Welcome to "PBL Primer Series", a go-to guide for teachers and educators stepping into the world of Project-Based Learning (PBL). This series is crafted to swiftly bring you up to speed on what PBL is all about and how to adeptly integrate it into your teaching repertoire.
In the fourth part of the PBL Primer Series, we unpack the indispensable core elements of Project-Based Learning, providing insight into how these fundamental components work in concert to create an effective and transformative educational experience.
Topic
The first element that constitutes PBL is the project topic. The core of PBL is to solve a meaningful problem, and this problem is thereby the topic of PBL.
The topic of PBL can be definite or open-ended. A definite topic is explicitly given by the project designer, such as "develop a modern library system for our school". An open-ended PBL topic is one in which the project designer determines the general direction and scope of the problem, and then the students explore within that scope to find a specific topic of interest. For example, an open-ended PBL topic might be "Helping local businesses improve environmental sustainability", and students would determine which industry or specific business they would like to study. Comparatively, an open-ended PBL can balance the designer's goals with the student's individual interests to the greatest extent.
What kind of topics are appropriate for PBL? In determining the topic for PBL, designers should pay attention to the following five characteristics.
Specificity - Both definite topics and open-ended topics need to be somewhat specific. For example, the two examples we mentioned above, "Developing a modern library system for our school" and "Helping local businesses improve environmental sustainability", both offer students a clear picture of the PBL topic. However, a topic such as "solving social problems" is too broad for students to quickly comprehend the orientation and goals of the project, thus undermining the learning effectiveness.
Significance - The core of PBL is to solve a meaningful problem, so the topic of PBL must be of certain significance. The significance can be either to a certain group of people or a community or be of great social significance. Only when students can perceive the significance of this problem, will they take the PBL more seriously in mind and action, so that the pedagogical goals of PBL can be readily achieved.
Authenticity - In addition to being significant, the topic of PBL should also be real. To a certain extent, only real problems are important. Moreover, PBL emphasizes applicability, and one of its core purposes is to enable students to learn knowledge and skills and apply them to real-life situations through practice. Real topics resonate better with students and can better establish a connection between theory and application. Real-world projects can also help promote civic awareness and the social engagement of students.
Challenging - PBL requires students to explore real, complex problems, so the topic of PBL must be challenging to students. The ultimate goal of PBL is to have students learn new knowledge and skills. If the topic of PBL is not challenging at all, this goal will be difficult to achieve, and students will lack the motivation to engage in PBL.
Operability - While a good PBL topic is challenging, it also needs to fit in with the resources and abilities of the target audience, that is, the topic is operable and achievable for the participating students. Operability includes multiple dimensions, such as time, geography, resources, abilities, etc. A topic such as "Improving the supply chain of the domestic dairy industry" is clearly not operable and achievable for high school students.
Framework
After determining the topic of PBL, the designer needs to develop the framework of PBL. This framework determines how students should complete the whole project step by step and what methods they should use to complete it. The PBL framework reflects both the process and the methodology of the project.
The Process
Why the process is important in PBL
PBL is a process that allows students to learn new knowledge or skills as they complete projects, so a well-designed process has a great impact on student learning outcomes. A good PBL process should be step-by-step and interlocking. Students will have inputs and outputs at each step of PBL completion process, and the results of all the steps together make up the final outcome of the whole project.
How the framework reflects the process
How students should complete the process of PBL step by step is reflected in the framework of PBL, which are highly corresponded to each other. The process is linear with Step 1, Step 2 ......, while the framework is more complex, divided into sessions or stages containing several specific steps. The framework should intuitively tell students what they should do in each session or stage to avoid them from doing the wrong way or taking a wrong turn.
The Methodology
Why the methodology is important in PBL
In addition to process, PBL also has a focus on methodology. Methodology determines the way students investigate and solve problems. PBL expects students to eventually build a set of knowledge and skill that can be applied in practice, and the most important thing is to develop a problem-solving mindset so that they can go beyond the mechanical model of solving a particular problem and apply their knowledge or skills in various situations to solve problems.
How the framework reflects the methodology
Like the process, the framework also reflects the methodology. How to solve a problem through specific steps and processes implies a mindset of problem-solving. A good framework is one that corresponds highly to the methodology so that students can develop the mindset of problem-solving. If the framework and methodology do not correspond, there will be a disconnect between how students think and what they actually do, thus greatly reducing the effectiveness of learning.
The Integration of Framework, Process and Methodology
A good PBL should unify framework, process, and methodology so that students can intuitively follow the framework to complete the project step by step and solve the problem in a certain way of thinking based on the guidance of the methodology during the process. In this sense, the framework is equal to the process as well as to the methodology, and the process and methodology are also unified.
Complementary Elements
In addition to the core topic and framework, a successful PBL program cannot be achieved without various complementary elements. Depending on the characteristics and objectives of PBL, designers are free to add or subtract some elements.
The following are some of the commonly used complementary elements in PBL.
Project Plan
In the startup stage of PBL, students may be required to develop a project plan. A project plan can help students to better plan the overall project schedule and the approach to proceed with the project. It can enable students to drive the project with big picture and strategy, rather than on a step-by-step basis. The key point in developing a project plan is to clarify the important timelines, the tasks that need to be completed at each point, and the team members should all follow the project plan to perform the tasks and yet should also have some flexibility.
Labor Division of the Team
Most PBL requires team-based participation, and the team needs to agree on each team member's role and responsibility before starting the project. Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each team member can help the team reduce conflicts and duplication of effort, as well as make communication and decision-making more effective. Usually, no matter what type of PBL project, there will be the role of team leader, and other roles needed will depend on the specific project. The teamwork arrangement must be decided and agreed upon by the team together, otherwise, it may harm the teamwork.
Research
In PBL, students may need to conduct certain research on their own. Research can be classified into primary research and secondary research. The former is where students use questionnaires, interviews, observations, etc. to collect first-hand information, while the latter is to collect second-hand information through the Internet, literature, etc. Depending on the needs of the information, students can adopt different research methods, and the designer and facilitator can provide some help, such as providing available questionnaire templates, etc.
Review and Reflection
At the end of the project or a significant phase of it, students should reflect on all aspects of the project, including the content, methodology, information gathered, quality of the project, problems and solutions encountered during the process. As evaluation and reflection continue, the quality of the project improves and profoundly influences the future application and practice of the student's knowledge and skills. Objective self-evaluation and reflection can also enhance students' critical thinking.
Achievement Presentation
Once the project is completed, students are required to explain, present, or share the results of their project to the public. Through presentations, students have the opportunity to practice public speaking skills and develop practical thinking, as well as to receive authentic feedback from the outside world, which prompts them to critically reflect on and analyze their projects. In addition, when the results are evaluated and discussed, it means that the work is valuable, and students can gain a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence by completing such a project or work.
Supplementary Learning Sources
Designers can provide some learning materials to students that have a high relevance to the project to help students better master the knowledge or skills needed for a particular session, or provide some resources to broaden their thinking and provide inspiration. For example, in Social Innovation, the learning materials include not only explanations of the concept of value chains but also videos that introduce real social innovation practices. The learning materials can be provided in the form of texts, audio, and video, or even some available web resources.
Checklist
Each session in PBL can contain a checklist for students to self-check the completion of the task. As each session is completed and the results required for that session are submitted, students can check against the checklist to make sure their results meet the set goals or standards and can help ensure the quality of completion. The checklist is not only a tool for checking after completion but also guides students before they act. By observing the criteria implied in the checklist before practice, students can better understand what their results should look like.
Critique
Critique is made by the instructor during the PBL process based on the students' completion of the project. The PBL process is progressive. As students complete each phase, there may be some deviations or omissions that they are not aware of. If they just move on to the next phase like this, small problems can grow like a snowball, and may affect the final outcome. This is where critique can help students identify problems and fix them in time to correct the direction of the project.
Evaluation
Critique occurs during the project process, while evaluation is made by professional jury about the project results after the students have completed the whole project and delivered the results. The designer of PBL needs to design an evaluation form or a rubric by developing the scoring dimensions and evaluation criteria, so that the jury can evaluate the results of each group objectively and each group's completion and quality of the project can be truly and objectively reflected.
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