Teaching Through a PBL Task

Self Assessment

To what extent do you:

teach all content through the context of one of the 6 Ps, through back to back ALUs?
seek to balance the type of "P" in each of your ALUs so that students experience a wide variety of challenges and problems with varied audience and impact?
empower students to find or suggest the problems and challenges?
offer students choice in the problem or challenge?
engage students in two ALUs across the day (elementary) connecting two or more content areas in each when possible or at the secondary level, drawing connections among content areas with crosscutting concepts?

Read the following sets of pages 27-33 in Students Taking Charge in Grades K–5 to gain an understanding of how to engage students through a core problem. Add any thoughts/reflections in your Efficacy Notebook.

The Case for Problem-Based Learning — This video by Dr. Nancy Sulla discusses the research that supports a PBL approach to instruction. View it and note your reflections in your Efficacy Notebook.

Read Dr. Sulla’s blog Anchoring the Learning to consider six different types of PBL anchors to share with students at the start of a unit. Read it and note your reflections in your Efficacy Notebook.

Read Dr. Sulla’s blog PBL: The Six Phases to consider six different phases of the PBL process. You’ll likely revisit this throughout the workshop. Read it and note your reflections in your Efficacy Notebook.

Watch this video, PBL: The Six Phases, to consider six different phases of the PBL process. You’ll likely revisit this throughout the workshop. View it and note your reflections in your Efficacy Notebook.

Watch this video on Phenomena-Based Learning to learn more about this P of PBL. Add insights to your Efficacy Notebook.

Taking a Closer Look at a PBL Task Statement — Use this document to closely analyze one of the PBL tasks on MyQPortal.

Review sample Authentic Learning Units on MyQPortal. Begin searching your grade level and/or subject area, then expand to view some from other areas. In what ways are the task statements you are seeing authentic, open-ended, and complex?

Designing Your PBL Task

Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Problems — Open-ended problems lead students to think critically about content. Distinguish between characteristics of open-ended and closed-ended problems as you consider the ALU you will create.

Practice with Authenticity — Authenticity is a key characteristic of a powerful problem-based unit. Strengthen your understanding of this concept through an analysis of authentic and inauthentic tasks.

View this Insights Video to consider a slow start, fast finish for designing your PBL task.

Draft your task statement using Students Taking Charge in Grades K–5: pgs. 34–45.

Tree of Whys — View a narrated podcast about one approach to developing a PBL task. Use your Efficacy Notebook to capture your thoughts.

Developing PBL Units to Drive Instruction — Utilize a nonlinear approach to generate your task idea. Use this graphic organizer to brainstorm the possibilities.

Authentic Performances for PBL: Brainstorm — This tool provides examples of authentic performances that could result from a problem-based learning task.

View this Insights Video and think big when designing problem-based learning.

Develop your task statement using this linear guide: How to Develop an Equity-Based PBL Task Statement.

PBL Peer-Editing Checklist — Connect with one of your colleagues to provide each other with feedback using the first page of this checklist.

Reflecting on Your ALUs and Taking them to the Next Level

Reflecting on Your ALUs — Curriculum design work is an ongoing process. After you've implemented an Authentic Learning Unit (ALU), it is important to reflect on its strengths and challenges to improve its future implementation. This tool fosters such reflection.

Hyperlinked Rubrics — Watch this screencast to learn what hyperlinked rubrics are. In your Efficacy Notebook, reflect on how using hyperlinked rubrics might benefit your students. Then, create your own hyperlinked rubric for your unit using this how-to sheet or this how-to video.

Protocols for Looking at Student Work — Use this tool to reflect on the implementation of your Authentic Learning Unit (ALU), utilizing one of the two strategies outlined in the document to examine student work.

Curriculum Integration and ALU Planning Guide — Use this tool to map your current ALUs across the year and review the authentic products and relevant audiences to ensure variety.

Authenticity Thermometer — Use this activity to determine the level of authenticity of your ALU.

Explore MyQPortal for new ALUs that have been created. In what ways are the task statements you are seeing authentic, open-ended, and complex?

Report abuse