Project-Based Learning

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

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

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

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

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

A school-based professional learning community (PLC) is well structured to enhance all aspects of project-based learning.

A project-based learning unit that left students feeling unenthusiastic had valuable lessons for the teachers who prepared it.

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

Twenty ideas for getting engaging projects going in your classroom.

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

Project-based learning (PBL) naturally lends itself to differentiated instruction. By design, it is student-centered, student-driven, and gives space for teachers to meet the needs of students in a variety of ways. PBL can allow for effective differentiation in assessment as well as daily management and instruction. Here are some specific differentiation strategies to use during a PBL project.

Researchers in Michigan show that project-based learning in high-poverty communities can produce statistically significant gains in social studies and informational reading.