What is PBL? Does it work?

What is PBL?

In Project Based Learning (PBL), students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge. While allowing for some degree of student "voice and choice," rigorous projects are carefully planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality, authentic products & presentations.

Rigorous and in-depth Project Based Learning:

• is organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge. These focus students’ work and deepen their learning by centering on significant issues, debates, questions and/or problems.

• creates a need to know essential content and skills. Typical projects (and most instruction) begin by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once learned, give them the opportunity to apply them. PBL begins with the vision of an end product or presentation which requires learning specific knowledge and concepts, thus creating a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.

• requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new. Not all learning has to be based on inquiry, but some should. And this inquiry should lead students to construct something new – an idea, an interpretation, a new way of displaying what they have learned.

• requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. Students need to do much more than remember information—they need to use higher-order thinking skills. They also have to learn to work as a team and contribute to a group effort. They must listen to others and make their own ideas clear when speaking, be able to read a variety of material, write or otherwise express themselves in various modes, and make effective presentations. These skills, competencies and habits of mind are often known as "21st Century Skills".

• allows some degree of student voice and choice. Students learn to work independently and take responsibility when they are asked to make choices. The opportunity to make choices, and to express their learning in their own voice, also helps to increase students’ educational engagement.

• incorporates feedback and revision. Students use peer critique to improve their work to create higher quality products.

• results in a publicly presented product or performance. What you know is demonstrated by what you do, and what you do must be open to public scrutiny and critique. 

If we are serious about reaching 21st Century educational goals, PBL must be at the center of 21st Century instruction.  The project contains and frames the curriculum, which differs from the short "project" or activity added onto traditional instruction.  PBL is, "The Main Course, not Dessert."

Why use PBL?

Students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts and standards at the heart of a project. Projects also build vital workplace skills and lifelong habits of learning. Projects can allow students to address community issues, explore careers, interact with adult mentors, use technology, and present their work to audiences beyond the classroom. PBL can motivate students who might otherwise find school boring or meaningless.

How is PBL used?

Some teachers use PBL extensively as their primary curriculum organizer and instructional method. Others use PBL occasionally during a school year. Projects vary in length, from several days to several weeks or even a semester. PBL can be effective at all grade levels and subjects, and in career/technical education, afterschool and alternative programs.

Does PBL Work?

There is forty years of accumulated evidence that the instructional strategies and procedures that make up standards-focused Project Based Learning are effective in building deep content understanding, raising academic achievement and encouraging student motivation to learn. Research studies have demonstrated that PBL can:

• be more effective than traditional instruction in increasing academic achievement on annual state-administered assessment tests.¹
• be more effective than traditional instruction for teaching mathematics,^2,3 economics,⁴ science,^1,5,6 social science,⁷ clinical medical skills,⁸ and for careers in the allied health occupations⁷ and teaching.⁷
• be more effective than traditional instruction for long-term retention, skill development and satisfaction of students and teachers.^1,9,2
• be more effective than traditional instruction for preparing students to integrate and explain concepts.¹⁰
• improve students’ mastery of 21st-century skills.^11,12
• be especially effective with lower-achieving students.^1,4,6
• provide an effective model for whole school reform.¹³

As with any teaching method, PBL can be used effectively or ineffectively. At its best, PBL can be the catalyst for an engaging learning experience and create a context for a powerful learning community focused on achievement, self-mastery, and contribution to the community. At its worst, it can be a colossal waste of time for all concerned.

The videos and tools in this web site will help you understand Project Based Learning and use it effectively.

For more research on PBL effectiveness and use, please visit our research library.

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1. Geier, R., Blumenfeld, P.C., Marx, R.W., Krajcik, J.S., Fishman, B., Soloway, E., & Clay-Chambers, J. (2008). Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reform. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(8), 922-939.
2. Boaler, J. (1997). Experiencing School Mathematics: Teaching Styles, Sex and Settings. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press
3. Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992) The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program description and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27, 291-315.
4. Mergendoller, J.R., Maxwell, N., & Bellisimo, Y. (2007). The effectiveness of problem based instruction: A Comparative Study of Instructional Methods and Student Characteristics. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(2), 49-69.
5. Hickey, D.T., Kindfeld, A.C.H., Horwitz, P., & Christie, M.A. (1999). Advancing educational theory by enhancing practice in a technology-supported genetics learning environment. Journal of Education, 181, 25-55.
6. Lynch, S., Kuipers, JU., Pyke, C., & Szesze, M. (2005). Examining the effects of a highly rated science curriculum unit on diverse students: Results from a planning grant. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 42, 921-946.
7. Walker, A. & Leary, H. (2008) "A Problem Based Learning Meta Analysis: Differences Across Problem Types, Implementation Types, Disciplines, and Assessment Levels," Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 3(1), 12-43. (Available at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol3/iss1/3)
8. Vernon, D. T. & Blake, R. L. (1993). Does problem-based learning work? A meta-analysis of evaluative research. Academic Medicine, 68(7), 550-63.
9. Strobel, J. & van Barneveld, A. (2008) "When is PBL More Effective? A Meta-synthesis of Meta-analyses Comparing PBL to Conventional Classrooms," Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 3(1), 44-58. (Available at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol3/iss1/4)
10. Capon, N, & Kuhn, D. (2004). What’s so good about problem-based learning? Cognition and Instruction, 22, 61-79.
11. Hmelo, C. (1998). Problem-based learning: Effects on the early acquisition of cognitive skill in medicine. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 7, 173-208.
12. Gallagher, S.A., Stepien, W.J., Rosenthal, H. (1992) The effects of problem-based learning on problem solving. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36, 195-200.
13. National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform (2004). Putting the Pieces Together: Lessons from Comprehensive School Reform Research. Washington, DC: Author.