Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching /learning method in which students inves4gate and respond to a challenging ques4on or problem. The goals for using PBL are to engage students in academic content in personal ways and build skills they can use in real life.
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
Essen4al elements include:
• Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills includes standards-based content and skills like cri4cal thinking/problem solving, collabora4on, and self-management
• Challenging Problem or QuesMon meaningful problem to solve or a ques4on to answer
• Sustained Inquiry rigorous, extended process of asking ques4ons, finding resources, and applying informa4on
• AuthenMcity real-world context, tasks and tools, quality standards, or impact – or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests, and issues in their lives
• Student Voice & Choice students make some project decisions
• ReflecMon students and teachers reflect on learning, the effec4veness of their inquiry and ac4vi4es, the quality of student work, obstacles, and how to overcome them
EXAMPLES
A Fight with Gravity Grades 9-12 students documented their own physics experiments in order to fight gravity using kites, balloons, and other flying objects of their own creaEon.
In Pompeii: Scenes of DestrucEon Middle school students asked, “What can you learn about the values of a society from the arEfacts they carry with them into exile or as they flee a natural disaster?”
In My Shoes Elementary students learned about shoe design before creaEng their own in order to explore them as a point for a study of idenEty and diversity.
• CriMque & Revision students give, receive, and use feedback to improve their process and products
• Public Product students make their project work public by explaining, displaying and/or presen4ng it to people beyond the classroom
Source: May 2023 Blog post adapted from Gold Standard PBL: The EssenBal Project Design Elements” white paper by John Larmer and John Mergendoller (2015)
BENEFITS
Students take ownership of their learning and build meaningful understanding of academic concepts while also incorpora4ng skills that many districts are trying to emphasize collabora4on, communica4on, crea4vity and cri4cal thinking. Students are engaged and persevere to answer their problem. "One of the major advantages of project work is that it makes school more like real life. It's an in-depth inves<ga<on of a real-world topic worthy of children's a>en<on and effort." Resource: EducaBon Researcher Sylvia Chard
WORK IN KENTUCKY
Beginning more than ten years ago, schools/districts in Kentucky put a strong focus on Project Based Learning in conjunc4on with the Districts of Innova4on op4ons. Eminence Independent Schools was an early adopter of PBL and con4nues going strong. PBL has been a renewed focus in the last three years as part of the United We Learn deeper learning ini4a4ve. The Scaling Gold Standard PBL Kentucky ini4a4ve is in the third year of partnership that aims to scale high quality project-based learning to one-third of Kentucky’s public schools. The Ohio Valley Educa4on Coopera4ve (OVEC) is also a leader in PBL see more at elevatedstudios.org
POSSIBLE ISSUES / SOLUTIONS
If done well, PBL yields great results. If PBL is not done well, assignments and ac4vi4es labeled “projects” may not be rigorous projects with the components of a true Project Based Learning project. Underprepared teachers can result in wasted 4me, frustra4on, and failure to understand the possibili4es of PBL. Get started by choosing an opportune 4me to implement one project in the classroom without worrying about what it might look like in a classroom beyond that.
2. DEEPER LEARNING
SUMMARY/GOALS
Deeper Learning is the leading emphasis of the Hewlett Foundation, a major force in education policy nationally. The term describes experiences in which students:
• focus on big ideas
• build a stronger/deeper understanding of academic concepts
• use knowledge and skills that will prepare them for real life
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
While learning academic fundamentals across all subjects, students in Deeper Learning programs take charge of their own learning and develop especially strong skills in: critical thinking, collaboration, and communication
Think of the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
BENEFITS
EXAMPLE
From the Hewlett Foundation:
Middle school students build a wind turbine to understand how electricity is produced and discuss how the project could be redesigned to improve the results.
Participating students read about wind energy projects and study and map areas nearby with potential as wind turbine sites.
The study would also include student art and/or essays to deepen the understanding of the topic.
Students are exposed to real issues and problems. The skills emphasized help students develop experiences and knowledge that will help them succeed in college, careers, and adult life. As they develop skills including self-directed learning and an academic growth mindset focused on meaningful understanding of the content, students are better positioned to define and achieve their own goals.
APPLICATION IN SCHOOLS
“Deeper Learning” may be the name used for an initiative in a school/district, but it is also an umbrella term used for strategies that promote deeper learning by students: project-based learning, work-based learning, personalized learning.
WORK IN KENTUCKY
In connection with the United We Learn efforts in Kentucky, in 2022, the eight regional education co-ops started a Deeper Learning collaboration. Robb Smith, former superintendent in Bellevue Independent, leads this work for the Kentucky Association of Education Cooperatives (www.kaec8.org). According to the cooperative website (June 2024):
§ There are 157 school districts participating in the Deeper Learning initiative.
§ In the first year, district-designed plans impacted 7,903 educators through professional learning.
§ The KAEC Deeper Learning team is comprised of 27 accomplished educators from across Kentucky.
POSSIBLE ISSUES / SOLUTIONS
Teachers need adequate support for training and planning. Deeper Learning activities may require teachers and schools to make decisions about how to use time and adjust a philosophy from “covering” content to deeper understanding of content. Focus on going deeper, not wider. The Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) provides great information on which standards should go deeper.
3. EXPEDITIONARY LEARNING SUMMARY/GOALS
Expedi2onary Learning (EL) emphasizes academic and self-discovery, connec5ng students with adults and each other while working through ac5ve learning challenges that are o;en 5ed to issues in the local community or help students connect with issues in the larger world.
Expedi5onary Learning grew from work by the nonprofit group Outward Bound and the Harvard Graduate School of Educa5on and other partners. The first schools using the model opened in 1993, and as of June 2024 there are 294 schools in the USA.
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
Expedi5onary Learning picks up on key concepts from Outward Bound’s team-building: learning experiences are designed as “expedi5ons,” and students and par5cipants are described as “crew” members, not passengers. The design principles of Expedi5onary Learning (EL):
§ seek mutual connection between students and adults
§ promote learning from success and failure
§ expect learning to be discovering ideas, sparking new thinking
§ build in an appreciation for service and the natural world. Think of the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning analyzing, evalua5ng, and crea5ng.
BENEFITS
EXAMPLES
Cow Anatomy During a spring expedi6on, 1st and 2nd-grade students learned about the symbio6c rela6onships between plants and animals. As they studied these rela6onships, they took an in-depth look at dairy cows and their rela6onship to plants.
Beetlemania Students in grades 5 and 6 developed a field guide to the Rocky Mountain Beetle infesta6on in the Colorado forest ecosystem
Mobility Device Grades 7-12 Students, par6cipa6ng in a studio called “Easing Cerebral Palsy,” were challenged to design a device that would increase mobility for children with Cerebral Palsy, par6cularly for low-income users.
Examples from the EL website: modelsofexcellence.eleduca>on.org
Expeditionary Learning builds on the natural curiosity of students and creates strong relationships among students and between students and teachers. The connection between real-world issues, nature, and the local community ties the schoolwork to reality and makes learning more meaningful. Expeditionary Learning schools are focused on state academic standards and preparation for college and career, meaning that students experience the aspects of traditional schooling but in an atmosphere that is more intentional about building connections that strengthen students and make them more active and engaged in their own learning.
WORK IN KENTUCKY
The Expedi5onary Learning website (eleduca5on.org) lists Jefferson County as a partner district with three schools using Expedi5onary Learning:
§ Auburndale Elementary School
§ Fairdale High School
§ King Elementary School
POSSIBLE ISSUES / SOLUTIONS
Additional schools bordering Kentucky:
§ Explorer Academy, Huntington, WV Cincinnati, OH:
§ Clifton Area Neighborhood School
§ College Hill Fundamental Academy
§ Mt. Washington School
§ Rees E. Price Academy
Expedi5onary Learning resources can improve any learning environment, even individual classrooms, but the concept is designed as a program. New approaches also take 5me to shape and refine, so realizing that the first effort may not be a total success takes understanding and prepara5on, too. Discussions and planning about how content will be covered and how student engagement is valued can be tricky in schools or districts where all teachers are not on board with a different approach to teaching. A good place to start is with a team or small group of teachers.
Design Thinking equips students to exercise creativity in problem solving, examining real situations for new solutions or better approaches across disciplines Design Thinking, used in K-12 education, is a way to build beginning skills for innovators and a familiarity with a process that is useful throughout life. Design thinking is closely associated with Stanford University “d.school” which has described the process this way: “Design thinking is a structured approach for human-centered, creative problem solving.”
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
Design Thinking teaches students a process for understanding the issues in a situaGon and finding novel ways to address a challenge or problem. The steps include:
1. Define problem/challenge
2. Learn about and understand about the problem/challenge
3. Brainstorm solutions to the problem/challenge
4. Create and test solution prototypes
5. Adapt and refine solutions to create a final product or approach
BENEFITS
EXAMPLE
Foil Challenge: Create an Ea@ng Tool A rapidcycle challenge to introduce K-3rd graders to design thinking. Students interview one another in pairs about their favorite foods. They then use a square of aluminum to design a tool for ea@ng this food.
Source: Ge#ng Started with Design Thinking, Stanford University Hasso Pla6ner Ins8tute of Design, also known as the “d.school”
Design Thinking helps students find ways to approach issues and problems and be empowered to develop solutions. The process incorporates creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and other valuable skills for real-world opportunities throughout life. It also allows students to practice seeing unmet needs from others’ perspective and pondering ways to create solutions. The idea of building prototypes that should be adapted makes the concept of refinement and editing, often used in schoolwork, as being vital adult-world skills.
WORK IN KENTUCKY
Design Thinking has been used in many schools/districts throughout Kentucky for decades. The process is often used along with Project Based Learning and Deeper Learning. The University of Kentucky College of Education runs the Laboratory on Design Thinking in Education, our state’s own ‘d.school.’ UK also has a popular college class, “Design Thinking in Education.”
POSSIBLE ISSUES / SOLUTIONS
Design Thinking requires extensive planning and preparaGon. Get started by choosing an opportune Gme to implement one Design Thinking project in the classroom without worrying about what Design Thinking might look like in a classroom beyond that.
5. INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
SUMMARY/GOALS
Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) starts with a compelling question that engages students directly in their learning. Students explore the question, gather information, use higher-order thinking skills and problem solving to draw conclusions and solve problems. The teacher serves as a guide and facilitator of students constructing meaning instead of the teacher presenDng facts and knowledge about the topic.
FG: No need to menDon this in the session, but if it makes you think of John Dewey and ConstrucDvist Learning, that’s right on the mark. Similar movements were referred to as ‘discovery learning’ in the past.
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
Based Learning (IBL) is a process and not a specific program, so the way educators use IBL varies depending on the source. KASC has summarized different versions to provide an overview:
1. Identify the compelling question that guides the inquiry
2. Build background knowledge
3. Analyze and research information needed to address the question
4. Construct answers, findings, solutions, and arguments using supporting evidence
5. Take appropriate action to solve problems and tackle real-life issues
BENEFITS
• engages students
• enables students to be leaders in their learning
• motivates students to think critically and appreciate learning
• develops a deeper, more meaningful understanding of the content
• models problem-solving that translates to most subjects and careers
• develops initiative and self-direction
WORK IN KENTUCKY
EXAMPLE
Two classrooms of Kentucky students focused on this compelling question Can the civics test make you a good citizen?
Students investigate the US citizenship/civics test, a graduation requirement for all Kentucky students. Students research and discuss what it means to be a “good citizen,” take the civics test and analyze the class performance, and then use evidence to convince classmates of the most important material on the test.
In addition to providing meaning for a state requirement, this inquiry opens the possibilities for the students taking action to become better citizens and help others do the same.
Source: C3 Teachers, Civics Test (c3teachers.org/inquiries/civics-test/)
In addition to free inquiry materials, C3 Teachers provide a top-quality 15-minute video where you can see this inquiry process in action. (makinginquirypossible.org/what-does-inquiry-looklike/#single/0)
Many schools and districts in Kentucky use inquiry-based learning to facilitate more vibrant, meaningful learning for students as it provides a framework that can be used with state standards from any content area.
In the 2022-23 school. year, the Kentucky Summative Assessment for Social Studies shifted from fact-based to inquirybased questions, aligning with newly adopted academic standards. This transition made inquiry-based learning a central component in Social Studies classrooms across Kentucky.
POSSIBLE ISSUES / SOLUTIONS
Inquiry-based learning takes planning and preparation, and a classroom shift where the teacher serves as a facilitator of learning and not the main ‘source’ of the knowledge and skills. Teachers and students will need organized scaffolding and support as they are experiencing new ways to learn.
