Over the last nine months the blogs I’ve written for this space have focused on one topic: The need for teachers, administrators, parents, and students to become adept at using generative artificial intelligence to improve educational outcomes.
We have explored the need to rewrite policy, revise curriculum standards, initiate professional development programs, amend definitions, adopt prompt engineering as a critical element of teacher development, and prepare our learners to work ethically and efficiently in partnership with gen AI.
The one thing I’ve avoided writing about is the one thing most people in education know me for – project-based learning. My modest fame came about from my work at the Buck Institute for Education (now PBLWorks), where I co-wrote the Project-Based Learning Starter Kit, founded and managed the National Faculty, and created and directed the PBL World Conference. While at the Buck Institute, and later as CEO of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, I trained tens of thousands of teachers around the world in PBL design.
Upon reflection, the signal failure of my decades-long work in PBL relates to the conundrum that still plagues the field: Not every good teacher is a good curriculum writer; not every good curriculum writer is a good teacher. PBL workshops require educators to be both, and that has always been the problem. Until now.
Generative AI to the Rescue
Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini bridge the gap, at least for teachers seeking to become good curriculum writers. The vast collection of documents these models were trained on include countless research pieces, reflections, project plans, magazine and newspaper articles, student work samples, blogs, tips, strategies, and techniques that contain nearly all the world’s wisdom on PBL. We would be foolish to not take advantage of that knowledge bank.
There is not a trainer alive who hasn’t struggled over the first and hardest task in a PBL professional development session – crafting an authentic and engaging Driving Question. Try using my new favorite AI-powered search engine, Perplexity, to do a little research on driving questions. The overwhelming amount of information about driving questions speaks to the difficulty of the task.
Now let’s fire up our design companion. Open one of the gen AI models and enter this prompt, replacing the XXXs and CAPITALS with your context (more prompts available in my free Prompt Library for Educators):
“I teach XXth-grade SUBJECT. We are studying TOPIC. I would like you to create three driving questions that can shape the project we are going to do over the next XX weeks. These questions must be open-ended and authentic.”
Or the standards-first version:
“I teach XXth-grade SUBJECT. We are studying TOPIC. The curriculum standard I must focus on is: PASTE STANDARD HERE. I would like you to create an authentic project idea and three driving questions that can shape the work my students will be doing over the next XX weeks. These questions must be open-ended and authentic.”
Structural Elements of PBL Design
The design models of most PBL-focused organizations suggest a combination of structural design elements (Driving Question, Entry Event, Public Presentation, etc.) and cultural/philosophical elements (Authenticity, Student Voice and Choice, Autonomy, etc.). (We here at the Center for Excellence always reccomend starting with building clarity in learning as a starting point. ) The more effective approach with gen AI as your design companion is to strictly focus on structural elements of the design. Accordingly, I have created an online class to do just that. It will go live shortly on MaximizeU, a new learning platform. In the meantime …
In face-to-face workshops, Entry Events stand arm-in-arm with Driving Questions as the design problem children. These two derail many a hopeful teacher. However, gen AI is a whiz at creating Entry Events. You can even specify community or technical resources at your disposal while writing the prompt. Try this one, subbing in your teaching context:
“I want to teach the concept of the Pythagorean theorem to my students during a weeklong PBL style project. Create two engaging activities that I can use to launch the project on this topic. They should involve a real-world application of the Pythagorean theorem. There is a famous carpentry shop down the street from our school. Integrate that if you can. Don’t forget that my class has access to a 3D printer.”
You will find your gen AI design companion equally adept at writing other structural design elements: Project Idea, Formative Assessments, Rubrics, Group Management Plans, Project Calendars, Public Presentations, and Reflections and Debriefs.
Guiding the Inquiry
All good PBL teachers know that it is an instructional crime to throw the baby out with the bath water. PBL maximizes the effectiveness of traditional teaching techniques such as lecture, homework, objective assessments, and seatwork because the project creates a Need to Know. These are integral elements of inquiry. Your project design should include, especially for students new to PBL, a guided, structured inquiry. Creating that guided inquiry, usually in the form of detailed instructions, is a major pain. Let’s ask our design companion for help.
“The students in my sixth-grade social studies class are doing a two-week project on the development of writing systems and their symbols in ancient civilizations. Our Driving Question for the project is: How do governments, businesses, and cultures make use of written symbol systems to advance their development? I want you to transform this question into a step-by-step guided inquiry to help the students, who are working in groups, systematically approach and solve the problem. Present it in a way that ensures this is an extended project or series of tasks. Make it ready to give out to students with spots like this ____ where they fill in the steps they will take to complete the inquiry.”
The Power of PBL Culture
My work in this field has demonstrated, painfully in some locations, the insurmountable problems that arise when you don’t take a holistic approach to PBL implementation. The community and leadership must show buy-in and be willing to devote at least three years to the rollout. Student outcomes must be redefined. Teacher training must include advice on changing classroom culture. You may have to change your assessment system. You must train everyone in the techniques of effective communication and collaboration. You must be willing to accept failure and learn from it.
These are daunting challenges, challenges that gen AI can not currently help you with. What it can help you with is something more prosaic – helping good teachers clear the initial hurdle of designing effective projects that are contextualized for their classroom, school, and community.
And speaking of culture … One of the biggest complaints from teachers relates to the use of gen AI by students to cheat. If the software can ease the PBL design burden it can also ease the concerns about cheating. If you ask students to write an essay they will most likely use ChatGPT to do the work. But if you ask students to participate in a project that requires them to publicly present their work and respond to questions from community members or outside experts, well, ChatGPT is not going to help that much.
If gen AI is a student’s design companion it should also be a teacher’s design companion. Try it – you’ll welcome the help.
David Ross (@davidPBLross) is the retired CEO of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning and the former Senior Director of the Buck Institute for Education (now PBLWorks). David was an 11th grade American Studies (History and English 11) team teacher. David created curriculum design templates, exemplary projects, rubrics for critical thinking and collaboration, and project management techniques.
