George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively explore real-world problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge.

  • Getting Started With Self-Paced Learning

    Giving students some control over the pace of their learning can help them develop self-reliance and better problem-solving skills.
    Katherine Rowe

  • What to Do When a Project Fails

    When project-based learning doesn’t work out as planned, students can still master content—and teachers can learn something too.
    Mike Kaechele

  • Getting Started With Experiential Learning

    Learning by doing—through project-based learning or role plays based on the news, for example—can boost student engagement.
    Taylor Hausburg, Sarah Gudenkauf

  • Inquiry-Based Tasks in Social Studies

    Assignments that are bigger than a lesson and smaller than a unit are a good way to experiment with inquiry-based learning.
    Andrew Miller

  • Project-Based Learning and the Research Paper

    Students take responsibility for their learning and develop solutions for complex problems when their research paper becomes a PBL unit.
    Brandie Provenzano

  • Projects That Work: Mission to Mars

    Physics students assume the role of aerospace engineers to explore the real-world problem of how to land a rover on Mars.

  • Staying On Task During Project-Based Learning

    Brief daily meetings give students working in groups the structure to hold each other accountable on long-term projects.

  • A Research-Backed Science Curriculum

    Learning collaboratively through projects yields results for middle school students.

  • Guiding Students to Apply What They Learn

    A state Teacher of the Year used project-based learning to push her students to think critically and apply their learning in math.
    Emma Chiappetta

  • Getting Started With Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don’t Go Crazy)

    A handful of tips to help teachers ease into PBL without getting overwhelmed.
    Andrew Miller

  • Twenty Ideas for Engaging Projects

    Twenty ideas for getting engaging projects going in your classroom.
    Suzie Boss

  • 6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning

    Reflecting on learning and student voice and choice are core elements of project-based learning, and they’re also key to differentiation.
    Andrew Miller

  • Boosting Student Engagement Through Project-Based Learning

    A researcher-practitioner partnership in San Francisco shows promising results for middle school science students.
    Youki Terada

  • Designed for Engagement

    A school district uses monthly missions in its design studios to increase student and teacher engagement and foster self-directed learning.
    Chad Flexon

  • New Study Shows the Impact of PBL on Student Achievement

    Researchers in Michigan show that project-based learning in high-poverty communities can produce statistically significant gains in social studies and informational reading.
    Nell K. Duke, Anne-Lise Halvorsen