How to Implement High Impact Instruction with Project-Based Learning
Catalyze teacher practice and boost student success with district-wide adoption of PBL resources
What is Project-Based Learning?
Implementing project-based learning in a building or district capacity doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. The benefits enjoyed by students and teachers alike from Kindergarten through graduation far outweigh any upfront cost of resources and professional development.
Project-based learning (PBL) is a popular and contemporary instructional approach with deep roots in research surrounding learning science and student engagement. Defined simply, project-based learning gives students the opportunity to engage in problems or answer complex questions collaboratively in meaningful ways while a teacher facilitates. As famed psychologist Jean Piaget famously said, “knowledge is a consequence of experience” - and that is precisely what project-based learning aims to achieve.
How is Project-Based Learning Different from Traditional Classroom Projects?
Project-based learning is not a string of traditional projects assigned throughout a school year. In fact, there are distinct characteristics differentiating PBL from traditional projects. Authentic PBL requires the 4 C’s: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication.
In order to generate high-quality projects and resolve complex problems, students must engage their higher-order thinking skills and work as a team in PBL classrooms. Implementing game design principles into project development is the cornerstone of success. Game design, especially when done by students, is the best way to demonstrate an understanding of key concepts. Think about it - one must really understand a topic in order to make a puzzle or project out of it!
When students apply game design as a project in the classroom, it requires them to work backwards and break down each step of what they have learned. It also provides students a voice allowing them to integrate their own hobbies and interests into games and projects they design for others to complete.
So what makes a great project? Certainly, it has to be both fun and meaningful. Here are some guiding principles from our talented game design team here at Breakout EDU:
DO:
Build in multiple acceptable outcomes. There is no one set way to achieve a goal. Everyone has a different path. Ensure that flexibility also exists in projects.
Build in dead ends and conundrums that compel students to engage with their peers, adults, teachers - even other community members. Students enter a classroom with varying levels of background information. To level the playing field, it is critical they learn from one another in pursuit of a common goal. It also opens the door to diverse perspectives.
DON’T:
Worry about how game and project pieces look
Make pencil and paper the dominant tool and learning medium.
Make solutions obvious. They should be complex enough that students experience wins along the way and are forced to develop and test inferences on potential solutions.
Ultimately, completing a project or winning a game should result in a sense of accomplishment for students. They should feel proud and confident of what they have done and look forward to the next opportunity. Imagine how powerful it would be to have every classroom dedicated to these student-centered principles.
What are the Benefits of Project-Based Learning?
Research and case studies have repeatedly demonstrated students in PBL classrooms are:
Engaged: students are solving problems that are interesting and important to them.
Learning: students gain a deeper understanding and greater retention of content knowledge.
Communicating: students must interact with others to achieve the solution they want.
Aspirational: students gain skills necessary for college and career readiness.
Creative: students use a mix of technology and hands-on materials to achieve the desired result.
Seeing the impacts and applications of student choices while engaged in a project gives them the gift of agency and a deeper appreciation of their education. The classroom becomes a safe space where failure is applauded as a respectable first step and success is recognized as mastery of key age-appropriate skills and academic objectives. Grit and rigor are ingrained characteristics in PBL classrooms.
Finally, because projects and activities require the use of 21st-century skills and are collaborative in nature, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is consistently reinforced within students’ daily routines and addresses the full range of learning styles.
Does Project-Based Learning Research Support Student Achievement?
Using project-based learning as a teaching tool is one of the most engaging and impactful classroom strategies available to drive student achievement. Schools and districts who adopt project-based learning on an institutional and collaborative level also find that teachers feel more satisfied in their work allowing them to develop relationships with students which in turn positively impacts social emotional learning (SEL) and talent retention.
In terms of student achievement, current studies have been published supporting student academic success. A study published in 2021, followed students and teachers regularly using PBL in secondary classrooms and found that:
“...nearly half of students in project-based classrooms passed their AP tests, outperforming students in traditional classrooms by 8 percentage points. Students from low-income households saw similar gains compared to their wealthier peers, making a strong case that well-structured PBL can be a more equitable approach than teacher-centered ones. Importantly, the improvements in teaching efficacy were both significant and durable: When teachers in the study taught the same curriculum for a second year, PBL students outperformed students in traditional classrooms by 10 percentage points.”
But this strategy is not just for older (age and grade) students. Another recent large-scale study of Michigan elementary science classrooms reported that:
“...students in PBL classrooms outperformed their peers, this time by 8 percentage points on a test of science learning. The pattern held across socioeconomic class and across all reading ability levels: In the project-based learning group, all boats rose on the tide—and both struggling readers and highly proficient readers outperformed their counterparts in traditional classrooms.”
The result of the intentional and purposeful implementation of PBL in classrooms is student achievement, confidence, collaboration, communication, resilience, and engagement.
What Does Project-Based Learning Look Like in Action?
Breakout EDU has thousands of different games to choose from designed with project-based learning in mind! Our games are:
Content-rich
Engaging
Easy-to-implement
Built for grades K-12
For those new to PBL (or curious about its impact), our Lock of the Day is a quick, single puzzle to challenge students and get their brains geared up for learning. These serve as excellent warm-ups or bell ringers for any classroom at any grade level.
The Game Design Studio allows teachers to make their own games giving the freedom to customize puzzles to mimic lesson formats while still adhering to content standards. The Game Design Studio can also be used to put students in the driver's seat! Watch their faces light up as they imagine all the ways they can challenge their peers (and teachers) with their learning.
Breakout EDU Digital Games challenge students with multiple digital puzzles and are best worked on collaboratively in small groups. These games start when a teacher clicks a button and typically takes less than one class period to complete. Students can even create their own games in the Game Design Studio to challenge their peers!
Lastly, the penultimate Breakout EDU experience is our physical kit-based games. These activities utilize the hands-on Breakout EDU Kit and transforms any physical space into an interactive learning environment - a favorite amongst students and teachers worldwide!
A Final Note
PBL is a transformative experience for students. More than ever, our nation (and world) need young people who are ready, willing, and able to tackle challenges unknown they are poised to inherit. Giving them the time, autonomy, and resources to tackle problems within the safe space of a classroom is an ideal way to prepare them for both grade advancement and postsecondary college and/or careers.
Project-based learning is the quintessential learning experience every student deserves. Start the school year off on the right foot with teacher-friendly, student-engaging games and activities aligned to the standards. We offer a variety of options to meet every need and budget - and Breakout EDU is ESSA IV certified!
Contact us today for a quick 15-minute demo to see how Breakout EDU projects and problem-based learning can boost student learning and catalyze teacher practice.