Project Based Teaching: How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences

It's no secret that in today's complex world, students face unparalleled demands as they prepare for college, careers, and active citizenship. However, those demands won't be met without a fundamental shift from traditional, teacher-centered instruction toward innovative, student-centered teaching and learning. For schools ready to make such a shift, project-based learning (PBL) offers a proven framework to help students be better equipped to tackle future challenges.

Project Based Teachers encourage active questioning, curiosity, and peer learning; create learning environments in which every student has a voice; and have a mastery of content but are also comfortable responding to students' questions by saying, "I don’t know. Let's find out together."

In this book, Suzie Boss and John Larmer build on the framework for Gold Standard PBL originally presented in Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning and explore the seven practices integral to Project Based Teaching:

• Build the Culture
• Design and Plan
• Align to Standards
• Manage Activities
• Assess Student Learning
• Scaffold Student Learning
• Engage and Coach

For each practice, the authors present a wide range of practical strategies and include teachers' reflections about and suggestions from their classroom experiences.

This book and a related series of free videos provide a detailed look at what's happening in PBL classrooms from the perspective of the Project Based Teacher. Let's find out together.

A copublication of ASCD and Buck Institute for Education (BIE).

Suzie Boss is a member of the Buck Institute for Education's National Faculty. She is a writer and educational consultant who focuses on the power of teaching and learning to improve lives and transform communities. She is the author or coauthor of several books on education and innovation, including Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning, Real-World Projects, Bringing Innovation to School: Empowering Students to Thrive in a Changing World, and Reinventing Project Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age. She is a regular contributor to Edutopia. She collaborated with award-winning Stephen Ritz to tell his inspiring story in The Power of a Plant. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Educational Leadership, Principal Leadership, The New York Times, Education Week, and Huffington Post. She is a frequent conference presenter and consults internationally with schools interested in shifting from traditional instruction to technology-rich, Project Based Learning.

John Larmer is editor in chief at the Buck Institute for Education. He authored and/or edited BIE's project based curriculum units for high school government and economics and was a contributing author of the Project Based Learning Handbook. He is coauthor on Setting the Standard for Project Based LearningPBL Toolkit Series, including the PBL Starter Kit for Middle and High School Teachers, PBL in the Elementary Grades, and PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity. He codevelops professional development workshops and materials for teachers, including 21st century skills rubrics and project exemplars. John presents at conferences and has consulted on PBL curriculum development for the National Academy Foundation, the Oracle Education Foundation, and Pearson Education.