Dive Brief:
- Through project-based learning, educators can make challenging subjects engaging by emphasizing the relationship between classroom learning, real-world problems and student interests.
- “Authenticity helps students connect,” whether it’s something relevant to their lives, the world outside of school, the way people do projects or work, or a topic that’s relevant and timely in their community or the broader world, said Bob Lenz, CEO of PBLWorks. The nonprofit provides project-based learning resources for schools and educators.
- A 2024 study by Gallup found that 46% of Gen Z students in K-12 said their interest is driven by opportunities to engage with learning material in a hands-on way, and about 1 in 3 said they enjoy what they are learning most when they can make real-world connections.
Dive Insight:
In project-based learning, as described by PBLWorks, students spend an extended period working on a project that involves solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a public product or presentation for their class.
One example, Lenz said, is a 6th grade math project based on community recipes: Students take a family recipe and create a blog post sharing the recipe and their family history. Students then have to do the math so they can scale that recipe to feed the whole class. Lenz said this motivates them to understand the math in the context of something they're really proud of.
He recommends that teachers discern what their student’s interests are, and then either do a project based on a theme many are interested in or structure the learning with some opportunities for individual exploration. Lenz also recommends that teachers assign two projects per year so students engage more deeply in a relevant topic, learn from it and repeat that process the next semester.
Lenz emphasized that project-based learning improves not only academic outcomes but also competencies and success skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and self-management.
While some school leaders and educators are concerned that project-based learning doesn't prepare students for standardized testing like Advanced Placement exams, a 2021 study looking at AP government and AP environmental science classes found that students who took the project-based learning versions of the courses outperformed those in traditional AP courses.
Lenz said it is important to work with school district leaders to establish the infrastructure, culture, assessments and professional learning for teachers to engage in project-based teaching.
However, for teachers in schools that may not have the resources or time to provide professional training, Lenz recommends tapping into existing resources, like ready-made curriculum for their subject or specialist organizations like PBLWorks.
“Project-based learning is a little more complicated than passing out worksheets, so that's one of the reasons [PBLWorks] exists, so we can make it easier for teachers,” Lenz said.
