The Teacher’s Role in Project Based Learning
Next year I am expected to teach a high school web design course for 80 minutes per week. The
stated goal of the course for the year is to redesign the school’s website, making it a classic
example of a Project Based Learning (PBL) learning opportunity. Upon reflection I realized I did
not fully understand the teacher’s role or how to structure the learning for true PBL. In PBL
teachers are asked to transform from a didactic “Sage on the Stage” to a facilitating “Guide on
the Side,” but what does this look like? Through research and the experience of expert PBL
teachers, a clearer picture of this role in PBL is forming. Careful planning, structured lessons,
and projects connected to curriculum, as well as modeling the processes of successful sports
coaches, will give me, and other teachers, opportunities to successfully implement PBL.
PBL Definition
While projects vary in teacher guidance, depth, learning goals, content and structure, generally in
PBL a project is:
Centered on curriculum
Realistic
Centered around real world problems
Student-driven
Constructive through student investigation
Collaborative (Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning, 2009)
If these criteria are met projects will be personally meaningful for students and fill an
educational purpose. PBL is effective when it is interdisciplinary and allows students to think
critically and make choices (Demee-Benoit, 2007). In PBL the final product is not as important
as the process of student learning through cognitive engagement (Larmer & Mergendoller, 2010)