2017, and n  = 50 out of n  = 229 in 2017–2018. Whilst the studied projects focus on the theme ‘nature and environment’ in the context of biology education, the interdisciplinary nature of the theme makes the results largely applicable for other sciences. The decision to base the study on a single discipline was made in order to gain a more detailed understanding of the implications of STEM PBL for subject teaching; the case in this study focusing on teaching biology through PBL.

The first criteria in selecting the cases for this study was to include only PBL units implemented by K-12 school (ages 7 to 18). Additionally, only projects themed ‘Nature and environment’, where biology had a clear role, were included. Finally, only schools that had provided full sets of materials used in the analysis (written responses, videos and learning diaries) were included. Full sets of materials were required for both teachers’ descriptions of the PBL unit and students’ projects, either in English or Finnish (one school had to be excluded due to an insufficient level of English).

Table 5 presents participants and their school levels: 12 schools matched the criteria described above. In total, 12 project units and 17 students’ projects were analysed, with only two of the schools having provided more than one student project as a part of the project unit. 11 of the studied schools were from six different countries in Europe, and one school was from Southwest Asia. Schools D, E and F (Table 5 ) participated in the same PBL development programme implemented by a local university.

The participants gave permission for using their materials for research purposes upon their participation in StarT. However, as this study looks at the projects from an evaluative perspective, direct quotations or detailed descriptions of individual cases that could be used to identify the schools were not included.

The results for each of the research questions (see end of the chapter “Key characteristics of PBL”) will be presented separately.

(1) The key characteristics of PBL in the projects

The most frequently displayed key characteristics of PBL were collaboration, artefacts, technology, problem-centredness, and out of scientific practices, carrying out research, presenting results and reflection (see Table 6 for more detail). At least some form of collaboration (either between the students, between teachers or with outside partners) took place in all but one of the schools. Any interaction that the schools described as having taken place between different actors was considered as collaboration. Furthermore, technology was used as a part of the projects in all of the schools. Artefacts were also created in all of the studied projects. The results for each of the characteristics are summarised in Table 6 (research question 1), which also outlines how they were implemented (research question 2). As n  = 2 schools provided multiple projects by different student groups, the number of projects ( n  = 17) is higher than the number of schools ( n  = 12).

Regarding scientific practices that students participated in, presenting results (n = 12 schools), interpreting results ( n  = 11) and reflection ( n  = 10) were most commonly demonstrated. However, not all schools ( n  = 4) displayed clearly that students had done any research (such as searching for information, observation and collecting data). As testing hypotheses was not visible in any of the projects ( n  = 0), according to the definition of Pedaste et al. ( 2015 ), the research was considered as” exploration” ( n  = 8) instead of” experimentation” (n = 0). Only n = 4 schools included a mention of students having presented questions that had an impact on the course of the project or the investigations that were carried out.

Driving questions and learning goals were among the key characteristics that were not described well (Table 6 ). None of the twelve schools that were studied displayed evidence of having used a driving question in their projects. However, the majority of the schools (n = 8) did centre their projects around solving a single problem. According to PBL literature, this is not the same as having a driving question (see Table 1 for a more detailed description), but in the absence of driving questions it was considered useful to study whether the projects were at least centred around solving a single problem. Learning goals (goals with a reference to students’ development) were also not that commonly described; materials from n  = 6 schools displayed learning goals set by teachers, but none of the schools displayed learning goals set by students. However, students did appear to set practical goals (goals with no reference to students’ development) in the projects from n  = 3 schools, and teachers mentioned these in most schools too ( n  = 9). Furthermore, students’ descriptions of what they had learnt as a result of the projects were visible in the materials of n  = 10 schools, whereas teachers’ comments regarding that were only visible in those of half ( n  = 6) of the schools.

Figure  1 displays the distribution of the characteristics across the project units. The highest frequency values were for the schools E and F, which both had participated in the same development programme organised by a local university. However, although they did not receive help from researchers, schools A (f = 18), I (f = 17) and C (f = 16) still displayed a reasonably high count of PBL characteristics. In fact, school C had the same frequency of PBL characteristics as school D, which was the third school to participate in the university-led development programme. Figure 1 shows that there is a clear difference between schools whose PBL units were most closely in line with the PBL framework used in this study (f = 21, n  = 2) and the schools that provided project units with the least resemblance to it (f = 9, n = 2).

Frequency of the PBL characteristics demonstrated by the schools A-L ( n  = 12, see Tables  4 and 5 )

(2) Implementation of the key characteristics in the projects

The main results regarding the implementation of the key characteristics are summarised in Table 6 , together with their visibility. The detailed description about the implementation of each of the key characteristics of PBL can be found below: (1) driving question, (2) learning goals, (3) scientific practices, (4) collaboration, (5) using technological tools, and (6) creating an artefact.

Using central problems instead of driving questions did not stop schools from accomplishing some of the characteristics of a good driving question. In all of the schools where the project had a central problem, the problems were related to environmental issues, which meant that they were regarded as socio-scientific issues (Sadler, 2009 ). All of these schools also used local or familiar learning environments, which is another characteristic of a good driving question. For example, they researched everyday phenomena ( n  = 7 projects), used family or peers as audience ( n  = 6), created an impact on the local environment (n = 6) or studied it ( n  = 5). Some also visited local attractions ( n  = 2) or collaborated with students’ families (n = 2).

Interestingly, teachers and students seemed to report different kinds of learning gains; students focused on learning biology ( n  = 7 schools) more than teachers ( n  = 3), who paid attention to progress in learning social skills ( n  = 6), other twenty-first century skills ( n  = 2) and scientific practices ( n  = 2). Students reported these respectively in n  = 4, n  = 1 and n  = 0 schools. Furthermore, teachers did not mention students’ personal development (for example, new perspectives and experiences), which the students themselves noted in n  = 2 schools. Students also mentioned development of their environmental values more often ( n  = 4 compared to teachers in n  = 2 schools). ICT skills were mentioned in n  = 2 schools by students and n  = 1 by teachers.

When words that referred to the students’ development (for example, “develop”, “apply” or “learn”) were used in conjunction with the aims of the project, the goal was interpreted as a learning goal. However, when they were absent, the goal was interpreted as a concrete practical aim (for example, “creating an herb garden”). N  = 5 projects displayed practical goals set by students, all of which were related to biology too. However, none of the goals set by students were learning goals according to the definition described above; they all focused on the practical aims of the work instead. Learning goals set by teachers included learning related to biology ( n  = 5 schools), scientific practices ( n  = 4), social skills ( n  = 3), other twenty-first century skills ( n  = 1) and technical skills ( n  = 1). The learning goals related to biology could be divided into values ( n  = 5 schools), content ( n  = 3) and skills ( n  = 1).

The materials of the study did not allow extensive assumptions about what was teachers’ and what students’ viewpoint, but in terms of learning goals, it was deemed necessary to make a distinction based on the sentence structures. If a continuous part of the text displayed students as implementers and was written in third person (for example, “in this project students are expected to …” or “their goal is to …” ), the learning was interpreted as having been set by the teacher. However, if a continuous part of the text was presented in first person and the text clearly displayed that “we” referred to students, the part of the text that described learning was interpreted as students’ viewpoint to learning.

With regards to different scientific practices, it was not possible to identify how student-led the implementation was due to lack of teachers’ and students’ comments on this. Hypotheses were not presented in any of the projects, although n  = 8 projects included experiments that could have included a hypothesis. The three projects that did not show any signs of doing research and interpreting data were all from the same school and generally vaguely described; these projects did not show evidence of students drawing conclusions either. As all projects were presented to others at least through the video that was shared to StarT, all of them were considered as having presented the results of the project. However, all but one project described having done that in other ways as well, for example, by giving presentations for younger students and parents, and making posters.

Most of the projects were carried out in various learning environments and with a variety of partners. In terms of collaboration, three categories emerged: collaboration between students ( n  = 11 schools), collaboration between teachers ( n  = 9), and collaboration between the school and outside actors ( n  = 9). Collaboration between students was mostly group work ( n  = 16 projects) or presenting the work for other students ( n  = 9 projects). Teachers collaborated mostly with other teachers in the same school ( n  = 8 schools), and in some cases with teachers from another school ( n  = 4); however, n  = 3 of these schools participated in the same development programme of a local university, and this university organised the event where the collaboration happened. The materials did not provide information of how the teachers collaborated with each other or divided tasks. The outside partners were students’ parents ( n  = 9), universities ( n  = 5), media ( n  = 5), museums ( n  = 5), municipalities or other public agencies ( n  = 4), local people ( n  = 3), other experts ( n  = 3), and organisations ( n  = 2).

Technology used by students in their projects could be divided into two categories that emerged from the materials: ICT (information and communication technologies) and technology that was used as a scientific research tool. All technology that is commonly available and used at homes (and schools), such as editing videos, programming and text editing, and calculation programmes, was included in the ICT category. Any technology that is not commonly expected to be found at homes but that can be used to do scientific measurements and observations (for example, pH probes and nitrogen indicators, microscopes and voltage meters) was considered as scientific technology. According to this definition, students used scientific technology in n  = 6 projects and ICT in n  = 15 projects.

The artefacts included for example, reports, slideshows, lessons, webpages and miniature models. Multiple artefacts were created in majority of the projects ( n  = 14). Different categories emerged depending on what the role of these artefacts was in the project. In n  = 2 projects, the artefacts were part of a larger, final artefact. For example, one of the schools developed a webpage on climate change, and the contents of the webpage (for example, campaign videos and articles) were produced by separate student groups. Whilst multiple artefacts were created in many projects, it was more common for them to complement each other, meaning that they dealt with the same topic by answering it from a slightly different angle (n = 6 projects). In one of these projects, students had, for example, created both a video and a slide show on the same topic, or both a written report and a physical miniature model.

In the third category, in which multiple artefacts were made, students created artefacts that dealt with the same theme but did not directly attempt to answer the same question ( n  = 5). These artefacts were the result of multiple activities that were separate from each other. For example, in one project, students created weather maps, recorded air pressure, and made art related to weather. Although all of these activities were related to the same theme, they were clearly separate from one another, and they did not aim to solve a common problem. In the rest of the projects ( n  = 4), only one clear artefact was produced. In n  = 2 of these projects, the artefact was relatively simple, and the materials did not give evidence of students having had to carry out significant research or experimentation in order to create it. In the other n = 2 projects, the artefact was clearly a complex technical product, such as a miniature model of an energy-efficient house or an irrigation system for plants. These projects displayed evidence of the students having done smaller experiments to be able to create the final artefact. However, as the results of these experiments were not turned into clear artefacts, these artefacts were considered as separate from the first category (‘single artefacts form the final artefact’).

The main aim of this study was to understand the possibilities and challenges related to the implementation of key characteristics of PBL. These aims will be discussed in relation to each of the research questions below.

Key characteristics of PBL implemented by the teachers

This study shows that within the context of K-12 science education, using PBL creates opportunities for the implementation of the following key characteristics (Krajcik & Shin, 2014 ): collaboration, artefacts, technology, problem-centredness, and scientific practices (Table 6 ; carrying out research, presenting results, and reflection). However, it might also be true that these characteristics are generally commonly implemented at schools, or aspects of social constructivism or PBL familiar to teachers. For example, Viro et al. ( 2020 ) found that teachers saw development of teamwork skills among the most important characteristics of PBL. However, both Viro et al. ( 2020 ) and Aksela & Haatainen ( 2019 ) also found that teachers consider technical issues and collaboration as significant challenges in science PBL; as such, teachers’ attention may have been directed to describe the use of these practices in their project reports.

This study indicates that schools might struggle especially with implementing driving questions, using students’ questions, and having students set their own learning goals (see ‘Teachers’ implementation of the key characteristics’ for further discussion). Notably, the characteristics that were commonly visible in the studied PBL units were also well-aligned with the StarT format that promotes their implementation (StarT programme). As such, there might be potential in encouraging teachers to implement certain characteristics of PBL through a competition and its instructions and assessment criteria. For example, StarT does not mention driving questions, and although ¾ of the projects were centred around solving a problem, no driving questions were visible. Similar to this study, Haatainen & Aksela ( 2021 ) found that only half of the 12 StarT schools they studied included driving questions in their projects. Driving questions have previously been identified as the most challenging aspect of PBL (Mentzer et al., 2017 ), but it is likely that the studied teachers were not even familiar with the concept as there were no mentions of this ‘hallmark’ of PBL. Based on the results, it might be worthwhile to include the framework used in this study more visibly into the StarT programme in order to direct the teachers’ attention to the desired characteristics. However, although advocated for by StarT (StarT programme), students’ questions were hardly visible at all. Goals set by students were also rare ( n  = 3 schools), and none of them showed signs of learning goals set by students (see next section for further discussion).

Teachers’ implementation of the key characteristics

Artefacts and driving questions would seem to require further instruction. Nearly half of the schools produced single artefacts that resulted from separate activities only linked together through a common theme. Artefacts should, however, answer the driving question and draw the project together (for example, Mentzer et al., 2017 ). Although there were no driving questions, many of the projects that were centred around solving a problem still managed to demonstrate other characteristics of PBL and the qualities of a good driving question well (centred around solving a problem, use of socio-scientific issues, and local or familiar learning environments). This is in line with the findings of Morrison et al. ( 2020 ), who found that teachers are very aware of the importance of authenticity and working with real-world problems in PBL. However, although the driving question can be replaced with a central problem (Hasni et al., 2016 ), it has an important role in unifying the activities within a PBL unit (Thomas, 2000 ). Judging by the artefacts, many of the projects lacked the kind of unity described in literature, especially those with no central problem or one that was defined broadly. Therefore, the observations from this study support the views of Mentzer et al. ( 2017 ), Krajcik & Shin ( 2014 ) and Blumenfeld et al. ( 1991 ) on the importance of a driving question on unifying the PBL unit.

As only half of the schools displayed learning goals and many of the projects mentioned that they had been carried outside of regular lesson time, it seemed like most of the projects were not primarily used as a means to learn central concepts. According to Thomas ( 2000 ), this is not PBL, but Tamim & Grant ( 2013 ) suggest taking a broader outlook on what is considered PBL. Nevertheless, as collaboration, time and organisation of the projects have previously been found to be among the aspects of PBL that teachers find challenging (Viro et al., 2020 ; Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ), it is not surprising that teachers would prefer to use PBL outside of regular lesson time and focus on developing students’ soft skills, rather than focusing on content acquisition. However, spending sufficient time and covering central content have been identified among the central variables for successful PBL teaching in science education (Tal et al., 2006 ), in addition to building strong teacher-student relationships (Morrison et al., 2020 ). This indicates that for PBL to be a truly useful method for teachers, the recent changes in curricula towards less content and covering more skills (Novak & Krajcik, 2020 ) need to be sustained, and these changes need to be reflected in the standardised tests too.

The learning goals mentioned by the teachers were well aligned with the learning gains associated with PBL (for example, scientific practices, social skills and other twenty-first century skills, environmental values), but this does not equal working with concepts central to their curricula. Furthermore, for students to benefit from the learning gains associated with PBL, the focus should be on learning rather than doing a project; the teachers’ attention should be on what the students can research and find out, instead of focusing on what students can create and do (Lattimer & Riordan, 2011 ). Mentzer et al. ( 2017 ) found that projects implemented by teachers who had used PBL for no longer than a year did not resemble a coherent research project, and that this changed only after two or three years of PBL implementation. The projects tended to be a collection of lessons that were poorly connected to each other, and that consisted of either highly structured activities that had the same pre-defined outcome for all students, or of activities in which the main purpose was to research without a clear outcome (Mentzer et al., 2017 ). Similarly, in this study, the projects were often a collection of separate activities tied together through a common theme. According to Blumenfeld et al. ( 1991 ), this could be solved with a good driving question which brings cohesion to the project and ensures that students are working with central concepts and problems.

Although scientific practices were represented generally well across the studied schools, students’ questions were hardly visible, and goals set by students were rare ( n  = 3 schools). As such, it remains unclear how student-led the projects were exactly. For example, Herranen & Aksela ( 2019 ) highlight the importance of training teachers to use students’ questions as the basis of classroom inquiries, as this has clear implications for how authentically the inquiry will resemble that of scientists. Teachers might see PBL as student-centred (Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ) and use scientific practices in their projects, but the reality is that they can be employed in a highly teacher-led fashion too (Colley, 2006 ). Earlier research into StarT projects indicated that the projects varied from having “complete student autonomy” to having “teacher-led activities with little student choice” (Haatainen & Aksela, 2021 ).

Furthermore, Severance & Krajcik ( 2018 ) found that even with support from researchers, teachers struggled to understand the idea of using scientific practices in their teaching. Also, teachers themselves consider lack of support for PBL implementation, including teachers’ professional skills and motivation, among the most common hindrances to PBL implementation (Viro et al., 2020 ). In line with this, the n  = 3 schools in this study that received support for the implementation of PBL from a university, all displayed a higher count of PBL characteristics and scientific practices than most of the studied schools (Fig. 1 ). However, whilst two of them displayed the highest count of characteristics across all cases, one of them had a lower count, closer to the values of schools that did not receive help. This highlights the importance of providing additional support for the schools in terms of the pedagogy of PBL and implementing scientific practices, and the fact that even support from a university does not guarantee research-based implementation of PBL. Even when teachers implement PBL units designed by researchers, they can adapt the unit significantly when moulding it for their educational context (Condliffe et al., 2017 ). Depending on the teachers’ beliefs, it is likely that all of these adaptations are not beneficial for learning (Condliffe et al., 2017 ).

Additionally, teachers who intended to teach biology through the projects (5/12 schools) mainly focused on developing students’ values towards nature and environment. This can of course be expected as all projects aimed to solve environmental issues, but it should not give a reason to exclude goals related to subject-specific content and skills. Especially, as the data consisted of projects in which biology had a clear role, and the students frequently (7/12 schools) mentioned having learnt biology content. However, the teachers mentioned this in three schools only. The explanation could be that students had a more liberal idea of what constitutes as biology content, or that the teachers had not even attempted to teach core content through the projects, and thus did not pay particular attention to development in that area. Nevertheless, the different views between teachers and students in terms of perceived learning gains may be an interesting point to study in the future.

Overall, it seems like the teachers mainly used PBL for learning soft skills, which is commonly reported about PBL (Guo et al., 2020 ; Aksela & Haatainen, 2019 ). For instance, in a study of PBL in mathematics, Viro et al. ( 2020 ) found that less than half of the in- and pre-service teachers they surveyed ( n  = 64) considered learning mathematics among the three most important characteristics of a successful PBL unit. Other options that they considered as most important for a successful PBL unit in mathematics were all related to student motivation and learning of twenty-first century skills. In line with this, the results indicate a need to emphasise the importance of planning the PBL unit around the core curriculum so that in-depth subject teaching can occur (Grossman et al., 2019 ; Tal et al., 2006 ). Context-based and problem-based approaches to instruction are seen as useful for student learning in biology (Cabbar & Senel, 2020 ; Jeronen et al., 2017 ), but if the focus is not on central concepts, then it remains uncertain how useful the PBL units are from the perspective of academic performance.

Development of twenty-first century skills is vital for solving issues related to sustainability, which makes PBL an attractive approach for teaching topics related to it (Konrad et al., 2020 ). Using environmental issues as the starting point of PBL projects in science education has become increasingly popular, and there is a growing body of evidence of its usefulness as a way to implement STEM PBL (for example, Hugerat, 2020 ; Triana et al., 2020 ; Kricsfalusy et al., 2018 ). This study is in line with that as students stated that their environmental attitudes had developed in several schools ( n  = 4). Teachers mentioned developing students’ environmental values as learning goals of the projects in n  = 5 schools, and n  = 2 schools mentioned that the goal had been reached. However, as the participants of this study had a lot of freedom in terms of what they decided to report about their projects, teachers not explicitly mentioning the development of environmental values does not necessarily mean that the goal was not reached.

Limitations

Content analysis can only focus on what is visible in the materials (Cohen et al., 2007 ). As teachers and students have reported their project work to the StarT competition that searches good models for the implementation of PBL, it can be expected that the teachers would highlight (and instruct their students to highlight) the aspects of PBL that they consider important in the videos and written descriptions that they provided. Consequently, if a certain characteristic of PBL is not visible in their materials at all, it is likely that teachers are either not aware of it or do not consider it that important for the implementation of PBL. However, as participating in competitions such as StarT is usually extra work for the teachers, they might struggle to find the time to provide materials that accurately represent their views on what was essential for the project. Furthermore, the form of reporting was very open-ended (for example, videos and learning diaries). As such, it remains possible that if the instructions for reporting the PBL unit had included specific questions about certain characteristics, teachers might have been able to comment on them. Nevertheless, it remains true that in their reports, teachers would include what they valued and focused on most in their projects.

What is more, as participation in StarT is completely voluntary, it is likely that the sample of teachers and schools studied is limited to those that are already actively interested and implementing PBL. As such, the results cannot necessarily be expected to represent PBL that is carried out in an average classroom; the focus is clearly on teachers who are already actively engaged in PBL and science education programmes. As one would expect, PBL implementation can be greatly influenced by school context and whether it is supported by school leadership or not (Condliffe et al., 2017 ).

A further limitation to the results is the scope of the materials and the limitations they had for determining the extent of student-centredness in projects; only inferences can be ascertained about which decisions were made by the students and which by the teachers. However, the interpretations that were made during the coding process have been carefully described in ‘Methods’. As such, whilst the materials limited the deductions that could be made confidently, the analysis is reliable within said limitations.

The number of separate schools in this study is 12. However, three of them did interact with each other as they participated in the same development programme organised by a local university. Nevertheless, as Stake ( 2000 ) states, the main aim of a case study is not to generalise results but to understand the cases better. The aim of the study is not to claim that the results would be true to all teachers but to gain more understanding of how individual teachers might see PBL and find trends across individual cases.

This study supports the notion that teachers have varying conceptions of PBL and its characteristics (Hasni et al., 2016 ). The study provided new information of PBL that takes place at schools that are active participants in international education competitions, as they have not been researched from the perspective of the characteristics of PBL earlier. As such, it also shows how teachers who are actively engaged in PBL implement the characteristics, therefore giving an idea of what the ‘best-case scenario’ of the implementation of PBL units that are not guided by researchers might be. Additionally, due to the international sample of schools studied, the study is not limited to a specific educational context.

This study provides important information for teacher training, as it has paved the way into studying the quality of PBL units created by teachers as opposed to those created by researchers through the lens of key characteristics of PBL. Based on the results, the authors believe it is important to ensure that teacher training and curriculum development consider how teachers can use PBL to teach central content, and how schools can better support teachers to carry this out in terms of resources and time.

In line with Morrison et al. ( 2020 ) and Tsybulsky & Muchnik-Rozanov ( 2019 ), the authors believe it would be important for teachers themselves to learn through PBL during their pre-service training. Furthermore, for teachers to be able to fully grasp the pedagogical approach required in PBL, both teacher training and research should consider the key characteristics and their implementation, especially those that have been shown to cause more difficulties for teachers through this and earlier studies (for example, teaching central content, students’ questions and driving questions). Additionally, it may be useful to direct efforts into studying the key characteristics from the perspective of flexible implementation; which of the characteristics should be followed rigidly, and could some of them be interpreted more flexibly to suit local educational contexts better? For example, considering the importance placed on the driving question in PBL literature, and the difficulties in its implementation, it would be useful to understand how the characteristic could be contextualised into a format that is more easily accessible to teachers.

Finally, a viable framework was created for analysing how the key characteristics of PBL were implemented in teachers’ projects. It can be adapted for studying PBL units also in other settings. The used approach to analysing project units can also be used as a starting point for studying PBL artefacts, which has been advocated for by Guo et al. ( 2020 ) and Hasni et al. ( 2016 ). What is more, it allows studying PBL from the point of view of students, which has also been done clearly less in PBL research (Habók & Nagy, 2016 ).

The authors believe that research should continue to address PBL units from the perspective of the key characteristics of PBL. This allows research to be grounded in the practice of schools, and for researchers to pinpoint the most critical aspects of PBL that professional development initiatives should focus on. PBL remains a challenging instructional method and a lot more training and resources are still needed for it to live up to its potential. The results from this study and the constructed framework of key characteristics can be useful in promoting research-based implementation and design of PBL science education, and in teacher training related to it.

Abbreviations

• Project-based learning

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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Nowadays, the available and affordable resources and technologies which could support learning and instruction are plentiful. However, choosing the best resources for instruction in various situations is an increasingly challenging task for designers, teachers, administrators, and so on. According to Spector and Yuen ( 2016 ), the use of educational technology requires attention to (a) effective and efficient design, development, and deployment and (b) providing the best results for the relevant constituencies. In terms of how to make sure the educational technology is best used, the educational project design and evaluation provide an innovative approach to dealing with educational problems.

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ILO. (2010). P roject design manual, a step-by-step tool to support the development of cooperatives and other forms of self-help organizations . Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/ent/coop/africa/download/coopafricaprojectdesignmanual.pdf .

Prabhakar, G. P. (2009). Projects and their management: A literature review. International Journal of Biometrics, 3 (8), 3–9.

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Stufflebeam, D. L. (2003). The CIPP model for evaluation. In T. Kellaghan & D. L. Stufflebeam (Eds.), International handbook of educational evaluation (pp. 31–62). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0309-4_4 .

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What does education mean?

Education refers to the discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like environments, as opposed to various nonformal and informal means of socialization .

Beginning approximately at the end of the 7th or during the 6th century, Athens became the first city-state in ancient Greece to renounce education that was oriented toward the future duties of soldiers. The evolution of Athenian education reflected that of the city itself, which was moving toward increasing democratization.

Research has found that education is the strongest determinant of individuals’ occupational status and chances of success in adult life. However, the correlation between family socioeconomic status and school success or failure appears to have increased worldwide. Long-term trends suggest that as societies industrialize and modernize, social class becomes increasingly important in determining educational outcomes and occupational attainment.

While education is not compulsory in practice everywhere in the world, the right of individuals to an educational program that respects their personality, talents, abilities, and cultural heritage has been upheld in various international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959; and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966.

Alternative forms of education have developed since the late 20th century, such as distance learning , homeschooling , and many parallel or supplementary systems of education often designated as “nonformal” and “popular.” Religious institutions also instruct the young and old alike in sacred knowledge as well as in the values and skills required for participation in local, national, and transnational societies.

School vouchers have been a hotly debated topic in the United States. Some parents of voucher recipients reported high levels of satisfaction, and studies have found increased voucher student graduation rates. Some studies have found, however, that students using vouchers to attend private schools instead of public ones did not show significantly higher levels of academic achievement. Learn more at ProCon.org.

Should corporal punishment be used in elementary education settings?

Whether corporal punishment should be used in elementary education settings is widely debated. Some say it is the appropriate discipline for certain children when used in moderation because it sets clear boundaries and motivates children to behave in school. Others say can inflict long-lasting physical and mental harm on students while creating an unsafe and violent school environment. For more on the corporal punishment debate, visit ProCon.org .

Should dress codes be implemented and enforced in education settings?

Whether dress codes should be implemented and enforced in education settings is hotly debated. Some argue dress codes enforce decorum and a serious, professional atmosphere conducive to success, as well as promote safety. Others argue dress codes reinforce racist standards of beauty and dress and are are seldom uniformly mandated, often discriminating against women and marginalized groups. For more on the dress code debate, visit ProCon.org .

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education , discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like environments as opposed to various nonformal and informal means of socialization (e.g., rural development projects and education through parent-child relationships).

(Read Arne Duncan’s Britannica essay on “Education: The Great Equalizer.”)

Education can be thought of as the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense, it is equivalent to what social scientists term socialization or enculturation. Children—whether conceived among New Guinea tribespeople, the Renaissance Florentines, or the middle classes of Manhattan—are born without culture . Education is designed to guide them in learning a culture , molding their behaviour in the ways of adulthood , and directing them toward their eventual role in society. In the most primitive cultures , there is often little formal learning—little of what one would ordinarily call school or classes or teachers . Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently viewed as school and classes, and many or all adults act as teachers. As societies grow more complex, however, the quantity of knowledge to be passed on from one generation to the next becomes more than any one person can know, and, hence, there must evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission. The outcome is formal education—the school and the specialist called the teacher.

As society becomes ever more complex and schools become ever more institutionalized, educational experience becomes less directly related to daily life, less a matter of showing and learning in the context of the workaday world, and more abstracted from practice, more a matter of distilling, telling, and learning things out of context. This concentration of learning in a formal atmosphere allows children to learn far more of their culture than they are able to do by merely observing and imitating. As society gradually attaches more and more importance to education, it also tries to formulate the overall objectives, content, organization, and strategies of education. Literature becomes laden with advice on the rearing of the younger generation. In short, there develop philosophies and theories of education.

This article discusses the history of education, tracing the evolution of the formal teaching of knowledge and skills from prehistoric and ancient times to the present, and considering the various philosophies that have inspired the resulting systems. Other aspects of education are treated in a number of articles. For a treatment of education as a discipline, including educational organization, teaching methods, and the functions and training of teachers, see teaching ; pedagogy ; and teacher education . For a description of education in various specialized fields, see historiography ; legal education ; medical education ; science, history of . For an analysis of educational philosophy , see education, philosophy of . For an examination of some of the more important aids in education and the dissemination of knowledge, see dictionary ; encyclopaedia ; library ; museum ; printing ; publishing, history of . Some restrictions on educational freedom are discussed in censorship . For an analysis of pupil attributes, see intelligence, human ; learning theory ; psychological testing .

Education in primitive and early civilized cultures

The term education can be applied to primitive cultures only in the sense of enculturation , which is the process of cultural transmission. A primitive person, whose culture is the totality of his universe, has a relatively fixed sense of cultural continuity and timelessness. The model of life is relatively static and absolute, and it is transmitted from one generation to another with little deviation. As for prehistoric education, it can only be inferred from educational practices in surviving primitive cultures.

The purpose of primitive education is thus to guide children to becoming good members of their tribe or band. There is a marked emphasis upon training for citizenship , because primitive people are highly concerned with the growth of individuals as tribal members and the thorough comprehension of their way of life during passage from prepuberty to postpuberty.

Because of the variety in the countless thousands of primitive cultures, it is difficult to describe any standard and uniform characteristics of prepuberty education. Nevertheless, certain things are practiced commonly within cultures. Children actually participate in the social processes of adult activities, and their participatory learning is based upon what the American anthropologist Margaret Mead called empathy , identification, and imitation . Primitive children, before reaching puberty, learn by doing and observing basic technical practices. Their teachers are not strangers but rather their immediate community .

In contrast to the spontaneous and rather unregulated imitations in prepuberty education, postpuberty education in some cultures is strictly standardized and regulated. The teaching personnel may consist of fully initiated men, often unknown to the initiate though they are his relatives in other clans. The initiation may begin with the initiate being abruptly separated from his familial group and sent to a secluded camp where he joins other initiates. The purpose of this separation is to deflect the initiate’s deep attachment away from his family and to establish his emotional and social anchorage in the wider web of his culture.

The initiation “curriculum” does not usually include practical subjects. Instead, it consists of a whole set of cultural values, tribal religion, myths , philosophy, history, rituals, and other knowledge. Primitive people in some cultures regard the body of knowledge constituting the initiation curriculum as most essential to their tribal membership. Within this essential curriculum, religious instruction takes the most prominent place.

School Project

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School Project We all have done many school projects in our lives, we all have experience of that. But we need to know what is the right way to do a school project and how we can learn from it. Generally, a school project is given to a student to improve their knowledge about a subject. Students should try to make it as creative as possible, they should try to make it unique.

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Many students make the same projects as their friends by copying but it is not going to improve their knowledge. Students should be provided with sufficient time to complete the school project so that they complete it very nicely. Time management is a must in everything, as students stay busy so they should decide how to complete the school project fast with good quality.

Read the evaluation methodologies and outcomes. Also, read everything about the Teachers’ Eligibility Test .

If students are not understanding how to execute a plan they can take the help of online education. The best project is one that is of good quality, is to the point, done without plagiarism, and provides plenty of knowledge about the topic. Students can do anything if they want, they should believe in themselves. If students believe in themselves, that they can make a unique and creative project, they will certainly do it nicely. If students are not getting an idea of how to complete a project or any other doubt. They can search it on the internet and they will be able to get a lot of ideas on how to do it properly.

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What Is A Project Management Plan And How To Create One

Updated: Jun 12, 2024, 11:45am

Table of Contents

What is a project management plan, 6 parts of a project management plan, before you create a plan, how to create a project management plan in 7 steps, bottom line, frequently asked questions (faqs).

A project management plan offers a blueprint to stakeholders and end-users surrounding the execution of an upcoming project. While it takes time to put it together, the process is worth it. It helps to reduce risks, create buy-in, gather your team’s expertise, align communication and ensure resource availability. This guide outlines what a project management plan is and its benefits, and then offers an easy step-by-step guide on how to create one.

A project management plan is a set of documents that outline the how, when and what-ifs of a project’s execution. It overviews the project’s value proposition, execution steps, resources, communication tools and protocols, risks, stakeholders (and their roles) and the deliverables involved in a project’s completion. Its documents include an executive summary, Gantt and team charts, risk assessment and communication- and resource-management subplans.

What Is a Project Management Plan Used For?

A project management plan serves as a blueprint or roadmap to the ultimate success of your project. It does so by aligning talent, buy-in, manpower, resources, risk management and high-quality communication around your plan. It also ensures everyone knows their responsibilities, which tasks are involved and when deadlines are so the project stays on track for quality on-time completion.

Here is a closer look at project management plan use cases:

• Buy-in . Your plan ensures all stakeholders are on board, so that they’re prepared to be productive.
• Expertise. A plan helps to ensure you have enough people to expertly own the activities needed to complete the project.
• Risk management. Putting together your plan helps you to assess the risks that may come up through the trajectory of project execution and how to prevent or mitigate them.
• Communication and collaboration. Your planning process ensures poor communication does not negatively impact the project’s outcome. It does so by getting everyone on the same page regarding communication tools, schedules, preferences and protocols.
• Milestones. As you plan your project, you ensure your team agrees on the necessary milestones to complete it successfully. Doing so ensures your team is ready to be productive instantly come project initiation and that scope creep does not impact the project negatively.
• Resource management. Through your planning process, you assess the resources needed to complete the project and their availability. Resources may include funds and raw materials, for example. Doing so ensures resource availability and that insufficient resources do not derail or stop the project altogether.

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A project management plan should include an executive summary, timeline or Gantt chart, resource management subplan, risk assessment, communication subplan and team chart. Here is an overview of each of these parts:

• Executive summary. An executive summary provides an overview of the project’s value proposition, the problem it addresses and its resolution, budget breakdown, milestones and deliverables.
• Timeline or Gantt chart. Many project management plans include a Gantt chart that shows both the dates the project begins and ends and all start and end dates for the milestones that lead to the completion of the project. It should also point out any dependent and independent activities.
• Risk assessment. A risk assessment should list all of the potential obstacles that could impact the completion of the project or the quality of its deliverables negatively. It also outlines the triggers that could cause these risks and how the risks can be mitigated or avoided altogether.
• Team chart. The team chart shows all the people who will be involved in completing the project, their roles and their communication preferences.
• Communication subplan. This subplan offers an overview of what tools will be used for communication, the communication assets and schedules that will be used to keep the project progressing and on track, communication protocols stakeholders should follow and team members’ communication preferences.
• Resource management subplan. This subplan should list what resources may be needed to complete the project. Essential resources may include raw materials, digital tools and funding. It should then offer a breakdown of what materials will be needed for each milestone, a way to ensure their availability and ways to track resources throughout project execution.

Before you begin writing your plan, take a few minutes to prepare. Doing so may involve defining what is at stake should the project not go well, identifying the milestones needed for successful completion, selecting key talent to complete your project, selecting and signing up for the tools that will make the plan creation process easy and efficient and defining the end beneficiary of your project. Below is a closer look at each of these preparation steps.

Failure Risk Assessment

Defining what would happen if the project were not completed successfully can guide you later as you motivate your execution team and formulate your plan’s and your project’s value proposition. This perspective tells all stakeholders how important their roles are.

Milestone Identification

One way to ensure you select the proper team members for plan creation and execution is to define the milestones for which they will be responsible. Once you have identified the milestones, you can identify the needed expertise and then the talent that holds that expertise.

Talent Selection

As you write your plan, it is essential to gather expertise from the team members who will execute it. Doing so could mean the success or failure of your project. Identifying these stakeholders now means you can get them involved sooner for higher collective knowledge during the planning process.

Tool selection

When planning your project, you will need to use charts, graphics and reports to record the necessary information. Graphic design tools like Canva and project management software like monday.com or Wrike can help.

Beneficiary or End-user Identification

Nothing can set you up for success in project completion like understanding what the end-user or project beneficiary needs in the final deliverable. Understanding this requires an understanding of that end-user or beneficiary. Take some time to listen to their needs, wants and hopes surrounding your project before beginning to plan a project that will impact and, hopefully, delight them ultimately.

To create a project management plan, first put together a high overview of the basics of your project, including the project’s scope, schedule and budget. Next, build on those basics to write an executive summary. Then, add a project timeline, risk assessment, stakeholder chart, communication plan and resource management plan to your executive summary. Lastly, gather and incorporate stakeholders’ insights to perfect and create buy-in for your plan.

1. Identify Baselines for Your Project

Your project’s baselines should first focus on the project’s scope, then the project’s schedule and, finally, its budget. The result should be a high overview that will inform the rest of your planning process. To complete this step, answer the following questions:

• What is a summary of the project’s deliverables, including the expected features in order of priority?
• What important milestones will help us complete this project?
• What should the project not focus on? (set some scope boundaries)
• When is the project scheduled to begin?
• When should the project be complete?
• How much do we have to spend on this project? If it is a project that needs to be completed for a client, what budget do we have to spend on it while still making a set profit margin?

2. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary should include a definition of your project, your project’s value proposition, including the problem your project addresses and its solution, milestones and their deliverables, scope limits―and the consequences for changing these limits―goals and financial breakdown. Use the answers to the questions posed in step one to put together your executive summary.

As the face of your project before stakeholders, your executive summary should be visually appealing and succinct. Columns and visuals should break it up to make it easy to read quickly. One great tool for creating an attractive and succinct summary is a Canva executive summary template. You can customize a template to match your brand and add your content, then either download your executive summary or share it in link form.

To begin, sign up for Canva for free, then use the search box titled “What will you design?” for “executive summary” and press “enter.” Click the appropriate template for your purposes and brand, then use the tools on the left-hand side of the enlarged template to customize its colors, text and images. Add pages by clicking the plus sign at the top right-hand corner of the template and proceed to add text and customizations to complete your summary.

3. Plot Your Project’s Timeline

The best way to plot your project’s timeline is with a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is a visual representation of what activities you plan to begin and complete and when. These activities are usually small chunks or milestones of your completed project. They also formulate the scope of your project, helping to reduce scope creep later on. Gantt charts are often the easiest to use to plot your timeline.

It is important to note expected dependencies on your Gantt chart. A dependency happens when one activity on a timeline must be completed before team members can go on to the next one. For example, a prototype needs to be completed before a focus group analysis of the prototype can take place. Thus, these two activities are dependent. Also note independent activities that can be completed even as other activities are underway, thereby saving time.

Pro tip: An easy way to note dependencies and independent activities is via color-coding. Arrows drawn on your Gantt chart can also help to pinpoint dependencies.

While Canva does offer Gantt charts to plot your project’s timeline, there are also platforms that specialize in producing Gantt chart software . Not only can this software help you put together your Gantt chart, but it can then help you stay on track with its timeline and avoid scope creep once your project begins via task descriptions and automations. If paying for such a service isn’t in your project’s budget, you can also create a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets.

Gantt chart from monday.com

4. Define Stakeholder Roles

With your project activities recorded on your timeline, define who will be responsible for each activity. Your plan serves as a guiding star to all stakeholders involved in your project, so it’s best to record responsible parties in an intuitive chart. Create a project team chart to show who will be involved in completing the project and for which activities each is responsible. For collaboration ease, also note who each person is accountable to and their contact information.

Canva offers organizational or team chart templates you can use to customize for the needs of your project. Search “organizational chart” using the search bar in your Canva account. Click the chart that best suits your project and brand needs. Then, use the design menu to upload pictures of your team members, customize colors and replace template text to offer the data your stakeholders need for easy collaboration during the life of your project.

An example of a Canva organizational chart template to be adapted to create a project team chart.

5. Perform a Risk Assessment

Your risk assessment should begin with a list of obstacles that could impact your team’s ability to complete the project on time negatively at all and with the desired quality. It should then create a plan for each risk by addressing what might trigger the risk, steps that lend to risk prevention and how to mitigate a risk should it happen. Finally, it should assign stakeholders to manage risk triggers, prevention and mitigation. Some teams use a SWOT analysis to help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in this stage.

To dive into each risk, answer the following questions:

• What could happen that would negatively impact the project?
• At what point in the project timeline is this risk most likely to happen?
• How likely is the risk to happen?
• What events or factors would trigger this risk?
• What steps can be taken to reduce the chances of this risk taking place? How can we avoid this trigger or these triggers?
• What would be the expected outcome should the risk happen anyway?
• How could we mitigate a negative outcome should the risk take place?
• Who would be the best person to manage each risk’s triggers, prevention or mitigation?

As you assigned responsible parties for each project activity, you likely selected people who had expertise in the areas in which their assigned activities fall. For example, if you assigned the graphic design of a marketing project to a team member, that person is likely a graphic designer. Their expertise is invaluable in assessing graphic design risks and their prevention and mitigation steps. Lean on your team for this expertise, and then implement their suggestions.

6. Create Key Subplans

Two key subplans you should include in your project management plan are a resource and communications management plan. Your resource sub plan should list what resources are needed to complete your project and their availability. Your communications plan should include how your team will communicate one-on-one and team-wide.

Resource Management Plan

A resource subplan can be completed in project management software. You can create columns for estimated expenses and other needed resources broken down by milestones, such as raw products and talent. Other customizable resource reports are available within the software and automatically kept up to date. Wrike, for example, offers customizable reports where you can track resource availability and export reports to include in your plan.

An example of Wrike’s customizable resource reports

Communications Management Plan

While it may seem inconsequential compared to your risk assessment and resource plan, poor communication is the primary reason most projects experience scope gaps and project failure, according to a PMI study . Poor communication can, therefore, derail all your other planning efforts.

As such, your communications management plan should be detailed and address what, when and how information will be shared during your project. Details should focus on what needs to be communicated and at what intervals during the project execution, stakeholders’ communication preferences, a communication schedule for virtual meetings or phone calls that occur at planned intervals, who will review tasks, to whom task completions should be reported and what platforms or tools should be used for communication purposes.

Pro tip: For best results, look at the communication tools available in your project management software. Alternatively, consider what communication-tool integrations it offers. For example, most project management software offer integrations with Slack. Using available tools within your software will allow ease of collaboration and the communication visibility your team needs to stay on the same page and on track.

7. Gather and Incorporate Feedback From Stakeholders

The team you have chosen to own the activities on your project timeline are uniquely capable of doing so. As such, they are likely to have recommendations you might not think about to make your project more successful. Moreover, if their insights are incorporated into the plan, they are more likely to enthusiastically follow it. So, get your team together and go over the details of your plan. Learn from them and incorporate their insights.

In addition, present your plan to the end-user or client for whom you are executing the project. Make sure they agree to the project scope and its deliverables. Make their preferred changes now so you don’t have to make them later. Discuss what will happen if they change their minds later―extra fees, for example―so that scope creep does not impact your project’s successful execution, on-time completion or quality final deliverable negatively.

Creating a project management plan is the first critical step to ensuring a quality project execution and completion. Without it, you risk project derailment, a blown budget, an unrealized value proposition and a potentially frustrated end-user. With it, you enjoy buy-in, resource availability, budget adherence, a quality and expertly-driven final deliverable and a delighted end-user. We hope this guide sets you on a trajectory to enjoy all of these benefits.

What are the six parts of a project management plan?

At minimum, a project management plan includes an executive summary, timeline or Gantt chart , stakeholder or team chart, risk assessment, communications subplan and resource subplan.

How do I write a project management plan?

To write a project management plan, begin by identifying your project baselines, then write an executive summary, create your timeline and team charts, perform and write a risk assessment and write your communications and resource subplans. Finally, present your plan to all involved stakeholders to gather and incorporate their insights, suggestions and feedback, and then finalize agreement around your plan.

What is the main purpose of a project management plan?

A project management plan lays out the details and steps necessary to reduce confusion, create confidence and prevent obstacles and risks during project execution. It does so by providing a clear outline and value proposition of the project, assigning essential roles, outlining milestones and the final deliverable, identifying and taking steps to prevent risks, ensuring clear communication guidelines and ensuring the availability of essential resources.

What is project management methodology?

A project management methodology is a set of principles, values and processes that determine how a team will complete a project. It dictates factors such as the methods of communication within and outside of the project team—as well as the level of planning, design and documentation—timelines and modes of assessment.

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Outcomes Standardisation Project (OSP) for Continuing Medical Education (CE/CME) Professionals: Background, Methods, and Initial Terms and Definitions

Affiliations.

• 1 Outcomes Standardization Project Steering Team Member.
• 2 ArcheMedX, Inc., Blue Bell, PA, USA.
• 3 Medical Education, Medical Affairs, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, USA.
• 4 Medical Education Grants Office (MEGO), AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, USA.
• 5 Med-IQ., Baltimore, MD, USA.
• 6 Medical Education and Data Analytics, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, USA.
• 7 CE Outcomes, LLC., Birmingham, AL, USA.
• 8 CME Outcomes and Analytics, PlatformQ Health Education, Needham, MA, USA.
• PMID: 32128287
• PMCID: PMC7034424
• DOI: 10.1080/21614083.2020.1717187

Despite an increased focus and urgency for CE/CME professionals to effectively and systematically assess the impact of their educational interventions, the community has struggled to do so. This struggle is in large part due to the lack of a standardised outcomes language and a set of unified approaches to measure and communicate impact. In the spring of 2018, a group of volunteer educational research scientists and CE/CME professionals established a rigorous consensus-building process in an effort to address this need. This report describes the background, methods and first-year output (Glossary V1) of the Outcomes Standardisation Project (OSP); begins to introduce examples of how the OSP Glossary V1 may support the CE/CME professional community and concludes with plans for the future of establishing a common framework for the profession.

Keywords: Assessment; educational research; evaluation; glossary; outcomes; standardisation; taxonomy.

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The members of the Outcomes Standardisation Project Steering Team have contributed in a fully volunteer capacity. Their efforts and contributions are their own and do not necessarily represent their employers.

OSPST Consensus Building Approach

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