This year marked the first return to normal schooling since the pandemic with most districts back to in-person learning. It continued to be a challenging time for educators, but through those challenges, inspiration, and dedication prevailed.
Below are the top news stories that highlight the exceptional work educators have done in Project-Based Learning (PBL) and STEM education this year. Topics range from PBL best practices to social-emotional learning, and equity in STEM education.
These articles support Defined's mission of assisting students in developing the critical 21st-century skills they need to succeed in college, career, and life.
Top 10 STEM Education & PBL News Stories:
A Recipe for Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning
Edutopia
Successfully integrating project-based learning across multiple classes requires careful coordination of learning outcomes and the teaching workload. Read more…
The Path to a Career Could Start in Middle School
Hechinger Report
A growing number of school districts are starting career education early, with the goal of widening kids’ horizons, not boxing them in. Read more...
How Systems And Regions Can Encourage More And Better Project-Based Learning
Forbes
Four recent studies show that rigorous project-based learning has positive effects on student outcomes across grades and subjects and across racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and reading and language proficiency levels. Read more...
3 Reasons Why Performance Tasks are the Best School Activities
The Educators Blog
Before the new learning can begin, time must be taken to establish expectations, evaluate prior knowledge, and review content and concepts. Each of these activities serves an important purpose, but they are often conducted separately and without connection to one another. Performance tasks are a great solution for integrating these important start-of-the-year activities into a cohesive, engaging experience for students. Read more...
Project-Based Learning is Great, But Students Still Need to Learn Something
Harvard Graduate School of Education
After studying hundreds of teachers from around the world who were using project-based learning (PBL) in their classrooms, Zachary Herrmann, executive director of the Center for Professional Learning at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Here are three ways that teachers manage to do both successfully. Read more...
The Biggest Problem with Mastery-Based Learning and How to Solve It
ASCD | Jon Bergmann
This blog post zeroes in on a question at the core of mastery-based learning: What can teachers do when students fall behind? If your new year’s resolution is to narrow learning gaps, you’ll find no firmer starting ground than Bergmann’s carefully crafted guide. Read more...
Having Students Learn by Teaching
Edutopia
When high school students present a lesson, they actively engage in learning and grow their research, organizational, and speaking skills. Read more...
3 Ways to Make Sure Tomorrow’s Workforce is Future-Proof
Fast Company
“Tomorrow’s workforce will have to continuously evolve to survive. It’s in our best interest if we do the work necessary to future-proof them today.” Read more...
The Benefits of Online vs In-Person Professional Learning
The Educators Blog
As we think about how to choose the best and most optimal types of professional learning in the future, We ought to consider deeply the type of learning we want and what approach is most appropriate. Read more...
Meeting SEL Through PBL
The Educators Blog
There are many benefits for SEL when we have students engage in project-based learning. And not only is PBL an authentic, real-world learning experience, but it also creates more opportunities for students to develop SEL skills that are highly beneficial for their future. Read more...
