Planning

To assist in planning for PBL we have developed a PBL Planner which guides the development of a teaching sequence and includes prompts to ensure all important information is included. The plan starts as a bird's eye view of the project and then provides an opportunity to drill down to a lesson-by-lesson calendar of the plan.

The long-term intention is for the content of HASS, Science, Health and Technologies to be integrated in PBL and taught in this manner. In the short-term teachers may prefer to teach by "front-loading" the content and then applying it in a PBL to reinforce the concepts and provide a context for the skills which are the most important aspect of PBL.

Plans are intended to be living documents and modified as you progress.

The PBL Planner is available in 4 formats:

  • PDF - best for printing

  • Word - best for downloading and editing

  • Pages - best for downloading and editing

  • Google Docs - best for working online and collaborating

Stage 1 - The Question

When planning a PBL the first step should be the year level content descriptors described in the WA Curriculum. Starting points can be from any learning area, but Science, HASS and Health have content that can be connected to the global or local issues.

  • Look for connections between learning areas and connections to the real world.

  • Think about a question that is open and does not have a simple answer.

  • The use of the words "why" and "how" increase the likelihood that the question will involve higher order thinking.

  • Who, what, where and when support

  • The question should lend itself to a solution that is a product.

  • Note the content descriptors you have referenced

A good question might be "How can we design a family home for the climate of Western Australia?"

Stage 2 - Developing the Project

Time frame

Allow time for students to develop their own questions and research the information they need

Public Audience

Remember that for Gold Standard PBL we need an audience beyond the classroom. E.g. an industry professional, a council representative, someone from a professional organisation, an academic, parents, the principal.

Product

The thing the students are required to make examples include:

  • a presentation

  • a 3D object

  • a design

  • a computer program or app

  • a movie

Learning Goals

List the content descriptors that you will be teaching and assessing as part of the PBL.

In the Learning Intentions column write what you expect the students to learn. It will likely be part of the content descriptor or a pointer rather than the whole thing.

Project Objectives

Describe what you want the students to have achieved as a result of the PBL.

Enterprise Skills Checklist

Highlight the Enterprise Skills that are taught explicitly as part of the PBL. The explicit teaching of these skills is important as it is the development of these which is fundamental to the PBL.


Stage 3 - Project Milestones

This section is about identifying what will happen at each stage of the PBL. Each part will run for a different period of time.

Each Milestone in our planning is drawn from Solution Fluency developed by Lee Watanabe-Crockett and Wabisabi Learning.

The first section in each column describes what the students will be doing.

Key questions are the focus questions or what you might ask students at each stage to guide the process.

Formative assessment is how you and the students will know if they are achieving what is required. Refer to assessment to learn more about this.

Milestone 1 - Define

This contains the hook. This might be a guest speaker, an excursion, a book, a video or a class discussion. This is where the question is introduced, discussed and clarified.

Milestone 2 - Discover

This is where students learn about the problem they need to solve. This might involve using Inquiry Process to research, but could also be an excursion, a guest speaker, a WebEx conversation or a VR tour.

Milestone 3 - Dream

At this point students let their imaginations reign and come up with as many solutions as possible to the problem.

At this stage no idea is wrong and creativity is king. It is tempting to share your ideas, but hold back because you will "pollute" the student's thinking.

Use gallery walks to encourage students who have no ideas.

Students will select one idea and develop it in the next phase. They may need to return to the dream phase if their idea doesn't pan out.

The assessment rubric provides some boundaries to think inside of without limiting the scope of student imagination.

Milestone 4 - Design

During Design. students will blueprint, prototype and seek feedback on their idea. It is tempting at this phase to rush to assess the completed design, but it is important that we allow students to fail, choose another idea and work through that one.

Students should have a range of materials to experiment with if building a model, provide different models if creating an information product.

Students and the teacher should continuously refer to the assessment rubric.

Milestone 5 - Deliver

During Deliver students create their final product (Produce) and the presentation that will accompanying it (Publish). At this stage their product will be formally judged against the assessment rubric.

Milestone 6 - Debrief

This is an opportunity for self and group reflection. Use a list of pre-prepared questions related to collaboration.

Ask questions about the process and reflect on the assessment rubric.

Stage 4 - Project Calendar

This document provides a finer level of planning which is ideal for sharing with other teachers. It can be developed as you work through the PBL rather than in advance.

Each day should include lesson details specific enough for implementation. This whole section may be considered non-compulsory if just planning for yourself or may include limited detail.