How do you reflect and learn from your project-based learning experience?

1 Why reflect on PBL?

Reflection is an essential skill for any learner, but especially for PBL, where complex tasks, collaboration with others, and producing meaningful results must be managed. Reflection allows you to evaluate your progress and achievements, analyze your challenges and difficulties, identify your skills and knowledge gaps, connect your learning to your goals and interests, and transfer your learning to new contexts and situations. Through reflection, you can celebrate successes, learn from mistakes, plan for improvement, find relevance and value in learning, and apply solutions.

2 How to reflect on PBL?

Reflecting on PBL can be done either individually or with a team, depending on the project and personal preferences. To guide the reflection process, you can review your project goals and criteria, process and strategies, feedback and evidence, and learning and growth. When reviewing the goals and criteria, consider how you achieved or missed expectations. When evaluating the process and strategies, reflect on how you planned, organized, researched, designed, tested, and presented your project. When collecting feedback from different sources, think about what they liked or disliked about your project. Finally, when reflecting on learning and growth, consider what new skills or knowledge you gained and how you used critical thinking, creativity, communication, or collaboration.

3 How to learn from PBL?

Reflection is not enough to gain insight from project-based learning; you must also act on your reflections and use them to improve your performance. To do this, set SMART goals based on your reflection. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Additionally, seek feedback and support from others such as peers, teachers, mentors, or experts. Monitor and document your progress and achievements with tools like journals, portfolios, or blogs. Lastly, apply and transfer your learning to new projects and contexts by using your skills and knowledge in different situations and domains. Doing these things can help you enhance your skills, knowledge, and creativity while preparing yourself for future success.

4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?