Organization and Management of PBL
Project Based Learning takes planning, organization, and management for the successful outcome desired. The time spent organizing before getting started will save you time and frustration along the way!
Before your begin, ask yourself the following questions:
- What theme do you have in mind?
- Why do this project?
- What content standard will the students learn?
- What are the key skills students will learn?
Six steps in planning for PBL:
- Develop project idea
- Decide the scope of the project
- Select Standards
- Incorporate simultaneous outcomes
- Work from project design criteria
- Create the optimal learning environment
Steps for PBL organization:
Driving question
Essential question or problem statement. The statement should encompass all project content and outcomes, and provide a central focus for student inquiry.
Assessment
Define the products for the project. What will you assess?
- Early in the project
- During the project
- End of the project
Criteria for exemplary performance for each product
Map the project
What do students needed to be able to do to complete the tasks successfully? How and when will they learn the necessary knowledge and skills. KWL charts, already learned, taught before, taught during
What project tools will you use?
- Know/need to know lists
- Daily goal sheet
- Journal
- Briefs
- Task lists
- Problem logs
In the elementary, I would use any type of checklists for the students. The simplest of the tools is the PBL Checklists. This site provides free writing, presentation, multimedia, and science checklists at grade levels that include K-1, 2-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Teachers simply select a list of criteria for the desired area and grade level and then check the specific criteria they want to assess (possibly adding criteria of their own). A semi-customized checklist that includes only the criteria selected can then be printed. The criteria are written in student-friendly “I” statements, making these checklists ideal for use as a self-assessment tool, especially with younger students.
List key dates and important milestones for this project.
Management
What preparations are necessary to address needs for different instruction for ESL students, special-needs students, or students with diverse learning styles.
How will you and your students reflect on and evaluate the project?
- Class discussion
- Fishbowl
- Student-facilitated formal debrief
- Teacher-led formal debrief
- Student-facilitated formal debrief
- Individual evaluations
- Group evaluations
It is also important to have common language when it comes to student conflict management. Review how students handle conflict with group members and frustrations that come up. Taking time to set procedures before conflict happens will same time along the way.
If working in groups, I would use the Group evaluations as the project moves along. Depending on how many groups you have a rotation could be stet up for this process. Communication with specialists on staff can help ease the preparations for the different types of learners in your class. Take advantage of their knowledge and expertise to help you through your PBL experience.
Plan with the end in mind
- What do you want the final product to look like?
- When will the project end?
Remember, PBL takes twice as much time as you think. Give yourself enough time.
Driving question
Essential question or problem statement. The statement should encompass all project content and outcomes, and provide a central focus for student inquiry.
Assessment
Define the products for the project. What will you assess?
- Early in the project
- During the project
- End of the project
Standards are important to integrate into the PBL process. Be sure to list only those you plan to assess. Often, too many standards are listed and in the end only four or five are given formal assessment.
Criteria for exemplary performance for each product
Map the project
What do students needed to be able to do to complete the tasks successfully? How and when will they learn the necessary knowledge and skills. KWL charts, already learned, taught before, taught during
What project tools will you use?
- Know/need to know lists
- Daily goal sheet
- Journal
- Briefs
- Task lists
- Problem logs
Again, in the elementary I would choose to use any type of checklists for students to help them stay organized. I also like the Journal for daily project reflections.
List key dates and important milestones for this project.
If working in groups I would use the Group evaluations as the project moves along. Depending on how many groups you have a rotation could be stet up for this process. Communication with specialists on staff can help ease the preparations for the different types of learners in your class. Take advantage of their knowledge and expertise to help you through your PBL experience.
Project planning forms to help you organize your PBL can be found at
http://pbl-online.org/ProjectPlanning/PlanningForm.htm
Information about the PBL process can be located at