PBL Blog

Recent national surveys of young people have shown alarming increases in the prevalence of mental health challenges— in 2019, one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, an overall increase of 40% from 2009. Most people would rightfully associate this state of affairs to the…

ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI that is capable of writing essays, solving science and math problems and producing working computer code, was released in November 2022. It immediately generated speculation about a new era of rampant cheating and even the death of student generated essays, or education itself. A few school districts banned it…

Teachers are leaving the profession in big numbers and they have many good reasons to do so. Based on the department of education information and publicly available data on teacher shortages for every state in the U.S, there are at least 36,000 vacant positions along with at least 163,000 positions being held by under-qualified teachers,…

Goals are important for a healthy life. Whether the goal is to have an interesting career or to make a lot of money or to help others, these are all goals that people have because it makes them happy, it gives them a purpose in life and it fits their personality. Kids need goals too.…

I recently had a conversation with an education expert about project-based learning, who reminded me that “project-based learning is a passing education trend that schools stopped practicing.” I know that schools and teachers are usually influenced by the latest education trend, which they are convinced will transform education as we know it. In most cases,…

Project-based learning is taking the world by storm. More schools than ever are investing in PBL to teach key 21st-Century employability skills and promote social and emotional learning. A recent influx in research also suggests PBL boosts achievement across demographics, leveling the playing field for underserved populations. In early 2021, India’s government signed a $500…

Assessment in traditional teaching used to be “easy.”  On test day, teachers would pass paper and pencil tests full of multiple-choice and matching questions, which would definitively determine what a student had (or hadn’t) learned.  Of course, we now know this method is far from accurate. One day and one test aren’t nearly enough to assess students’ learning, especially when we test knowledge…

Research may be the most important skill our students need to succeed in the future, but studies suggests that even our most advanced students aren’t prepared enough in this area. Since research is a key part of decision-making, you can see why this is an issue. If this trend continues, it could even be detrimental to our…

Project Pals has partnered with Bloom Public School in India’s capital, New Delhi, as part of their project-based learning (PBL) enhancement program. The projects produced by these students exceed all expectations and truly embody the spirit of PBL in their authenticity and engagement. Right from the start, students utilized all the tools our platform has to offer with mastery, including more…

“Corporate America spends more than $275 billion each year on approximately 200,000 projects. Many of these projects will fail, but not for lack of money or technology; most will fail for lack of skilled project management.” It was this 1999 study from the international research firm The Standish Group that made me realize the extent…

If you’re an educator in the U.S., chances are you already have several English Language Learners (ELLs) in your classroom. ELLs account for more than 10% of the total K-12 student population, and are on the rise in a majority of states according to a report by the U.S. Department of Education. These students, who are…

There’s a reason teachers are turning their attention towards trendy, more holistic educational approaches like PBL and SEL. The pendulum is finally swinging away from passive practices like “teaching to test” and traditional, teacher-centered instruction in favor of more active approaches to learning. PBL and SEL offer the attractive promise of preparing students for an…