What is it ?

1. What is Project Based Learning (PBL)?

In research conducted by the AutoDesk Foundation, teachers from seventeen schools agreed that PBL exhibited similar characteristics:
Characteristics of project- based learning

• Students make decisions within a prescribed framework.
• There’s a problem or challenge without a predetermined solution.
• Students design the process for reaching a solution.
• Students are responsible for accessing and managing the information they gather.
• Evaluation takes place continuously.
• Students regularly reflect on what they’re doing.
• A final product (not necessarily material) is produced and is evaluated for quality.
• The classroom has an atmosphere that tolerates error and change.

Generally speaking,
students engaged in a project...

• ...have some choice in deciding what they will work on.
• ...plan their own project.
• ...participate in defining criteria and rubrics to assess their project.
• ...solve problems they encounter while working on their project.
• ...make some sort of presentation of their project.

The project-based learning approach creates a "constructivist" learning environment in which students construct their own knowledge. Whereas in the "old school" model the teacher was the task master -- in the "new school" model the teacher becomes the facilitator