What is engaged learning?

Project-based learning is a student-centered instructional model that emphasizes depth in standards-based learning with the goal of demonstrating achievement through student work that:

• is a product of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
• is relevant and meaningful to the learner
• meets or simulates a real need in the world beyond the classroom
• facilitates the development of College and Career Readiness Skills

During PBL instruction, students work through a process that involves objectives, problems, research experiences, solution development activities, and assessments. Since PBL, when implemented well, moves the learning process from the lower thought levels of knowledge and comprehension (those stressed in traditional instructional methods) to the higher ones of application, analysis, evaluation, and creativity, the TEKS, banded together within a project unit, are more deeply understood by students. Time is not lost to having a teacher formally communicate past known facts. These are readily available in digital, print, and human forms that the students can access as needed. Instead, time can be more fully spent on the problem at hand, with a focus on the present and the future.

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