Project Based Learning is an instructional approach built upon authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation. These activities are designed to answer a question or solve a problem and generally reflect the types of learning and work people do in the everyday world outside the classroom.

Project Based Learning is synonymous with learning in depth. A well-designed project provokes students to encounter (and struggle with) the central concepts and principles of a discipline.

Project Based Learning teaches students 21 st century skills as well as content. These skills include communication and presentation skills, organization and time management skills, research and inquiry skills, self-assessment and reflection skills, and group participation and leadership skills.

Project Based Learning is generally done by groups of students working together toward a common goal. Performance is assessed on an individual basis, and takes into account the quality of the product produced, the depth of content understanding demonstrated, and the contributions made to the ongoing process of project realization.

Finally, Project Based Learning allows students to reflect upon their own ideas and opinions, exercise voice and choice, and make decisions that affect project outcomes and the learning process in general.

Combining these considerations, we define Project Based Learning as:

a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning essential knowledge and life-enhancing skills through an extended, student-influenced inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks.

As adapted from http://www.pbl-online.org/

LINKS

Buck Institute for Education / PBL Handbook / Intro
http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/pbl_handbook_introduction/

Buck Institute for Education / Boise State University, Department of Educational Technology
http://www.pbl-online.org/

Teacher Tap / PBL
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

Edutopia / PBL
http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning

RMC Research / Guidelines and Criteria for PBL
http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/pbl.htm

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy / on PBL
http://pbln.imsa.edu/model/template/