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What do you mean by PBL?

By Jason Bedell, on September 3rd, 2010

I’ve heard PBL referred to as meaning several different things, including Performance Based Learning, Project Based Learning, and Problem Based Learning. So, what’s the difference and why does it matter? While some may ascribe the differences purely to semantics, I feel that it’s imperative you examine the meanings if you subscribe to any form of PBL in your pedagogy. They reflect a profound difference about what we expect of students and what type of work they should be doing.

Project Based Learning reflects a belief that students learn best in an atmosphere is one in which they operate in safety, isolated from the “real-world.” Again, this may not be something that most teachers will say, but as I have been reading in Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline, we can often understand thought based on the actions that proceed from it. To students, much of school work, particularly the dreaded worksheet, seems like busy work. While project based learning does reflect a belief that students learn best through exploration, constructing their own knowledge, it still seems arbitrary to students when there is no greater purpose beyond the assignment itself.

Performance Based Learning seems closer to the mark. According to my understanding (I realize that different educators are working with different definitions. Hopefully conversation can stay on substance as opposed to semantics.) , this type of environment is one in which a standard is explicated and the students show mastery by completing a project that is engaging to the students. This definition is paraphrased from the ACSD. To me, this still will seem top-heavy and arbitrary to students unless there is a component that connects the standard to a real-world issue.

Problem Based Learning reflects a belief that students are capable of making a difference in the world and have an obligation to do so. In project based learning, the teacher or class find a problem in the world, whether that is the classroom, school, community, state, etc…, and try to use the skills that they have acquired to solve the problem. Ideally, the solutions will be meaningfully presented and, if possible, put into practice. As Daniel Pink notes in Drive, students need autonomy, purpose, and mastery to achieve optimal motivation. A true problem based learning environment gives students the freedom to make choices about how to solve the problem and present their findings; it will require mastery of certain skills to try to solve the problem and allow students to further develop their skills as they explore; purpose is served by trying to actually work on an issue that is relevant to the students’ lives.

I am not putting problem based learning on a pedestal as a panacea to education. Rather, I would hope that we all examine our practice for our underlying beliefs about students and learning. Feedback is most welcome.

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  • http://ilearntechnology.com ktenkely

    This is really interesting to me Jason, I hadn’t ever thought much about the semantics between the three PBL’s. I had not ever done any research into the roots of the three and must have ascribed my own thought to what they were. In my mind PBL- project based learning was more of a blend of the three. This is why semantics matter! If I am talking with a teacher about introducing more PBL, it is important that we have the same understanding of what that end goal looks like. Otherwise they may go in one direction leaving me baffled about why the classroom still looks so traditional with the teacher in charge of learning. Thank you for writing this post and giving me cause to dig deeper into what each really is!
    ktenkely´s last [type] ..The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That

  • http://jasontbedell.com Jason T. Bedell

    Thanks Kelly. Semantics really can become important; if we start in different places we will almost certainly end in different places. For me personally, I’ve been doing a lot of introspection since reading “Dumbing Us Down” by Gatto and “Beyond Discipline” by Kohn on what beliefs my actions are betraying. I want to clearly understand my own beliefs, and rectify errors as I find them, so that my actions will be more clearly thought out and more beneficial to the kids.
    Jason T. Bedell´s last [type] ..What do you mean by PBL

  • http://laurprofessional.wikispaces.com Dayna Laur

    Jason-

    I love the reflection of your post. PBL is something that leaves many confused, between the name and the requirements for it. (And you didn’t even mention Apple’s Challenge Based Learning!)

    At any rate, the most important thing to remember is whether or not one is meeting all of the components of PBL. As a National Faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education, the leading non-profit organization for Project Based Learning, I train teachers and administrators in effective ways to implement PBL into their classrooms and schools. The most difficult obstacle for the teachers to overcome is differentiating between a project and project based learning. A truly project based unit is not a series of small disconnected lessons, but one the creates a driving question for the students to work toward an authentic end goal. Additionally, there are 7 elements of PBL that must be met in order to qualify as a truly a work of PBL.
    1. Driving Question
    2. Need to know
    3. Inquiry and Innovation
    4. 21st Century Skills
    5. Student voice and choice
    6. Feedback and revision
    7. Publicly presented product

    Please check out BIE’s website and post any specific questions that you may in in our forum.

    http://www.bie.org/

  • http://jasontbedell.com Jason Bedell

    Dayna,
    Thanks for the great info. It’s good to have those elements to refer to.

  • http://theconstructionzone.wordpress.com Peter Skillen

    Thank you for this post. You say, “To students, much of school work, particularly the dreaded worksheet, seems like busy work.” I have noticed over the years that project-based learning (PBL) is happening in classrooms all over the world. Sort of. I see a lot of kids ‘doing projects’. Teachers design them. Teachers create checklists of the process. Teachers give timelines and ‘check in’ points. The kids immediately Google the topic, grab the information, reword it, toss in some stolen graphics and push forward to ‘get it done’. The focus, for the student, often really becomes ‘getting it done’.

    I see project assignments for kids who have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) where the work is incredibly ‘chunked’ and scaffolded. These assignments are often more scripted with lists of things to do accompanied by check boxes to ‘help’ the students stay on track.

    Oh, I know, that is the extreme scenario! Cut me some slack…just describing the extreme to make a point!

    And please don’t get me wrong. ‘Chunking’ and ‘scaffolding’ are exceptionally useful techniques…and, I love effective PBL, but, I have issues with projects becoming worksheets. I have seen this pattern before. (One of the great, and lousy things, about getting older! LOL)

    It reminds me of the days of ‘learning centres’ back in the seventies when the idea was that kids would move to various centres in the classroom to engage in constructive learning activities. Conceptually great. Implementation poor…generally speaking. Kids were often seen rotating from one centre to the other after a prescribed amount of time doing, what often appeared to be ‘worksheet type’ activities – SRA Reading lab, penmanship (printing or writing), math dittos – and, oh yes, the occasional ‘listening centre’.

    CONCEPTUAL DRIFT

    I think that the basic issue here is one of inherent belief structure of the educators and the system in which they are immersed. When new educational practices are ‘rolled out’ in school systems, some time is spent on the overall philosophy and much time is spent on the pragmatic implementation in the classrooms. The former is often ‘watered down’ and the latter is often prescriptive and scripted. This leads to a ‘conceptual drift’. The original idea, in this case ‘project based learning’, loses the philosophical essence in favour of following the prescription. What was originally a powerful, deep, philosophically bound approach has drifted to some skeleton of itself.
    Peter Skillen´s last [type] ..Educators Worth Following – ISTE10

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