Impactful PBL Podcast

Impactful PBL Podcast

By Candice Wilson, Ed.D, MBAEducationHow To
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Impactful PBL Podcast episodes

  • [1.4] How can we write a quality driving question for a PBL unit?

    Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me.

    When I lead in-person professional development, believe it or not, we spend a significant amount of time drafting the driving question for a project-based learning unit plan because it's the foundation of the project. In this episode, we will discuss the importance of drafting a quality driving question, explore example questions, and review how to write a driving question for PBL.


    In this episode, you will learn:

    • Definition of a driving question
    • Characteristics of a quality driving question
    • How to write a driving question
    •   Example driving questions
    •   How to structure a driving question


    Resource: Read the accompanying article for this episode. 



    P.S. Have you taken the Impactful PBL Readiness Assessment yet? It's a great resource for instructional leaders like you who want to make informed decisions about implementing or strengthening PBL in their schools.
    Get Your Free Planning Guide Now >>


    Support the show

    Thank you for listening! If you find this podcast useful and would like to support the show, please rate, review, and follow using your favorite podcasting app. Sharing is caring. When you leave a review, you are helping fellow educators find this podcast, enabling them to design impactful project-based learning experiences for their students.

    6 min
  • [1.3] What are the benefits of project-based learning?

    Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me.

    If you've been working in education for more than a year, you have probably heard of numerous instructional strategies from education researchers claiming to be the answer to increasing student mastery. Regardless of your perspective, project-based learning can allow students to practice and develop skills useful for the workforce. I believe that we're preparing students for jobs that may not yet exist. You're probably thinking, if these jobs don't exist yet, then how do we prepare students for the workforce? Project-based learning can positively impact students' academic and personal growth when implemented well. In this episode, we will explore ten benefits of project-based learning.


    In this episode, you will learn:

    • Why most new instructional methods derive from previous research-based strategies
    • How PBL is not really a new instructional method
    • How PBL can help prepare students for opportunities that don’t yet exist
    • How PBL can help students develop 21st-century skills
    • How students’ develop project management skills during PBL
    • How PBL fosters academic risk-taking
    • How PBL can help students develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
    •  How PBL can increase student mastery of content


    Resource: Read the accompanying article for this episode. 



    P.S. Have you taken the Impactful PBL Readiness Assessment yet? It's a great resource for instructional leaders like you who want to make informed decisions about implementing or strengthening PBL in their schools.
    Get Your Free Planning Guide Now >>


    Support the show

    Thank you for listening! If you find this podcast useful and would like to support the show, please rate, review, and follow using your favorite podcasting app. Sharing is caring. When you leave a review, you are helping fellow educators find this podcast, enabling them to design impactful project-based learning experiences for their students.

    6 min
  • [1.2] What is project-based learning?

    Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me.

    Discussing the difference between project-based assessments versus project-based learning is a popular topic among educators. Therefore, I have this conversation with educators often. I understand why this can be confusing because, for some time, 'doing projects' or project-based assessments, project-based learning, and problem-based learning were used interchangeably. This episode will discuss the difference between project-based assessments and project-based learning.

    In this episode, you will learn:

    • The reason why teachers are confused about the difference between project-based assessments or 'doing projects' and project-based learning
    • How I started implementing projects in my class over a decade ago and why it wasn’t really project-based learning
    • What project-based assessments or ‘doing projects’ look like in a classroom
    • The main characteristics of project-based assessments versus project-based learning


    Resource: Read the accompanying article for this episode. 



    P.S. Have you taken the Impactful PBL Readiness Assessment yet? It's a great resource for instructional leaders like you who want to make informed decisions about implementing or strengthening PBL in their schools.
    Get Your Free Planning Guide Now >>


    Support the show

    Thank you for listening! If you find this podcast useful and would like to support the show, please rate, review, and follow using your favorite podcasting app. Sharing is caring. When you leave a review, you are helping fellow educators find this podcast, enabling them to design impactful project-based learning experiences for their students.

    7 min
  • [1.1] How can we create an impactful PBL experience?

    Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me.

    In this episode, we will explore how to plan a high-quality project-based learning experience for students. You will find several planning methods because, as you know, educators plan differently based on what works for them. After training hundreds of teachers on planning and implementing project-based learning experiences, I've found success with the method I'm sharing. I call my planning method, the Impactful PBL Roadmap.  I provide an overview of each step in this episode.

    In this episode, you will learn:

    • How I designed the Impactful PBL Roadmap and how it supports educators in planning high-quality PBL experiences
    •  Identifying learning goals and writing students the driving question
    • Planning the assessment and getting students’ excited about the project
    • Creating daily lesson plans and tracking student progress
    • Finalizing how to share students’ public products and building a collaborative culture
    • Leading students through the reflection process


    Resource: Read the accompanying article for this episode. 



    P.S. Have you taken the Impactful PBL Readiness Assessment yet? It's a great resource for instructional leaders like you who want to make informed decisions about implementing or strengthening PBL in their schools.
    Get Your Free Planning Guide Now >>


    Support the show

    Thank you for listening! If you find this podcast useful and would like to support the show, please rate, review, and follow using your favorite podcasting app. Sharing is caring. When you leave a review, you are helping fellow educators find this podcast, enabling them to design impactful project-based learning experiences for their students.

    14 min
  • Introducing the Impactful PBL Show

    Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me.

    Introducing the Impactful PBL Podcast, a show for educators who want to explore how to plan a high-quality project-based learning experience for students. In this opening episode, Candice shares why she started this show, its’ purpose, and how she hopes it will help educators craft meaningful learning experiences for students.

    In this episode, you will learn:

    • 1:05  Who is Candice, the host, and why she started the Impactful PBL Podcast?
    • 2:30  What can you expect from this podcast?
    • 3:00  Is this podcast  for you?
    • 5:00 How will this podcast support educators who are beginning their project-based learning journey?



    P.S. Have you taken the Impactful PBL Readiness Assessment yet? It's a great resource for instructional leaders like you who want to make informed decisions about implementing or strengthening PBL in their schools.
    Get Your Free Planning Guide Now >>


    Support the show

    Thank you for listening! If you find this podcast useful and would like to support the show, please rate, review, and follow using your favorite podcasting app. Sharing is caring. When you leave a review, you are helping fellow educators find this podcast, enabling them to design impactful project-based learning experiences for their students.

    6 min

About Impactful PBL Podcast

From the publisher's feed

Hi, I’m Dr. Candice Wilson, the founder of Impactful PBL Network, where we cultivate a community of practice for 3rd-5th grade teachers so they can transition students from being passive learners…