Project Based Learning Assessments

As part of the 21st Century Learning Initiative, Project Based Assessments are becoming more and more common. Education is changing and we are learning more about student needs and differentiation every day.

If you’re reading this and aren’t quite sure exactly what this means, here’s a quick overview: the goal of a project based assessment is to put your students into a job or role outside of the classroom. Ideally, the assessment will give some parameters, but your students will have to create some of it on their own. Through these assessments, the students are using their critical thinking skills in addition to their understanding of the math concepts to solve the problems. As an example, I’ve linked my step-by-step guide to the bottom of this post.  Before we get to how to make them, I want to explain WHY these assessments are so important.

Reason #1: Problem Solving Skills

The whole purpose of PBL assessments is to give students the opportunity to think outside of the box. Instead of giving the students all of the information in the question, the students need to make inferences and come to conclusions on their own. Bloom’s Taxonomy outlines many higher order thinking skills that students develop throughout the learning process. My favorite skills to implement are: predicting, defending, and collaborating. Here is an amazing graphic of the different skills students will uses when they are challenged to problem solve! To learn more about Bloom’s Taxonomy, click this link.

Reason #2: Alternative Assessments

As we know, all students don’t learn the same way. The same can be said about assessments. Not every student is going to do their best work on a test or quiz for a variety of reasons. Check out my post about reducing math anxiety. These student centered assessments are great for students who need to use their creativity or do hands-on assignments to show their understanding. I watched this Ted Talk in college that really resonated with me and helped me understand differentiation.

Reason #3: Defending Claims

Through thoughtful reasoning, the students are asked to defend their answers. The example I like to use for this reason is my landscape design assessment. I give the students two different companies for each amenity. When they have completed the calculations, they must choose which company they are going to use and explain why. This question takes their thinking a step further by asking them to compare/contrast and defend their choice with data from their work. I also love how there can be no wrong answers as long as they have valid reasons. This does not happen very often in the math classroom, but it is so important for building growth mindsets.

Reason #4: Student Engagement

To say that getting 15-year-olds with a engrained hatred for math engaged is tough would be an understatement. The majority of students don’t have the same interests or skill sets, so creating an assessment that allows for differentiation can be difficult. I have found that project based assessments are much more engaging for this demographic. First and foremost, it gets students out of the every day rut of math class. Practice worksheet after practice worksheet gets tiring and painfully boring after a while. Assessments where the students are taken out of the role as a student and into job setting is a great change of pace.

However, there is a still a learned idea that word problems are “so much harder” than regular problems. I hear nearly every day that my student “doesn’t know how to solve word problems,” which is code for “I don’t actually want to use my brain today”. Reversing this mindset takes a lot of work and patience, but with enough practice all students can take baby steps in the right direction. Besides, the point of these assignments doesn’t always have to be for the students to get the right answer. What I really want them to get out of it is the ability to solve problems and work through “the struggle”.

To create your own Project Based Learning Assessment, follow my step-by-step guide.

GET THE GUIDE!