Group items tagged

As most of you know, the uber gods of PBL are BIE. I was first introduced to the BIE PBL 'model' from mate Dean Groom who handed me over what I still refer to as my 'PBL Bible' - a ring-binder full of the BIE Freebies that help teachers plan effective projects and keep students on track as they move through the different phases of each project. The cool thing is that you can use as much or as little as you want … PBL is a very personal process that (like all good teaching) should be tailored to the expertise and needs of the teacher and students. However, there are 8 Elements of Project Based Learning that can be called the 'essential elements' of PBL … keeping an eye on these and 'testing' your project design based on them can help you determine if what you're creating isn't just a 'project'. I really like this statement from BIE contrasting PBL and traditional 'projects':

A typical unit with a "project" add-on begins by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once gained, giving students the opportunity to apply them. Project Based Learning begins with the vision of an end product or presentation. This creates a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.

Video from BIE on how to create a DQ

Video from BIE on how to create a DQ

Download this file from BIE - a Tubric (tube + rubric) to help create good DQ's.

Download this file from BIE - a Tubric (tube + rubric) to help create good DQ's.

An excellent archived webinar at Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org) on DQ's presenter by John Larmer.

An excellent archived webinar at Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org) on DQ's presenter by John Larmer.

It's a practical guide to building 21st century-student competency in the "4 C's" - critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity/innovation. The book is designed for middle school and high school teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders. It also shows how the 4 C's in a PBL context align with the Common Core State Standards. Sample projects, CCSS-aligned 4 C's rubrics, tips for technology in projects, notes for school leaders on building support for 21st century learning with PBL. Authors: Suzie Boss, author and BIE National Faculty, and John Larmer, Editor-in-Chief, BIE

"We have recently completed a national survey of PBL use in US high schools." Might be BIE-centric (several articles by John Mergendoller, other principals of BIE),

I am collecting articles that evaluate efficacy of the pbl approach.

"What is it? Here's an article by BIE, updated from its original appearance in the September 2010 issue of Educational Leadership magazine from ASCD. Good for general audiences as well as educators, it explains the essential elements that make rigorous PBL different from "doing projects." Why do we like it? This article was written because some teachers say they "do projects" already (so why learn more about PBL) and some educators and members of the general public may have negative stereotypes of PBL as merely a "fun" or "hands-on" activity. How can you use it? Share this article with anyone, from teachers to parents to administrators, to explain PBL and provide a common framework for projects. The 8 Essential Elements are the basis of BIE's Project Design Rubric and PBL 101 Workshop."

PBL Project based learning BIE 

When people ask about the inspiration for our style of videos, I often say that our videos reflect the way that I wish I had learned in school. My learning style wasn't a good match for the way I was taught. Recently we completed a custom video project with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) that focuses on a Project Based Learning or "PBL", and boy did it open my eyes. I can now see that I needed teachers who put PBL to work. I needed to get up from my desk and engage. I needed to work on a real-world issue and use creativity and problem solving - what are known as 21st century skills these days. This video is an introduction to PBL and how it impacted a science teacher's students and helped their community.

"The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) Staff, National Faculty, & Special Guests blog about anything & everything about Project Based Learning (PBL)."

New rubrics from BIE synthsizing critical thinking, creativity, communication skills in PBL

How do we assess in a PBLL environment? 

How do we manage activities in a PBLL class?

The TUBRIC is not only a great hands-on activity for teachers during professional development, but it's also a great collaborative tool to help your students create their own Driving Questions for their projects. So just download it, print it, and build it!

In this first three-part post, John Larmer describes how he and co-author Susie Boss answered the question in their newly published book, 'PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity'. In the next post, Deborah Esparza will review the book from "the field". For the final post, co-author Susie Boss has been invited to explain why she and John choose this topic.

1st of 3 articles introducing Larmer & Boss' new book published by BIE

Good review from #PBLWorld about driving questions, and links to more resources, including from BIE and Edutopia