Project-Based Learning: Making Learning Relevant and Meaningful

Are you looking for strategies for creating consistently engaging lessons that promote critical thinking, capture student attention, and provide real-world connections? If so, project-based learning (PBL) may be for you. In project-based learning, students investigate and respond to a complex question, problem, or challenge. PBL engages students in solving real-world problems, often reaching across subject areas and encouraging students to see connections between disciplines.

This course introduces you to frameworks and techniques that enable your students to complete a learning project based on the questions they’re asking themselves about the world around them, all while building cooperative learning and 21st-century skills. After developing a clear understanding of what project-based learning is and isn’t, you will brainstorm project ideas, driving questions, and culminating products. Using backward design, you will design a project based on student interests and curricular requirements. By the end of the course, you will be equipped with the knowledge necessary to plan and implement project-based learning in your classroom to inspire and engage your students.

• Larmer, J., Ross, D., & Mergendoller, J.R. (2017). PBL Starter Kit: to-the-point advice, tools, and tips for your first project in middle or high school. Novato, CA: Buck Institute for Education.
• Hallerman, S., Larmer, J., & Mergendoller, J.R. (2011). PBL in the elementary grades: step-by-step guidance, tools, and tips for standards-focused k–5 projects. Novato, CA: Buck Institute for Education.