Table of Contents
Find and facilitate the most appropriate project-based learning examples for your students. Tap a link below and jump straight to that section:- Project-based learning definition
- What are some project-based learning examples
- 10 Project-based learning ideas for your classroom
- Notable and effective project-based learning examples
- Pros and cons of project-based learning in the 21st century
What is project-based learning?
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- Be open-ended
- Encourage students to apply skills and knowledge they’ve developed in your classes
- Allow students to take their own approaches to develop an answer and deliver a product
What are some examples of project-based learning?
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- You present the issue, methods of investigation and any supplementary materials. It’s up to your students to deliver a defined product.
- Next, encourage students to reflect on their work and make revisions, ultimately delivering a presentation to their peers.
The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding.Following this philosophy, it’s probable – and ideal – that any project-based learning exercise you run looks different from those run by your colleagues.What matters is prioritizing your students’ needs and learning styles above the curriculum.
10 Project-based learning ideas your class will love
Here are some of the best project ideas you can easily implement.1. Play area
Give students an opportunity to apply their geometry skills by designing a new playground for the school.Using a range of free web applications, or simply grid paper and a pencil, task them with mapping out the playground while meeting certain conditions. These conditions should be based on including a certain number of 2D or 3D shapes in the components of the playground, such as slides and monkey bars. For example, at least two isosceles triangles, three equilateral triangles, four squares and so on. Once complete, each student must calculate the area and perimeter of his or her playground, as well as each component.2. Your very own math story
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3. Favorite recipes
Take a mathematical approach to nutrition by having your class analyze their favorite foods and dishes for presentations about select recipes. Each student should choose a main course, two sides and a dessert. They must then create and deliver presentations about how to make the dishes. But instead of standard cooking advice, the focus is nutritional values – calories, carbohydrates, daily vitamin intake and so on – based on the ingredients. You may need to provide a go-to resource for students to find this information, but the onus for creating a healthy meal is on them. Bon appetit!4. What happened to the dinosaurs?
5. Ancient civilization of needs
Combine history, anthropology and psychology through this project, requiring learners to envision newly-discovered ancient civilizations.The basic premise is to borrow elements from other ancient societies, creating a unique one. But there’s a catch – the society must satisfy each tier in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If students are not familiar with the theory, present it along with guiding questions. For example, “Which tier of the pyramid is most important for society to function?” These questions should encourage students to develop a collection of products, including: a written explanation of the society and how it meets Maslow’s needs; an analysis of the elements borrowed from other ancient civilizations; a visual depiction of the society and more.6. Where it comes from
7. The Oscar goes to …
Have students script a part of a significant historical event to exercise their drama, history, and creative writing skills.Whether a battle, court proceeding or formation of a powerful organization, have students choose from a list of events. Each learner’s goal is to thoroughly research an event, forming a cohesive string of scenes they’d watch in a movie or television show. This will allow them to write scripts, highlighting each figure’s motives and background. They must also pay particular attention to historical accuracy in terms of dialogue and settings. After you’ve approved each student’s script, they can form small groups and choose their favorite, acting it out in front of the class.8. Fashionista
9. A career with math
Give students a chance to look towards the future, investigating a career path that heavily relies on math.You can present a list of relevant careers or have students suggest their own. Either way, choosing a career will launch the investigation process. Each student must research the career, writing a brief report about how professionals use math in daily duties. From there, students should be able to choose a skill used in their selected procession, linking it to a skill in the curriculum. The final task is to write a textbook chapter that explains the skill while offering specific exemplifies of how and when it is used in the given career.10. The economics of pizza
Notable project-based learning examples
THINK Global School | Calling itself the “world’s first traveling high school,” THINK Global School has its students live in four countries per year while developing curriculum knowledge entirely through project-based learning. The projects are rooted in the cultures and environments surrounding the students. |
Muscatine High School | An oft-referenced example of commitment to project-based learning, Muscatine High School in Iowa worked with a third-party organization to implement project-based learning opportunities across classes and subjects. The projects are diverse, ranging from developing personal financial plans to exploring local history through interviews with community members. |
EdVisions | A non-profit organization, EdVisions’ mission is “to help and sustain great schools … using the most student-centered teaching and learning.” This largely involves partnering with schools to implement project-based learning opportunities. The organization does so by working with a given school to identify students’ learning needs and preferences, tailoring projects to them. This serves as an important reminder: Project-based learning starts and ends with students in mind. |
EdSurge | With such complex demands today’s educational system, educators worldwide are asking if elementary students can effectively complete research projects? Will they still meet required learning objectives with the teacher serving as a guide instead of teaching the curriculum in a direct, traditional manner? Yes -- and they’ve created a guide for getting started. |
Project-based learning benefits and disadvantages
Here are many of the key research-backed benefits of project-based learning:
- Increased engagement – Project-based learning empowers students to play an active role in learning, as the complex tasks they take on demand novel approaches and are relevant to real-world contexts. This creates a classroom environment in which students overwhelmingly report feeling engaged, according to a meta analysis of 82 studies.
- Better knowledge retention – Compared with traditional instruction, extensive research indicates that students who complete project-based learning exercises and assessments often show superior knowledge retention in a range of subjects from math to second-language learning. This can translate to higher performance on tests, according to a 2011 study.
- Improved critical thinking abilities – The process of completing and delivering a project-generated product inherently builds problem-solving abilities, according to research from as recent as 2010. This is because students must heavily exercise those abilities, applying them in tangible contexts. For these reasons, the research indicates that students in project-based learning environments can better use problem-solving skills out of school than those in traditional learning settings.
- More opportunities to explore EdTech – Project-based learning, by nature, enables students to use EdTech and explore Internet resources. For example, independent research is likely rooted in online searches. EdTech, on the other hand, can lend itself to creating and delivering artifacts.
Here are most of the major disadvantages of project-based learning:
- Subjectivity in assessments – When grading a project-based learning product, many critics will say you’re closing the door on objectivity. This is because, as opposed to using standardized forms of measurement, you’ll rely on subjectively assessing a range of products. For these reasons, there’s an argument you shouldn’t use project-based learning for a large part of students’ marks.
- Hyper-focus on product creation – It’s possible for the day-to-day focus of project-based learning to transition from developing and applying essential skills to merely working on a product. When this happens, you can debate that students won’t reap benefits such as improved problem solving and knowledge retention.
- Questionable application in mathematics – Largely skill-based for elementary learners, dedicating time to project-based learning may not be the best use of time. Consider this: Would students better understand multiplication by applying it in a project-based learning context, or by running through drills and word problems?
PBL final thoughts
After going through this, you should have a better understanding of project-based learning as a pedagogy, as well as how to launch certain projects.Just remember that the teaching method must be student-centered. What works for some teachers may not work for you, and what works for you may not work for others.But you’ll never know until you try.👉 Create or log in to your teacher on Prodigy – a free, game-based learning platform for math that’s easy to use for educators and students alike. Curriculum-aligned and hyper-engaging, it’s loved by over 1.5 million teachers and 90 million students.