Project-based Learning – A Primer.

One of the most exciting projects I carried out during my undergraduate studies was a year-long research on project-based learning (PBL), an approach to teaching and learning centered around projects. This research project drove me to network with professionals including teachers, college professors, high school principals, edtech consultants, education ministry officials, and many others. I have since designed and enacted my own PBL module for a 300-level undergraduate Economics class, a process I am currently writing about and reflecting on. But what is PBL, and why has it retained my attention for the past two years or so?

PBL is the use of projects in teaching and learning. It is not to be confused with the project method, another approach which involves the use of projects to complement teaching. The key is in the word “complement”. Think of lab sessions where you would carry out a project to further reinforce what you had learnt in class -that’s the project method. In PBL, you learn by conducting the project. Among other things, the difference lies in the centrality of the project.

In PBL, students actively construct knowledge and represent the outcome in a publicly displayed artifact. Also, rather than deliver information, instructors scaffold the learning process for students by providing frameworks, resources, models, and other cognitive tools. Another defining feature of PBL is a central question which drives the entire project. These features make PBL such an ideal tool for equipping students with the 4Cs and bridging the divide between school and the real world.

Popularly known as the 21st Century Skills, the 4C’s refer to competencies in Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication. These competencies have been identified as central to the 21st century, considering the rapid socio-technological changes that take place around us. PBL places students in charge of their learning process, giving them the opportunity to practice critical thinking as they ask questions rather than receive information from instructors. The approach also encourages the use of teams, sharpening collaboration skills among students. Communication and creativity are at the core of PBL as students share their conceptions with their colleagues, instructors and the wider community.

Schools are fundamentally institutions that prepare students for the real world. It is this belief that drives some to question the value of complicated mathematical formulae or chemical symbols, and rightly so when all these people want to do is paint, bake, or design bridges. Where the traditional approach fails to draw connections, PBL gracefully excels by placing learning in a real-world context. Imagine not just memorizing the periodic table or reading about it but constructing one for your very own universe (whatever that is). PBL gives considerable autonomy to students, allowing them to operate within their interests while they achieve strategic learning outcomes under the guide of an instructor. For an institution that is constantly criticized for standardizing learning, this is an invaluable opportunity for personalization.

I’ll give you an example. During my undergraduate research project, I visited a private school where students were being taught using a slight variation of PBL. One of the teachers was kind enough to give me access to teaching materials and lesson plans, in addition to class visits. I witnessed a math class in which the students were learning units of measurements by constructing miniature apartment models out of cardboard. This was in 3rd grade. Another project saw students design a monument for a city (the one I live in) and present it to the city officials (yes, the real city officials were in attendance for the presentations). That was for middle school students. And there was the veteran teacher who used PBL to organize a fundraiser to combat skin diseases that students were experiencing in a Filipino squatter area. I could go on and on, but the point remains: This amount of relevance in education is a clear differentiation factor; it builds confidence, prods students to be constantly creative, and breeds problem solvers.

Yes, there are challenges too. Most of the challenges, I know from the literature; some, I experienced firsthand during my first PBL enactment. Let’s consider two categories of problems with PBL: participant roles and stages. In participant roles, we can consider time, classroom management, assessment, etc. Assessment for example refers to the problems instructors face when assessing projects like these. Fortunately, there are assessment strategies that are well-described, studied, and recommended by experts, professionals, and researchers. In stages, we can consider problems during planning, design, enactment, etc. Here, a classic example is managing the focus and perceived capabilities of students during the design phase.

The body of PBL is growing rapidly. There are countless reports on PBL modules in academic journals. Some countries already implement this model at a nationwide level, along with other approaches to instruction in schools. My country, Ghana is exploring the model through T-TEL which is an initiative to transform colleges of education into fully fledged tertiary institutions. There are several major organizations like Buck Institute for Education (BIE) and others which support teachers as they enact PBL. And there are people like me who have seen the model in action and marvel at its potential. A few weeks ago, I finished my first PBL module and I’m even more optimistic about its potential to help us pursue personalized education, making it more practical, fun, and relevant as we model and solve real-world challenges.