Welcome to the Foundations of Project-Based Learning! We're glad you're here.

This course will take approximately 80 minutes to complete. Time estimates are provided for each lesson.

We aim for you to walk away from this experience with a firm understanding of the foundations of project-based learning, or PBL, and how you can bring PBL to your students.

Foundations of Project-Based Learning is intended for all instructors, especially those offering small-group instruction (SGI). While PBL courses for students can be offered for independent or personalized instruction, SGI is the preferred method of delivery since it promotes communication and collaboration among students as well as instructors.

In this course, we will explore the PBL instructional model and the benefits of offering PBL courses.

More specifically:

• We will hear a student recount her experience taking Integrated S.L.A.M., a core PBL course from Lifelong Learning.
• We will also look at research measuring the impact of PBL at Learn4Life schools.
• We will explore additional Lifelong Learning courses that utilize project-based learning.

Throughout the course, you will be challenged to think critically about how PBL can positively impact your students, and which PBL-driven elective courses you may be interested in offering. In the final activity, you will have the opportunity to brainstorm and share your own project ideas.

There is an Essential Question for the course, and one for each individual module. This is the overarching "question" you will work to answer/solve by the end of the course or module. This practice is a feature of project-based learning.

The Essential Question for the course is: “How will project-based learning benefit my students?”

Click on the first lesson below to get started.