You may be inclined to think Project-based Learning (PBL) is the typical project we have all done at some point in school where a group of students have to do a poster, or a presentation, or... WRONG! That would be, well... just doing a project. Project-based learning is so much more than that!
For a project like the ones we know, teaching is done first and then the students do the project. In PBL, the teaching is done through the project, so the project is the whole unit, not just one lesson or activity. In this method, students work for a long time investigating and gathering information, as well as forming their own opinions about a specific topic, which is usually provided by the teacher in the shape of a driving question or a challenge. The goal is for the students to work towards a final public product or presentation that shows their acquired knowledge and skills.
I think this wonderful framework is really useful for all ages, but specially during Secondary Education and Bachillerato. After all, the skills they will be putting into practice with this method (critical thinking, problem-solving, communication skills, collaboration, etc.) are incredibly useful for their future, and they align with the objectives of their academic year. It also allows for a great deal of creativity both for the teacher and students. You can use traditional tools, or ICT tools; you can do it for one subject (for English, or Maths...) or you can carry out an interdisciplinary project involving more than one subject. The driving question keeps the students invested in the project, which will lead to them gladly working on it. Since the students will be investigating, they will not only remember and understand, but they will also apply the knowledge and create original work. This follows all the steps for Bloom's Taxonomy!
Ultimately, I think what matters most is the students will acquire knowledge, work on their skills, and they will do so happily since they are interested in what they are doing. It is true it can be quite time-consuming for the teacher to plan it, but you can do so many cool projects!
What do you think, would you give PBL a chance??
I’ll definetly use PBL in my future classes. I love how students can work in groups so they can share and debate their ideas for the final product. In addition, creativity is fundamental for the scholars to work on… thanks for bring in this topic!