The document reviews research on the efficacy of project-based learning (PBL) in 3 sentences: PBL has been shown to improve student learning outcomes compared to traditional instruction, with studies finding that PBL students perform equally well or better on standardized tests of content knowledge. Research also indicates PBL can help close achievement gaps for underserved groups. Multiple studies found PBL students gained as much or more content knowledge while also improving other skills like problem-solving abilities compared to traditionally taught students.

1. Reviewing the Research Regarding PBL Efficacy
-- several slides borrowed from Jason Ravitz, former Director of Research,
BIE, available here: http://www.slideshare.net/biepbl/metasynthesis-3slides

2. A design view of PBL
“a systematic teaching method that engages
students in learning essential knowledge and
life-enhancing skills through an extended,
student-influenced inquiry process that is
structured around complex, authentic
questions and carefully designed products and
tasks”
Mergendoller, et al., 2006

3. Today’s PBL
Looks nothing like the ‘Project Method” popularized by William
H. Kilpatrick (1918), in the early 20th century
Nor does it look like “discovery learning” or “minimally-guided
instruction”, popularized later 20th century
– High Tech High School (hightechhigh.org/projects/)
– Envision Schools (envisionprojects.org)
– Expeditionary Learning schools (elschools.org)
– New Tech Network (newtechnetwork.org)

4. Strobel & van Barneveld (2009):
A meta-synthesis of meta-analyses comparing PBL to conventional classrooms
Source: Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 3(1), p. 52.

5. See next slide for more information.

6. Parker, W., Mosberg, S., Bransford, J., Vye, N., Wilderson, J., & Abbott, R. (2011).
Rethinking
advanced high school coursework: Tackling the depth/breadth tension in the
.
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(4), 533-559.
Researchers from the University of Washington, the Bellevue Schools Foundation, and
The George Lucas Educational Foundation conducted a multiyear study to test a rigorous
project-based learning approach to teaching Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government
and Politics. Three hundred fourteen students from Washington's Bellevue School District
were randomly assigned to a traditional course or project-based learning course on AP
U.S. Government and Politics (AP+). The PBL course included five project cycles: (1)
role- playing a United Nations task force advising a new nation on the various forms and
features of democracy, (2) proposing a public policy and actions to improve society, (3)
role-playing legislators in the U.S. Congress, (4) role-playing party campaign strategists
in an election, and (5) role-playing a Supreme Court case.
The PBL students performed as well as or better than traditionally taught students
on the AP test and better on a complex scenario test, which measures strategies
for realistically monitoring and influencing public policy.

9. Maxwell, N., Mergendoller, J. R., & Bellisimo, Y. (2005).
Problem-based learning and high school macroeconomics: A comparative stu
.
The Journal of Economic Education, 36(4), 315-331.
Researchers at California State University, East Bay; the
Buck Institute for Education; and the College of Marin analyzed data
from 252 economics students at 11 high schools, while controlling for
individual characteristics, such as verbal ability. PBL modestly
increased learning of macroeconomics at the high school level as
compared with traditional classes. Findings suggest that problem-
based instruction can improve student learning if instructors are well
trained in both the PBL technique and economics.

10. • The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Instruction: A Comparative Study of Instructional Metho
• Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(2).
John R. Mergendoller
Nan L. Maxwell
Yolanda Bellisimo
• This study compared the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) and
traditional instructional approaches in developing high-school students’
macroeconomics knowledge and examined whether PBL was differentially
effective with students demonstrating different levels of four aptitudes:
verbal ability, interest in economics, preference for group work, and
problem-solving efficacy.
• Over all, PBL was found to be a more effective instructional approach
for teaching macroeconomics than traditional lecture–discussion (p
= .05).
• Additional analyses provided evidence that PBL was more effective than
traditional instruction with students of average verbal ability and below,
students who were more interested in learning economics, and students
who were most and least confident in their ability to solve problems.

11. Content Acquisition in Problem-Based Learning: Depth
versus Breadth in American Studies.
Authors: Gallagher, Shelagh A.; Stepien, William J.
Descriptors: Academic Achievement; Academically Gifted;
American Studies; Critical Thinking; High Schools;
Instructional Effectiveness; Knowledge Level;
Problem Based Learning; Problem Solving;
Secondary School Curriculum; Teaching Methods;
Thinking Skills
Source: Journal for the Education of the Gifted, v19 n3 p257-75
Spr 1996
Abstract: This study found no differences in content acquisition
(as measured by a standardized test) of 167 gifted 10th
graders in American Studies classes who received
either a problem-based learning approach or
traditional instruction. Results did not support the
common assumption that curriculum fostering higher order
thinking skills inevitably results in lower content acquisition.
(Author/DB)

12. Standardized Test Outcomes: Inquiry-Based Science in an
Urban Setting
Geier, R., Blumenfeld, P., Marx, R., Krajcik, J., Fishman,
B., Soloway, E. & Clay-Chambers, J. (2004)
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(8), 922-939
Findings demonstrate that a standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to
standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the
curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and
administrative support.
A scalable systemic reform effort in Detroit Public Schools used highly specified and developed
project-based inquiry science units supported by professional development and learning technologies.
Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders are compared with the remainder of the district population, using
results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts
show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly
higher pass rates on the statewide test. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is
independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher
achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in
reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys.

13. Narrowing the Achievement Gap in Second-Grade Social Studies
and Content Area Literacy:
The Promise of a Project-Based Approach
Theory and Research in Social Education, 40, 198-229
Anne-Lise Halvorsen, Michigan State University
Nell K. Duke, Michigan State University
Kristy Brugar, Meghan Block, Stephanie Strachan,
Meghan Berka and Jason Brown, Michigan State University
This design experiment addresses the question: How can second-grade
students from low-SES schools attain the same levels of achievement as
students from high-SES schools on standards-based social studies and content
area literacy assessments? Students from two high-SES school districts were
assessed in order to establish target levels of achievement. Two project-based
units focused on state standards in economics; civics and government; public
discourse, decision making, and citizen involvement; and content area literacy
were developed and implemented successively in four classrooms in low-SES
school districts.
Achievement of students in the low-SES districts was then
compared to that of students in high-SES districts. Results show
no statistically significant differences: following instruction, there
was no SES achievement gap on these standards-based
assessments.

14. Journal of Research on
Technology in Education EJ868627
Title: Learning History in Middle School by
Designing Multimedia in a Project-Based
Learning Experience
Authors: Hernandez-Ramos, Pedro; De La Paz,
Susan
This article describes a study in which eighth grade students in one school learned to
create multimedia mini-documentaries in a six-week history unit on early 19th-century
U.S. history. The authors examined content knowledge tests, group projects, and
attitude and opinion surveys to determine relative benefits for students who
participated in a technology-assisted project-based learning experience, and
contrasted their experiences to those of students who received a more traditional
form of instruction.
Results from content knowledge measures showed significant gains for
students in the project-based learning condition as compared to students in
the comparison school. Students' work in the intervention condition also revealed
growth in their historical thinking skills, as many were able to grasp a fundamental
understanding that history is more than presenting facts.