Identifying life/success skills-attitudes and academic content objectives/standards the project forwards and assessing students’ progress on them with formative assessments and summative assessments is basic to quality project-based learning. This is another way of supporting students’ self-agency, as they reflect during the project on how well they are progressing with stated objectives and what they can do to further progress. Also it provides students, guardians, and others with concrete knowledge of some of the unit’s learning outcomes.
As teachers plan their students’ project they identify one-two life/success skills-attitudes the project addresses, though the project probably will forward most all success skills-attitudes listed in frameworks such as Habits of Mind and Partnership for 21st Century Learning’s – 4 Cs (critical thinking, communications, collaboration, creativity). Likewise, though the project probably will forward several academic content objectives/standards a recommendation is to identify two-three as the focus academic objectives.
At the beginning of the project let your students know the identified success skills-attitudes, academic objectives, how their progress on them will be assessed, and tentative summative assessment dates. The project’s focus academic content objectives and focus success skills/attitudes go on a “Project Wall,” which can be a physical wall, website, or page in individual binders.
For PK-12 students send a letter to parents/guardians about the project that includes why you include quality project-based learning in your students’ learning, the project’s focus academic content objectives, focus success skills-attitudes and how parents/guardians may help with resources or other ways. For college/university students and possibly lower grade levels, share research articles that describe the value of project-based learning for students gaining and solidifying academic knowledge and success skills/attitudes.
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