What is Authentic Project Based Learning (PBL)?

Project-based learning (PBL) is synonymous with authentic learning because it is an inquiry-based and learner-centered instructional approach that immerses students in challenging, real-world problems that involve their community and its members and a deep application of content knowledge. 

High-quality, relevant project-based learning (PBL) is the best way for students to experience deep, contextual, and shared learning and acquire and demonstrate proficiency in college and career ready outcomes. This article will explore the importance of designing authentic experiences for students, supporting authentic project design, and the implementation and assessment of authentic PBL.

Designing Authentic PBL Experiences

To build student engagement, design meaningful and equitable student learning experiences that center authentic, complex thinking, and problem-solving. Equitable learning environments leverage the assets of diverse learners and communities and are culturally sustaining. 

Authentic learning that is personally relevant will connect to emotions, and emotions fuel thinking for learners. If the learning is personally relevant and sparks curiosity, learners connect to why they are doing the task, which improves performance. NTN created the Spectrum of Authenticity to support educators in increasing the authenticity of their projects for better student engagement. 

Since the resource is a spectrum, educators can assess where they are and where they would like to move on the spectrum as they improve the design of their projects. The Spectrum of Authenticity focuses on 4 domains of authenticity in PBL:

• Personal Relevance – The learning is focused on topics and problems that impact students’ lives and/or community. “Does this matter to me or my family? To my school? To my community?” 
• Community Impact – There is a connection to local and/or global community, outside of school. Feedback and collaboration from professional partners. What do we want to learn from or who do we want to work with, in the community?
• Connections to the Discipline – Students are learning about or doing the work of professionals. Does this project let us do the work of adults/professionals like scientists or journalists? Is our work connected to jobs we want to explore?
• Audience – Who is the audience for the performance of learning or culminating event? Does the audience feel important to us?

Implementing Authentic Project-Based Learning in the Classroom

Project-based learning emphasizes real-world problems and topics that encourage students to connect academic content to meaningful contexts, which enable students to see the practical application of what they are learning. By learning through personally meaningful projects and engaging collaboratively on tasks, students develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter and its relevance in their lives.

When implemented in the classroom, the role of the instructor shifts to a facilitator of a meaningful and equitable classroom and a cultivator of a supportive and inclusive culture. Educators must support students through the project process by providing scaffolding, encouraging critical thinking and collaboration, and promoting self-directed learning. This shift empowers students to take ownership and helps students develop essential skills for future success. To learn more about the what and how of PBL, read The Comprehensive Guide to Project-Based Learning.

Assessment Strategies for Authentic PBL

NTN schools have experienced how engaging in PBL shifts the assessment culture from management and compliance, to assessment for learning and growth.  Below are several interrelated areas where engaging in authentic PBL creates opportunities to build such a culture:

Focus on enduring understandings and NTN Outcomes

A core tenet of NTN instructional design is to “begin with the end in mind.” When designing curriculum for their students, NTN teachers avoid the trap of superficially “covering the standards” by prioritizing “power standards” that appropriately focus the learning in their courses on knowledge and skills that will translate into future success and opportunities for students. 

NTN schools are also committed to teaching and assessing students’ development in a broad set of outcomes over and above disciplinary content standards.

The NTN Learning Outcomes represent a research-based set of outcomes aimed at deeper learning and college and career readiness. Authentic development of these outcomes is, in many ways, the strongest “why” for PBL in the NTN model and should factor in alongside disciplinary content in project and course design.  

Performance Assessments

While traditional assessments like quizzes, exit tickets, and problem sets often find a place in a PBL classroom, NTN’s primary measure of student learning comes from authentic project products and tasks. PBL tends to culminate in “performance assessments” like proposals, reports, presentations, and other products where students demonstrate their learning through tangible artifacts that can be assessed against clear and explicit criteria using a rubric or similar tool. 

Authentic process and formative assessment

For assessment to be a tool for student learning, we know that it needs to be moved into the middle of the learning process rather than postponed until the end of instruction. The most effective assessments for learning are those that are “formative assessments” in that they are part of a process of making decisions about where a student is in their learning and where they need to go next. PBL makes formative assessment an almost inescapable aspect of day-to-day practice. 

Feedback and Revision

Providing feedback to students on their performance is critical to their growth and development, but for feedback to impact student learning it needs to be timely, meaningful, and actionable. In more traditional classes the majority of feedback students receive comes in the form of grades and comments as summative feedback on assignments and tests. Just as PBL lets us move assessment into the middle of the learning process, it enables teachers to situate feedback as part of students’ process of working through the project. Previously unread comments on a student essay take on new importance for the student when they are part of their feedback on a proposal, report, or other project artifact as part of a PBL unit.

Challenges and Solutions in Authentic PBL

A big challenge of authentic PBL is finding and making connections with community partners. It can be time consuming for teachers to reach out to businesses and organizations to incorporate them into project design. Schools that implement authentic community connections often have a system and network of community partners to connect with during projects. As schools become known for their community connections, the ask of teachers in the planning stage becomes easier. The other big challenge in the design stage of PBL is brainstorming community connections with the topics taught in your content area. Below is a list of community organizations and businesses that could be helpful for future design. 

Community partner ideas in PBL

Community partners are essential for great PBL because they bring a level of expertise about their business or organization that classroom teachers cannot replicate. By connecting students with experts and resources from their community, students have the chance to gain meaningful knowledge and skills that are relevant beyond the classroom. Below is a list of common businesses and organizations that can connect to multiple content areas in any school:

Event: Local 5K Run

• Math – distance, rate, Target Heart Rate Formula (use heart rate monitor to track the duration of time in THR zone and make a graph), creating a budget for the event
• Research skills – students research different charitable causes and choose one to benefit
• English Language Arts – reading about activism
• Media/Advertising/Graphic Design – creating fliers, commercials, t-shirts
• Business – finding sponsors and volunteers for the event
• Health/P.E. – create a training program to help the community prepare for the 5K

Local Coffee Shop

• Math – price per oz. ratios, profit, cost of items, price to customers
• Humanities – host book discussions or poetry slams on social/historical topics. How much are customers willing to spend for fair trade beans? “Pay it forward coffee” Are people willing to pay an extra dollar for someone else to get a cup for free? 
• Science – plant life cycle, GMOs, acidity levels, deforestation, human impact on the environment
• Health: Break down the nutritional info of a menu item; create a new nutritional menu item
• English: Beat poetry
• Visual Art: showcasing student art in the coffee shop

Parks and Recreation Department

• US History – Progressive Era, how Parks & Rec areas are set up, what are the requirements to control such a massive area of open space? What resources are needed (research?)
• P.E./School Culture – Plan and organize a 5K/trail run/wellness day
• Science – Biomes, invasive species, food chain in local area, erosion control, population growth

Local Grocery Store/Natural Food Store

• World History 1/ English: Ancient Civilizations, create a display tracing foods from then to now, how they changed, dietary practices of different ethnicities. Identify local food desserts and help people tap into local fresh food resources
• Math/Science – Growing rates of food for the number of people it needs to feed, population growth, GMOs

Using Community Partners and PBL to Connect Students with Real-World Experiences

In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 16 public school districts have come together to collaborate to provide students with real-world learning experiences.  In 2023, Lancaster STEM Alliance and a local education service agency, Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 (IU13) launched an “Adopt-a-Middle School” program focused on matching local businesses with classroom teachers. The aim is to become a hub for STEM literacy and experiential learning while improving student engagement, with learning that occurs in the real world. Click the link to learn how they created an educational system aimed at authentic student learning: Using Community Partners and PBL to Connect Students with Real-World Experiences

Conclusion: Moving Forward with Authentic PBL

Authentic Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an inquiry-based, student-centered approach that immerses learners in real-world problems and connects them with their communities. By engaging in relevant, challenging projects, students apply content knowledge and develop skills needed for college and career readiness. Implementation involves teachers acting as facilitators, fostering a supportive environment, and integrating formative assessment throughout the learning process. Partnerships with community experts further enrich learning, making education meaningful and applicable beyond the classroom. To begin the steps of integrating authenticity in the classroom employ the suggestions from the Spectrum of Authenticity and brainstorm ideas with colleagues. PBL is an evolving practice, that requires reflection, adaptation, and continuous learning to meet the changing needs of students and the world.

New Tech Network (NTN) is a national nonprofit dedicated to systemic change in education. We center K-12 schools as the units of change, working closely with district leaders, school principals, and classroom educators, to co-design an approach to change that is specific to their context. If you are interested in additional details on how New Tech Network can support your school’s vision of authentic PBL, learn more about our services here.