Implementing a Project Based Learning programme: a step-by-step guide

Editor's Notes

• #3: - The difference between using projects and PBL.
• #4: - The school setting: 100-hour yearly courses for years 1-5 of official secondary school education with 15 25-student classes.
• #5: The reasons for moving away from a coursebook-based to a PBL programme. - teachers were under pressure to use the whole course book because we had asked students to buy one and it was a big effort for most families. Therefore, there was no time to do other things, which were more creative or fun or relevant! - the course books, however carefully chosen, did not fully reflect the students’ interests and culture or the language we wanted them to learn or how we wanted them to learn. - students were mostly unmotivated by the predictability of the course books. - the occasional independent projects were welcomed with enthusiasm and offered a more creative output, which resulted in increased motivation for both the teachers and the students.
• #6: What if we did away with course books altogether? What if we designed our own curriculum and materials? What if we introduced some kind of choice in the classroom? What if we tapped into our students’ interests and knowledge to engage them in their own learning process? What if we started using web 2.0 technologies to break down classroom walls?
• #7: - The curriculum design process, including considerations on how to meet external requirements from the Ministry of Education, for example.
• #9: The project planning process, including project format and methodological considerations. We also held several meetings to discuss the necessary shift from a teacher-centered paradigm to a student-centered one, where the teacher would act as a facilitator. We envisioned the class as a place where students would feel the urge to speak the language, especially by providing real audiences by means of web 2.0 tools.
• #11: The assessment process, which includes rubrics creation and application. A major concern was assessment: we discussed shifting from formal testing to continuous assessment through observation during the project development process and assessment of the final product.
• #12: The assessment process, which includes rubrics creation and application. A major concern was assessment: we discussed shifting from formal testing to continuous assessment through observation during the project development process and assessment of the final product.
• #13: The assessment process, which includes rubrics creation and application. A major concern was assessment: we discussed shifting from formal testing to continuous assessment through observation during the project development process and assessment of the final product.
• #14: The barriers found and strategies to overcome them. constant teacher support, periodic assessment of the project’s development and analysis of problems to find solutions and improve the program.
• #15: The perceived benefits of the programme after 8 years since implementation. But the overall feeling about the new PBL scheme is really positive.  Teachers are excited about being able to do personalized and creative work. Here are some of their reactions. “I can finally do drama activities.” “Working with songs they like is a great motivator.” “Being able to choose topics that they are interested in has resulted in more participation and eager production.”
• #16: We found PBL was really appropriate for our context and our teaching beliefs, closely aligned with Constructivism, Connectivism, multi-literacies education for the 21stcentury, collaborative learning and the promotion of autonomous and lifelong learning.