What are effective ways to measure PBL's impact on student learning?

1 Define your goals

Before you design and implement a PBL unit, you need to define your goals and objectives. What are the essential questions, standards, and content that you want your students to learn? What are the key skills and competencies that you want your students to develop? How will you align your PBL unit with your curriculum and your school's vision and mission? By clarifying your goals, you will be able to plan and scaffold your PBL unit, and create meaningful and relevant assessments that match your expectations and outcomes.

2 Use formative assessment

Formative assessment is the ongoing process of gathering and analyzing evidence of student learning, and providing feedback and guidance to improve learning. Formative assessment is essential for PBL, as it helps you monitor student progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, adjust instruction, and support differentiation. Formative assessment can take many forms, such as checklists, rubrics, surveys, quizzes, journals, portfolios, peer reviews, self-assessments, and conferences. Formative assessment can also be embedded in the PBL process, such as by using entry events, driving questions, benchmarks, checkpoints, and protocols.

4 Use authentic assessment

Authentic assessment is the evaluation of student learning in relation to real-world contexts, audiences, and purposes. Authentic assessment is relevant for PBL, as it helps you assess the quality and applicability of student work, and the transferability and sustainability of student learning. Authentic assessment can also enhance student motivation, engagement, and ownership of their learning. Authentic assessment can be integrated with both formative and summative assessment, such as by using authentic tasks, scenarios, problems, or challenges; authentic audiences, such as peers, experts, or community members; authentic purposes, such as solving a problem, creating a product, or making a difference; and authentic criteria, such as rubrics, standards, or expectations.

5 Use reflective assessment

Reflective assessment is the evaluation of student learning in relation to their own thinking, actions, and emotions. Reflective assessment is beneficial for PBL, as it helps you assess the development and growth of student metacognition, self-regulation, and affective skills. Reflective assessment can also foster student awareness, responsibility, and agency of their learning. Reflective assessment can be incorporated with both formative and summative assessment, such as by using reflective prompts, questions, or statements; reflective tools, such as journals, logs, or portfolios; reflective strategies, such as think-pair-share, exit slips, or Socratic seminars; and reflective feedback, such as praise, suggestions, or questions.

6 Use collaborative assessment

Collaborative assessment is the evaluation of student learning in relation to their interactions and contributions with others. Collaborative assessment is valuable for PBL, as it helps you assess the effectiveness and impact of student teamwork, communication, and collaboration. Collaborative assessment can also promote student social and emotional skills, such as empathy, respect, and conflict resolution. Collaborative assessment can be combined with both formative and summative assessment, such as by using collaborative tasks, such as group projects, discussions, or debates; collaborative roles, such as leader, facilitator, recorder, or presenter; collaborative norms, such as group contracts, rules, or expectations; and collaborative feedback, such as peer reviews, ratings, or comments.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?