Project-Based Learning - Week 4

Week 4 – “Edutopia” Blog Response

In his blog, “Evidence that PBL Works” ( http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-findings-study-bob-lenz ), Bob Lenz asks  whether having quantitative proof that PBL is effective  will convince more educators to rely on its method.

I would imagine that hard data on PBL may do a great job of convincing administrators (and other stake holders) on its effectiveness, but the teachers may need a little more convincing. 

For starters, good PBL design requires time and a great deal of thought.  If there is one lament I have heard a million times in my graduate program it is “Where will we find the time to do all of this?” Having the time to design is just one of the crucial components necessary to make PBL a standard performance task in our classrooms.  Other teacher concerns may involve understanding how to effectively incoporate state's standards into the design in order to obtain the desired (measurable) results.

Some teachers will need a little more than scientific proof if they are to implement PBL as a standard teaching/learning practice.  More than anything, they will need time and the support of their fellow faculty to design student projects that are truly well thought out and work across content areas.