This document contains information about project-based learning including definitions, examples of projects, and tips for implementation. It discusses how project-based learning can foster skills like collaboration, problem-solving, and global citizenship. Both benefits and challenges of this approach are presented, such as how direct instruction can limit spontaneous exploration but is needed to teach core content. Overall it promotes project-based learning as a way to move beyond passive learning and encourage student agency.

1. Cameron Paterson
E: cpaterson@shore.nsw.edu.au
T: cpaterso
Project-Based Learning
Image: Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind

3. Mindfulness is… “the power tool
that all the other literacies depend
upon”
(Howard Rheingold, Net Smart)

4. “After 30 years of doing such work, I have
concluded that classroom teaching…is
perhaps the most complex, most
challenging, and most demanding subtle,
nuanced, and frightening activity that our
species has ever invented…The only time
a physician could possibly encounter a
situation of comparable complexity
would be in the emergency room of a
hospital during or after a natural
disaster.”

6. Image: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/12/11/370116343/solving-football-s-concussion-problem-practice-without-helmets
Example of Unlearning - Football Players Drill Without Helmets To Curb Concussions

7. Interview with David Perkins, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7UnupF-uJk

9. “When teachers embrace learning for the future, they nurture expert
thinking, collaboration and entrepreneurship. They foster intercultural
understanding, environmental stewardship and global citizenship.
They invite students to understand complex problems, create quality
work and express themselves through traditional and new media –
ultimately preparing students to live ethical and reflective lives in
rapidly changing environments.”
(Veronica Boix-Mansilla, The Future of Learning Institute, Project Zero)

10. Michael Fullan
Image: Liz Davis

11. Bonawitz et al, The Double-Edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction
Limits Spontaneous Exploration and Discovery

12. “In classroom contexts, advocates of discovery learning have suggested
that direct instruction is passive and discourages engagement (Dean &
Kuhn, 2006; Papert, 1980), whereas advocates of direct instruction have
countered that self-guided exploration is inefficient and often ineffective
(Vygotsky, 1978; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Klahr & Nigam, 2004;
Mayer, 2004; Rittle-Johnson, 2006). The current results suggest that
instruction leads to inductive biases that create a genuine “double-
edged” sword: teaching simultaneously confers advantages for learning
instructed information and disadvantages for learning untaught
information. Thus, the decision about how to balance direct instruction
and discovery learning depends largely on the lesson to be learned.
Inspired by Piaget, the challenge for educators may be how to foster
learners “capable of doing new things” while simultaneously teaching
“what other generations have done”.”
Bonawitz et al, The Double-Edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction
Limits Spontaneous Exploration and Discovery

13. Project-Based Learning at High Tech High:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rv_rmJYorE

14. Images: http://bie.org/

15. “’Project-Based Learning’ refers to students designing, planning,
and carrying out an extended project that produces a publically-
exhibited output such as a product, publication, or presentation.”
(Work That Matters: The teacher’s guide to project-based learning)
Image: http://www.innovationunit.org/

16. PBL is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJiN8W3C7vs

17. Different Types of Driving Questions
• A philosophical or debateable issue, or an
intriguing topic
• Specifying a product, task, or problem to be
solved
• Adding a real-world role for students
• Try giving it a local context
A Good Driving Question is:
• UnGoogleable
• Engaging for students
• Open-ended
• Aligned with learning goals

21. Image: Bianca Hewes

22. Image: Bianca Hewes

23. Image: Lee Hewes

24. Tribute Projects

26. Three Keys:
 Exhibitions
 Multiple drafts
 Critique
Image: http://njcie.org/resources-2/toolkit-for-students/

27. The Construction of Canberra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuBnADOeFkc&index=5&list=FLcUusQlWO67
NvyBtb05jXkA

28. Harry’s War, http://www.harryswar.info/

29. Where’s My Helmet?
http://www.harryswar.info/wheresmyhelmet/

34. Austin’s butterfly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqh1MRWZjms

35. KiSH Critique
1. Be Kind
Presenting your work for critique puts you in an incredibly vulnerable position.
For the critic, on the other hand, it’s easy to get carried away when you’re
critiquing work, especially when you feel like you know exactly what a piece of
work would benefit from, and inadvertently say very hurtful things. Thus, this
ground rule cannot be stressed enough.
2. Be Specific
Even if you are being kind, you are not doing anybody any favours if you are
vague. ‘I think Melanie’s writing is really good’ does not cut it in a critique. ‘I
like the way Melanie uses lots of different verbs in her writing so that you feel
like you’re a part of the action’ is much better.
3. Be Helpful
Critique is not just about naming what is strong and weak in a piece of work, it
is also about working out how to go about improving that work.

36. Kind
 I really like the way you………………..
 Excellent ……………….. throughout
 The most successful thing about this was ………………..
 I enjoyed reading this because ………………..
 It was especially good when you ………………..
Specific
 In the first/second/third paragraph ………………..
 I think ……………….. is quite difficult to understand/could be explained
better/could include more detail etc.
 Your sentence/paragraph about ……………….. was ………………..
because………………..
Helpful
 Think about adding ………………..
 Think about taking away………………..
 Have you thought about………………..?
 To improve your………………..try………………..
 Perhaps you could………………..

39. “The Board of Studies does not require a number to be used (in
relation to assessment) until Year 12.”
“Grading is an end of course judgement.”
“School protocols squash the reality of what the Board requires out
of sight.”
• Too much testing
• Focus more on learning objectives and less on covering content

40. I BLEW IT!
I tried something new and innovative
and it didn’t work as well as I wanted
This coupon entitles me to be free of
criticism for my efforts
I’ll continue to pursue ways to help
my students be successful

41. Creative knowledge workers

45. 5 ways the education system is stunting
innovation:
1. Individual achievement is the focus
2. Specialisation is celebrated and rewarded
3. Risk aversion is the norm
4. Learning is profoundly passive
5. Extrinsic incentives drive learning

47. Resources
Buck Institute of Education: http://bie.org/
8 Essentials for PBL: http://groups.ascd.org/resource/documents/122463-
CCSS_PBL_Handout_3_8_Essentials.pdf
Work That Matters: The teacher’s guide to project-based learning, Innovation
Unit
High Tech High projects: http://www.hightechhigh.org/projects/
REAL PBL: http://real-projects.org/
Bianca Hewes’ blog: http://biancahewes.wordpress.com/project-based-
learning/
Boosting the Power of Projects: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-
leadership/sept14/vol72/num01/Boosting-the-Power-of-Projects.aspx

49. I used to think…
Now I think…
A routine for reflecting on how
and why our thinking has
changed

50. Cameron Paterson
E: cpaterson@shore.nsw.edu.au
T: cpaterso