The Importance of Audience in Authentic Teaching and Learning

How can the consideration for an audience enhance performance-based learning?

As an emerging teacher, I had a strong passion for project-based teaching and learning. I taught the life sciences and this strategy made a great deal of sense to me. My […]

PBL Professional Development That Actually Works

Research Shows That When Students Work on Projects, They Learn More

Project-Based Learning Tied to Improved Problem-Solving Skills

A new report on PBL shows elementary students who learned via PBL had higher math scores than peers who learned via traditional instruction.

By Jackie Zubrzycki

Elementary school students in Illinois whose teachers used a project-based-learning […]

What happens when college and career readiness starts in kindergarten?

Career-connected learning doesn't have to wait until high school! In fact, it shouldn't! Learn how Kankakee School District is incorporating college and career readiness into the classroom as early as kindergarten.

Ask a third grader what she […]

What CSI Can Teach ELA

The article highlights Horace Mann Middle School's use of Defined, where teachers use tasks to create cross-curricular projects focused on STEM and ELA, fostering hands-on career exploration and providing students with practical skills while […]

Anthony Johnson's Experience with Defined Learning

A Defined Learning Experience From Anthony Johnson, 5th Grade Science Teacher Isenberg Elementary School.

At the end of the school year, kids just get antsy. They are really stressed out from all the practice drills for end-of-year testing. We have […]

Congress Elementary Finds Projects to Inspire Students Part 2

Learn how Defined helped Congress Elementary teachers implement and utilize project-based learning with ease by providing templates for creating and adapting lessons, facilitating easy transitions, and supporting the district's shift to STEM […]

Congress Elementary Uses PBL in STEM Education to Inspire Students Part 1

The Problem

As the first-grade teacher for inquisitive six-year-olds, Emily Morse is always looking for new projects to inspire her students. With a recent culture shift in her district to increase STEM learning for students, Morse wanted to find […]

How Dysart Unified Schools are Developing 21st-Century Learners

The Challenge

How can a school district that has tripled in size since 2000 effectively develop a “career and college ready” student who’s steeped in STEM learning?

As the director of instructional technology in a district with a very limited […]