Project-Based Learning: Everything You Need to Know (2025)

We’re living in a day and age where content knowledge isn’t paramount like it once was; instead, durable skills that can’t be automated are rising in importance. According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of all employees will need significant reskilling to meet future workplace needs. But, how should school districts encourage the adoption of a durable skills-first mindset? Enter project-based learning (PBL). PBL is a strong framework for this transition. It’s a teaching method that encourages learning through real-world projects over an extended period of time.

Instead of focusing on memorizing material for an exam, students are called to investigate complex questions and develop solutions. This process mirrors the workforce where inquiry, trial and error, and development are the recipe for success. Through this process, the PBL model directly addresses the need for 21st century skills. Ultimately, helping school districts develop competencies like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity in their students so that they are prepared for tomorrow’s workforce.

By engaging in PBL, students learn to:

• Solve complex problems that don’t have a single answer
• Collaborate with their peers and learn how to give and receive feedback to refine their work
• Manage long-term and short-term projects
• Take ownership of their learning path
• Communicate their ideas and findings to their audience

PBL is grounded in the belief that curriculum needs to be authentic and based in a relevant context for it to have an impact and a meaningful outcome for students. Research shows that this method of instruction improves student engagement, academic achievement, and the development of higher-order thinking skills, all of which are essential for a future shaped by technology and automation.

• What It Is: Project-based learning is a teaching method where students spend an extended period investigating and responding to a real-world problem or question by creating a final product. It focuses on building durable skills like critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
• How It Works: Implementation typically has students follow four steps:
  1) Define a meaningful problem
  2) Brainstorm creative solutions,
  3) Develop a prototype of the solution
  4) Test and refine the final product based on feedback.
• The Advantages: The biggest benefits are heightened student engagement, the development of essential teamwork skills, and deeper, more long-lasting learning because students apply knowledge to solve authentic challenges.
• The Challenges: Common challenges include ensuring teachers have the training and confidence to facilitate PBL in their classroom, figuring out how to align projects with curriculum standards, and overcoming constraints on time and resources.
• How to Assess It: A hybrid approach to assessment works best. Use diagnostic assessments before the project to check prior knowledge, formative check-ins during the project to give feedback, and a summative evaluation of the final product. Encourage students to use a digital portfolio to collect evidence of their learning and reflect on their progress throughout the project.

Is assessing project-based learning a challenge for your district? Download our K-12 Guide to Choosing a Digital Portfolio Platform.

So, what is project-based learning? PBL is, in a nutshell, a student-directed, hands-on process that works toward solving a problem within a specific content field. By putting students in the driver’s seat and allowing them the freedom to be creative and collaborative, project-based learning engages higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation by allowing students the space to find their own answers to questions in a more open-ended, collaborative environment.

PBL stands in opposition to traditional pedagogy such as lectures, rote memorization, and standardized testing. Although this may make it seem as though it’s a newer, more experimental approach, PBL was actually developed over a century ago by John Dewey and his student, W. H. Kilpatrick. They defined PBL as “the conception of wholehearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment, or more briefly, in the unit element of such activity, the hearty purposeful act.” This focus on the "purposeful act" is what shifts learning from a passive reception of facts to an active and engaging process of creation and discovery.

Boston University’s Center for Teaching and Learning lists the four steps to project-based learning:

• Identifying a problem
• Agreeing on or devising a solution and a potential solution path to the problem
• Designing and developing a prototype of the solution
• Refining the solution based on feedback from experts, instructors, and peers

As you may imagine, these steps can be scaled up or down fairly easily depending on classroom variables such as:

• Age and ability of learners
• The scope of the problem or proposed solutions
• Depth of instructional objectives

Let’s cover the steps in further detail.

Step 1: Define the Problem

This initial stage is about deep inquiry. Rather than just picking a topic, students investigate a central question to understand its full context. For example, they may ask themselves, "How does social media affect our perception of what’s considered beautiful?"

To define this problem, students would conduct research, exploring it from multiple angles. They might investigate the psychology of social comparison, the history of beauty standards, and the business side of the beauty industry. The goal is to move beyond a simple question and come to a well-defined problem to be solved.

Step 2: Brainstorm Solutions

In this phase, the focus shifts to generating a wide range of potential solutions or responses to the problem. The goal is exploration, not immediate solutions.

Continuing on with our example, students might brainstorm ideas like:

• Creating a documentary that interviews students about their experiences
• Designing an awareness campaign with posters and a social media component
• Developing and leading a social media workshop for younger students
• Curating a physical or digital art exhibit that challenges conventional beauty standards

At this stage, all ideas are welcome. The aim is to think creatively and collaboratively about how to best address the problem they've defined.

Step 3: Develop and Prototype

Here, students turn their abstract ideas into a product. They select the most promising solution from their brainstorming session and begin to build a prototype.
If the team chose to create an awareness campaign, their prototype might include:

• Drafts of the poster designs
• Mock-ups of social media posts
• An outline of a presentation

This is a critical phase where students apply practical skills, analyze challenges, and construct the first version of their solution.

Step 4: Test and Refine

The final step focuses on evaluation and revision. Students present their prototype to an authentic audience–such as another class, a teacher, or a student focus group–to gather feedback.

For the awareness campaign prototype, the feedback might be: "The message on this poster is powerful, but the text is hard to read," or "the social media posts are very engaging, but they should include less copy and a clearer call to action." Students then use this constructive feedback to revise and refine their work, leading to a more polished and impactful final product.

PBL can completely change a classroom for the better, but project-based learning challenges can occur. Getting ahead of hurdles like adequately preparing teachers, tying it into the curriculum, and dealing with limited resources is the key to making PBL work.

Preparing Teachers

One of the first challenges is ensuring teachers are ready and willing to try a new way of teaching.

It's completely understandable why some educators might hesitate. They might not be familiar with how PBL works, feel more comfortable with traditional teaching, or are just concerned about the extra time and work it can take. A lot of this hesitation comes from not knowing all the benefits of PBL, or maybe not feeling confident enough to run a project-based classroom.

So how do you fix that? Schools need to offer real support. Things like impactful professional development, training sessions, and workshops can give teachers the skills and confidence they need to steer their students in the right direction. It’s all about creating a school culture where trying new things is encouraged and supported with the right resources, an adequate amount of time to learn, and feedback and support along the way.

Making it Fit the Curriculum and How to Assess It

Figuring out how to embed PBL into existing lesson plans and how to assess that student work is another one of the project-based learning challenges.

Teachers can't just add a project to their schedule and hope it all connects. It takes careful planning to design projects that line up with specific learning goals. Teachers must ensure that the project is tied together in a way that makes sense for students.

Then there’s assessment. A standard multiple-choice test doesn’t do a great job of capturing all the different skills students build in PBL, like problem-solving and teamwork. Assessment in a PBL should focus on performance-based tasks that show a student can actually apply what they've learned. Coming up with the right tools for this, like rubrics for digital portfolios that show the whole project journey, can be a challenging task for educators.

Not Enough Time or Resources

Last on our list of project-based learning challenges are the issues of time and resources that most school districts deal with.

Impactful PBL projects need time. Students need the space to really dig in, explore, and solve problems. This can be tough with a packed school calendar, making it hard to feel like you're covering all the required curriculum.

Projects also take up resources. This could be anything from technology needs or specific materials to getting an expert from outside the school to help out. When these resources are limited, it can really hold back how far students can take their learning. Getting around this might mean different departments have to share resources, or the school can partner with local organizations to get what they need.

For school districts planning to implement PBL, it’s important to be aware of these project-based challenges before implementing PBL, and to work with a dedicated team to find what works best for their schools.

After reading about these challenges, you may be wondering if PBL is worth it. And the answer is yes, because the project-based learning advantages are huge. When PBL clicks, it does more than just teach a subject; it prepares students for the future by getting them engaged and working together on problems that matter.

Heightened Student Engagement

Project-based learning has been proven to heighten student engagement. It gets them working on authentic, real-world projects, which empowers them to take ownership of their own education. When students are actively involved, it helps build a sense of responsibility and autonomy, motivating them to be active participants in their learning journey.

It also plays a huge role in helping students learn how to direct their learning. They learn how to:

• Set goals
• Manage their time
• Take responsibility for what they're learning

Basically, they develop the ability to drive their own education by making decisions and managing their time and resources. This whole process bridges the gap between theory and practice, letting them apply what they know in a way that makes sense.

Cultivating Collaboration

Another one of the key project-based learning advantages is how it improves teamwork and communication through collaboration. Collaborative projects mean students have to work together, which develops their interpersonal skills and teaches them how to communicate effectively. When they work on these interdisciplinary projects, students see a bunch of different perspectives and approaches.

This creates opportunities for students to listen to and value the different viewpoints and learn from each other. Working in diverse teams encourages students to think critically and build on the strengths of their peers. This dynamic mirrors what it's like in a real professional environment, where people with different backgrounds have to come together to solve complex problems. Ultimately, preparing them for the interconnected and collaborative nature of the workforce.

Tackling Real-World Problems

This is where students get a unique chance to connect classroom theories with real-world practice. It allows them to apply their knowledge to actual challenges, which makes the whole learning experience more meaningful and relevant. When working on real problems, students can connect concepts to real-life situations and see the practical side of what they're learning.

PBL also pushes students to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills. It prompts them to look at complex problems, think creatively, and come up with innovative solutions. Thinking through these challenges helps them get better at evaluating information and generating creative ideas. Plus, it makes students more adaptable and better at applying their knowledge in different situations. By the end, they can have a digital portfolio that showcases their skills and experiences that they can show to future employers. Ultimately, making them more competitive candidates in the job market of tomorrow.

Keeping these project-based learning advantages in mind can help school districts push through the more challenging parts of implementation. It's a reminder that the efforts to implement and practice PBL will lead to more impactful student engagement.

Project-based learning assessment comes with its challenges. Since the projects can be so different and have diverse solutions, figuring out if students are learning what they're supposed to is a challenge. To tackle this, we’ve shared a comprehensive assessment strategy that uses a mix of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to measure learning from start to finish.

Start with a Diagnostic Assessment

A diagnostic assessment happens before you even start instruction. The purpose is to understand your students' current knowledge level and find any gaps in their understanding.

It's a way to check student readiness for the class ahead. This information can help a teacher figure out if certain students need some personalized instruction.

Some examples of diagnostic assessments include:

• Mind maps
• One-minute papers
• Exit tickets
• Discussion forums

Check-ins Along the Way: Formative Assessment

Formative assessments are a key part of an ongoing project-based learning assessment and happen during the learning process. The main goal here is to help students get better by giving them feedback on their learning as they go. It also lets teachers monitor how things are going and adapt their teaching style based on student performance. This kind of assessment can even help students build self-awareness and self-control over their own learning.

Some examples of formative assessments are:

• Take-home assignments
• Ongoing digital portfolios
• Submitting parts of the project phase-by-phase
• Think-pair-share activities
• Critiques and peer reviews
• Informal presentations
• Sketchbooks

The Final Project: Summative Assessment

Think of a summative assessment not as a final exam, but as a final performance. It’s an opportunity at the end of a unit or course for students to showcase what they’ve learned and what they can do. While these assessments often contribute to a final grade, their real power lies in helping students tell the story of their learning journey, highlighting both the process they took and the final product.

Some examples of summative assessments include:

• Digital portfolios
• Projects
• Prototype and project presentations
• Performance tasks

Using this kind of hybrid approach for your project-based learning assessment, where you check for understanding before, during, and after, can really help educators understand their students' progress and change up their teaching to improve everyone's overall performance.

Elementary School Project-Based Learning Examples

• Community Helpers Map
• School Garden Blueprint
• Classroom Pet Habitat Design
• Write and Illustrate a Class Storybook
• Design a New Playground
• Plan a Healthy School Lunch Menu
• Create a Classroom Weather Station
• Build a Model of Our Town
• A "Day in the Life" Photo Essay
• Design a Recycled Material Sculpture
• Produce a Puppet Show
• Create a Guide to Local Birds

Middle School Project-Based Learning Examples

• Design a Sustainable Colony on Mars
• Historical Figure Mock Trial
• Launch a School News Podcast
• Create a Local History Walking Tour
• Build a Rube Goldberg Machine
• Write and Illustrate a Graphic Novel
• Plan an Awareness Campaign for a Cause
• Develop a Board Game
• Code a Simple Video Game
• Investigate a Local Environmental Issue
• Create a Digital Time Capsule
• Design and Build a Musical Instrument
• Analyze and Redesign a Consumer Product

High School Project-Based Learning Examples

• Develop a Mobile App Prototype
• Create a Small Business Plan
• Produce a Social Justice Documentary
• Propose a Public Policy Solution
• Build and Program an Autonomous Robot
• Write and Direct a One-Act Play
• Conduct an Oral History of the Community
• Design a Tiny House
• Create a Financial Literacy Workshop for Peers
• Engineer a Water Filtration System
• Launch an Online Literary Journal
• Organize a Community Service Project
• Rebrand a Local Non-Profit
• Curate a Virtual Art Museum Exhibit

To many, it seems challenging to shift away from traditional teaching; however, many schools have shown that it's not only possible but can be successful. Looking at successful and established project-based learning schools provides a great roadmap for what works. The following schools prove that when you put real-world problems and student interests at the center of learning, student growth happens in a big way.

High Tech High - San Diego, California

High Tech High (HTH) is a group of schools that’s well known for integrating academic and technical education. Instead of separating subjects into different classrooms and periods, HTH organizes learning around real-world projects. A key part of their model is the public exhibition of student work, where students present their projects to parents, community members, and industry experts, proving to be a great way to not only create an authentic audience and hold students' work to a high standard, but to show students firsthand how important feedback and iteration are.

Manor New Technology High School - Manor, Texas

As part of the nationwide New Tech Network, Manor New Tech is a great example of a school where PBL is a core part of the culture. Every class is project-based, and the school focuses on creating a culture of trust, respect, and responsibility that feels more like a modern workplace than a typical high school. They use technology to support this work, and students learn how to effectively collaborate on meaningful projects that require critical thinking and creativity to solve. Their approach has led to impressive results, including high graduation and college acceptance rates for their students.

The Met - Providence, Rhode Island

The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (MET) is the original school in the Big Picture Learning network, and it takes a "one student at a time" approach. The most disfeature is the school’s focus on internships. Students spend two days a week in the community with mentors, working on projects that are based entirely on their own interests and passions. Learning through internships ensures that the work is personal and relevant. Plus, an advisor works with each student to build a personalized curriculum around these interests, creating a strong link between the classroom and the real world.

What is project-based learning?

Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method where students investigate a real-world problem over an extended period to create a final product or solution. Instead of memorizing facts, students engage in a hands-on process to solve complex questions and build 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

What is an example of project-based learning?

An example of project-based learning could be high school students creating a business plan for a sustainable product. Other projects might include middle schoolers designing a sustainable city or elementary students creating a community helpers interview slideshow.

What are the 3 C’s of project-based learning?

Collaboration, communication, and critical thinking are widely considered to be the most essential 21st century skills to set students up for success and are fostered through a project-based learning approach.

What makes project-based learning so effective?

Project-based learning boosts engagement by making learning relevant. It helps students build critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and improved collaboration skills that matter beyond the classroom.

How can my school get started with project-based learning?

Start small. This can mean implementing PBL in a few classrooms or subject areas. Encourage teachers to design projects around real-world problems that connect to curriculum goals, and support them with planning time, resources, and examples of successful models.

The shift to PBL is more than just adopting a new teaching method; it’s all about embracing a new way of thinking about education today. By starting with a meaningful problem and guiding students through a process of creation and iteration, you won’t just be preparing students in your district for a test; you're equipping them for their future. Ultimately, PBL provides a framework to create a more dynamic and meaningful learning experience for every student.

Looking for a digital portfolio platform to help you assess project-based learning in your district? Download our K-12 Guide to Choosing a Digital Portfolio Platform.

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