Course Notes

NOTE: ALL MATERIALS COPIED OR ADAPTED FROM INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY WITH PROJECT BASED LEARNING COURSE OFFERED VIA WORLD EDUCATION FACILITATED BY DIANA SATIN.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is defined as “a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge.” Results are publicly shareable. 

Types of Projects:
inquiry, problem, challenged-based.

Steps of a Project
1. Design the Project
2. Introduce the Problem
3. Manage the Work
4. Guide Learning
5. Facilitate Presenting/Sharing
6. Assess the Experience

Project Overview Handout should include:
The Why: Provide a brief overview. Review any background, who the audience will be and reason for this project, restating the driving question.

The What: Layout the project "need” list. This will be basically a list of deliverables or what you need to get from students by the end of the project.

The When:  Create a 2- 3 week schedule. (This might have to be a hypothetical one for the sake of this assignment.) Explain concisely what you and students will be doing. State when products need to be turned in (include times for drafts and revisions) and the presentation given (include a practice session). Also include plans for sharing the product with an outside audience.

The Where:  Say where a copy of this document will be located and how students will be able to access it.

The Who: Provide any contact information such as email addresses and how groups will be formed with group roles determined.

The How: Provide any guidance on the process, the product and presentation. Provide any links to samples they can use as a guide.  Provide links to technology tools students will use.

The How Well: Provide a rubric or checklist that will be used to evaluate learners' knowledge and skills. Depending on the learning objectives or standards you are working on, you may develop separate rubrics ranging from content-based to those for presentations or writing.  Making sure students understand these expectations before they begin a project, guide learners to success by helping them understand what you think is exemplary work. It is certainly better than hearing after completing the project when it is too late.