Hey there!

In our “Reading Lists” we collect the tastiest articles, podcast episodes, and videos from the Unboxed archives for your enjoyment and edification!

This collection is short and sweet—these are two articles and one video we suggest you check out if you want to answer that age old question, “What is PBL?”

Start with this article:

What is PBL? by Randy Scherer

Here’s why to read it:

Randy spent over a decade as a PBL teacher, and then spent over a decade teaching other teachers about PBL, and he captures 20 years of experience in this one article! And as the editor of this piece, I can tell you we spent a lot of drafts getting it right, and got LOTS of critique. And if you already know a bit about PBL, you know that multiple drafts and critique are a good sign of quality work!

Here’s a taste of what’s in it:

Because we lack a shared understanding, PBL becomes something of a Rorschach test—an image of a pedagogical inkblot that elicits one’s preconceptions. When educators expect PBL to look like interdisciplinary collaboration, they find it. When educators expect PBL to look like unstructured student choice, they can find that, too. PBL can shapeshift into an exhausting, chaotic experience when we struggle with it, just as it unfolds as innovative, equitable pedagogy when we practice it well.

You want to go deeper? Read this article about (some of the) intellectual roots of PBL

Uncovering the Progressive Past: The Origins of PBL by Brett Peterson

Here’s why to read it:

This article reveals a lost world of educational ideas from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century would sound pretty innovative TODAY—and it reveals the events that brought that world (mostly) to an end. It’s illuminating, inspiring, and will make you feel less alone in your pursuit of PBL!

Here’s a taste of what’s in it:

In order to complete their books about sugar and the trade routes that supplied it, students performed research and drew maps in geography class while writing the book’s text in English class. As part of their research they wrote to companies seeking information, forcing them first to learn how to compose a professional business letter. When companies replied to their letters the students’ “faces beamed with pleasure, and each one, without exception, asked permission to take his reply home to show his parents” (Stevenson, 1922, p. 236).

How about a video, so you can SEE projects in action while you hear about PBL?

Here’s why to watch it:

In under four minutes, you’ll hear from students, teachers, school leaders, and High Tech High co-founder Rob Riordan answering the question “why PBL?”

But that’s not the best part. The best part is while they’re talking, you’ll see footage of students and teachers working on lots of amazing projects! So you don’t just hear about “what PBL is”, you get to see it for yourself!

Here’s a taste of what’s in it:

I think adolescents are pretty unique and amazing in their drive to make the world a better place and more just equitable free world for all of us. And so I think when students, when you tap into that passion in that drive, it really motivates students to do work that matters, that has an impact, and to do work that is at a professional level.

-High Tech High Mesa Director, Juliet Monkhern

Happy reading, and happy watching!