Mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, STEAM and PBL–all things that perfectly go hand in hand! In fact, project-based learning (PBL) is at the heart of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) curriculum. In any rigorous STEAM lesson, PBL is the avenue by which students acquire deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. In this article, you’ll learn how to enhance STEAM PBL projects, design appropriate PBL driving questions, and encourage discourse during PBL lessons.
There’s a pretty good reason why every STEAM curriculum is designed around PBL: when it comes to both student learning gains and long-term retention, it works! A project-based learning curriculum has shown to have a wide-ranging and positive impact on a plethora of areas, including…
Motivation
21st Century Skills
Teacher Satisfaction
Community Connection
Already hooked on project-based learning and can’t wait to get started designing your next lesson? Learn more about the benefits of this student-centered pedagogy by downloading our STEAM Project-based Learning Resource Kit today!
While it’s true that a project-based learning curriculum has immense benefits for both students and teachers, for PBL lessons to be fully effective, they must have a handful of key elements.
Challenging Problem or Question
The reason that PBL lessons feel so meaningful to students is because of this critical problem/solution structure. When students formulate their own challenging questions and then seek out answers by designing and carrying out a project, they are learning hands-on, relevant knowledge. Students are engaged deeply in the learning process and retain this information longer because the content is immediately purposeful as they apply it to innovative solutions.
Deep Integration of Academic Standards
One objection educators have to PBL curricula is the work it requires to implement. They want to know if the trouble will be worth it in terms of student learning gains. And it is–if done well! That’s why all effective PBL lessons should deepen students' knowledge of core subject areas by aligning with academic standards.
Student Voice
Faced with a challenging problem or question, students must be able to exercise judgment and make decisions about how to resolve it. Otherwise, the project becomes an exercise, a set of directions to follow.
Sustained Inquiry
Inquiry is at the heart of all effective PBL lessons. Challenging problems or questions are used to launch an inquiry designed to solve the problem or answer the driving question. The classic PBL project begins with students asking, “What do we know?” and “What do we need to know?”
Reflection
Careful reflection on their own work allows students to assess whether or not they are solving their own driving questions/problems effectively. This step allows students to use critical thinking and innovation skills to either proceed with their plan or make necessary adjustments.
Check out our FREE PBL reflection worksheets–one small piece of our overall STEAM Project-based Learning Resource Kit today!
At this point, you might be excited and ready to give PBL a shot. But knowing just how to get started can feel pretty intimidating, especially with a lesson that requires so much planning and preparation. While we can’t make your photocopies for you or help divide your supplies into even groups, we can help provide a few key tips and tricks to enhance your project-based learning instruction right from the start.
All highly-effective project-based learning lessons are built around a single organizing principle: answering a driving question! Knowing just what a driving question is and how to write an intriguing one is key to making your PBL lessons exciting, engaging, meaningful, and worthwhile.
These types of deep, open-ended inquiries motivate and guide students to analyze, design, collaborate, and innovate. Highly-effective driving questions should also…
For a plug-and-go driving questions formula (and more), check out our STEAM Project-based Learning Resource Kit today!
Any high-performing PBL environment should be rich with classroom discourse. Through collaborative conversations and teamwork, students not only sharpen their interpersonal skills but also explore new information and dive deeper into course concepts.
To make the most of your PBL lessons, it’s vital to nurture a supportive, open classroom culture that welcomes robust student discourse and…
While this type of discourse is vital to a high-performing PBL environment, cultivating these types of advanced collaborative discussions can be both challenging and delicate. One way to help get students started if they’re feeling shy, stuck, or unmotivated is to use question stems and prompts, such as…
For even more question stems, prompts, and ideas on how to make the most out of your next PBL lesson, check out our STEAM Project-based Learning Resource Kit.
As teachers, schools, and districts across the country realize the incredible benefits of inquiry-based learning, there’s been a growing excitement for STEAM curricula and project-based learning lessons. To make the most out of your PBL lessons, it’s important to know what project-based learning looks like, why it’s so important, and how to enhance your PBL projects. For even more resources and expert tips and tricks on how to kickstart PBL in your school, download our STEAM Project-based Learning Resource Kit.