Research
Find PBL research that impacts your teaching here.
Team Success in Biology Labs
An article describing how making teamwork explicit in Biology lab courses improved collaboration skills and student outcomes.
Project-Based Learning in the Humanities
A list of resources and case studies with links
PBL in Minority Serving Institutions: A Research Brief
An overview of the research and evidence regarding the effectiveness of PBL with underrepresented minority students.
PBL and Student Achievement: What Does the Research Tell Us?
The driving question for this brief is based on the most common question about Project Based Learning (PBL): What evidence exists that shows the impact of Project-Based Learning on (K-12) student learning in core content areas?
Long-Term Impacts of a Project-Based Curriculum
A PowerPoint from the January 2020 consulting visit from PBL experts from Worcester Polytechnic Institute highlighting some of the long term impacts of the WPI PBL curriculum on their alumni.
PBL and 21st Century Competencies: a Research Summary
A summary of the research showing how Project Based Learning yields a number of benefits for students, ranging from deeper learning of academic content to stronger motivation to learn.
Vaz Study: Design for Impact: A Model of Community Engagement for Sustainable Development
A study presenting a PBL model for conceptualizing community engagement design and assessment at various levels of academic and community impact.
A Review of Research on Project-Based Learning
This review examines the early research related to “Project-Based Learning” (PBL), as there is not a large body of PBL research. The review covers eight topics: • A definition of Project-Based Learning,• Underpinnings of PBL research and practice,• Evaluative research: research on the effectiveness of PBL,• The role of student characteristics in PBL,• Implementation research: challenges associated with enacting PBL,• Intervention research: research on improving the effectiveness of PBL,• Conclusions, and • Future directions for PBL research.
Defining High-Quality PBL: A Look at the Research
A more in-depth article providing research context for Gold Standard PBL Essential Design Elements. The High-Quality Project-Based Learning Framework describes PBL in terms of the student experience and is intended to provide educators everywhere with a shared basis for designing and implementing good projects.
