Does PBL Work?
There is forty years of accumulated evidence that the instructional strategies and procedures that make up standards-focused Project Based Learning are effective in building deep content understanding, raising academic achievement and encouraging student motivation to learn. Research studies have demonstrated that PBL can: • be more effective than traditional instruction in increasing academic achievement on annual state-administered assessment tests.1 • be more effective than traditional instruction for teaching mathematics,2,3 economics,4 science,1,5,6 social science,7 clinical medical skills,8 and for careers in the allied health occupations7 and teaching.7 • be more effective than traditional instruction for long-term retention, skill development and satisfaction of students and teachers.1,9,2 • be more effective than traditional instruction for preparing students to integrate and explain concepts.10 • improve students’ mastery of 21st-century skills.11,12 • be especially effective
