 | |  PBL is based upon the idea that students will be most engaged in the learning process when they have a personal interest in what they are learning. Instead of sitting in a teacher-driven classroom all day long, students learn through the exploration of topics that interest them on their own terms, and largely at their own pace. Each students is a member of a team of 12-20 students, managed by an adult advisor who helps to facilitate the learning process. Instead of grades, students receive credit for their work. The amount of credit a student earns for any given project varies depending on a number of different factors, including the time they spent on the project, the learning objectives they meet during the project, and most importantly the overall quality of projects. Student work is evaluated against the advisor's knowledge of the students capabilities rather than against a statistical mean or percentage, making the student/advisor relationship a critical aspect of the learning process.
The real beauty of PBL is that it can work for any student; the process is completely flexible, and can be tailored towards specific learning styles, prior student knowledge, student motivation, etc. After spending some time adjusting to the PBL system, most students are able to create, plan, and implement impressive projects of high quality that frequently go above and beyond the typical secondary school curriculum. | |
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