Blog: How to Get High-Quality Student Work in PBL

John Larmer's Blog (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-quality-student-work-pbl-john-larmer) has a recent post reflecting on student quality work in project based learning.  I highly recommend the read and resource it provides especially in light of our movement toward project based learning and how we can ensure students have structure and a definite set of tools to determine progress and learning.

The article is highlighted with some key questions in his reflection on quality project based learning:

1.  Was there a use of rubrics and examplars to help students understand the quality of work expected?

2.  Did the project include effective formative assessment?

The author references 8 Essentials for Project Based Learning found at:
http://images.bie.org/uploads/useful_stuff/8_Essentials_article_small_file_size_Oct2012version.pdf.

He specifically refers to revision and reflection.

3.  Did the students have enough time to revise and polish their work?

4.  Did the project feel authenticate enough to motivate students?  Did they care?  (Great question!!)

5.  Do my classroom and my school cultivate a culture of quality?

The author refers to High Tech High (http://www.hightechhigh.org/) as a standard (some of us have visited the one in Napa) and he encourages the use of PBL rubrics (http://www.bie.org/tools/freebies/cat/rubrics).

As we develop our skills in project based learning and move into new common core curriculum, the most important aspect of our planning has to be in spending our energies into developing the answers to the last question.