Project-Based Learning (PBL) Curriculum By Grade

One common challenge when first implementing PBL is when some students struggle to keep up with new content or skills within the project. PBL facilitators must adjust and monitor learning in real-time to ensure that every student gains the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete a project. Most often the answer to this challenge is that students likely need more scaffolding. Scaffolding in PBL is an instructional support or set of processes that help learners gain knowledge and skills they have not yet mastered. It often involves a series of interconnected tasks, building upon one another, designed to support students in meeting proficiency in concepts, skills, or content. To learn more about scaffolding in PBL, read: Scaffolding in Teaching: Supporting Student Success Through Project-Based Learning.

Another challenge is the need to support students in time management strategies. The balance of both project and team management with learning academic content can be overwhelming. Breaking projects into distinct phases or Benchmarks make the project process less overwhelming, helps students tracking their progress, and supports them in acquiring project management skills. 

Teachers often face challenges of keeping students engaged in a project that spans weeks without getting lost in the content or losing interest in ultimately solving the problem presented at the launch of a project. Here are some strategies for engaging students and differentiating for students along the project path:

• Plan for extra workshops with particular students based on their needs throughout the project
• Provide students with differentiated readings or materials
• Provide extra support for a student who needs to complete their part of project work or model and support group communication and project management skills
• Provide project work log templates and calendars and create team roles to help support group work
• Create peer feedback and peer teaching to allow students to learn from one another