Experiential Learning Depot
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Courses
    • Login
    • Student-Led Learning Made Easy
    • PBL Teacher Academy
    • Free PBL Mini Course
  • Coaching
  • About
    • Contact
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Courses
    • Login
    • Student-Led Learning Made Easy
    • PBL Teacher Academy
    • Free PBL Mini Course
  • Coaching
  • About
    • Contact
Experiential learning resources for the innovative educator

How to Write Engaging PBL Driving Questions Simply and Clearly

10/4/2022

0 Comments

 
How to write a PBL driving question blog featured image
Project-based learning is a phenomenal teaching method that allows students to dig deeper into relevant, real-world, and meaningful concepts. PBL driving questions frame these valuable learning experiences.

Whether a project-based learning experience is teacher-led or student-directed, writing a driving question is often the first step in PBL design. It is also one of the biggest struggles.

​Let's dive into exactly what a PBL driving question is and how to write them in a way that doesn't make you or your students want to pull your hair out!
Writing a PBL driving question is by far my biggest challenge (and my self-directed students) as a project based teacher. This blog post gives tips, a template and PBL driving question examples.
So how do you write a PBL driving question? How do your students write one? What are some PBL driving question examples? This blog post will fill you in on all things related to driving questions! 

Not all project-based educators find a driving question necessary. For a long time, my students designed and executed self-directed project-based learning activities without a driving question.

​Instead, they brainstormed a topic of interest, chose a subtopic under a theme assigned to them, and wrote a list of inquiry questions or categories to guide the research process.

That was fine, but I discovered after many years of doing it this way that my students were going through the motions of a research project without seeing the bigger picture or the purpose of the experience. 
Project-based learning is about so much more than gathering statistics and gluing that info to a poster board.

It is deep, sustained inquiry, with authentic, integrated, real-world experiences intermixed. My students were not seeing the latter half of that sentence. They were only seeing the short-term goal; a project-based learning rubric score.

Because of this, I eventually started adding a PBL driving question as a requirement. The purpose of a driving question is to make the how, what, AND why as clear as day.

​
My students felt more confident going forward with their projects because their goals and the purpose were clearly written into their driving questions.
Getting ready for project-based free mini-course. Developing PBL driving questions is an important part of that process.
Yes, Please! Give me Access!
If you have purchased any of my project-based learning resources you have seen that a PBL driving question is written into the project plan.

​This blog post is intended to help you and your students write that question. 
I have listed out the components that I include in a PBL driving question. They do not have to be written in this order. Mix it up, just try to include all of them.
PBL driving question blog infographic

How to Write a PBL Driving Question in 5 Easy Steps

1. Question:
A project-based learning driving question is a question after all, so it makes sense to have a question written into it. The question should be open-ended. If you ask a question that has one right or wrong answer, the PBL experience is over. Encourage students to think in the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

The question could start with "How", "Should", "What", "Could" and so on. 

PBL Driving Question Example: How can our senior class create a free, interactive, digital career station for students and other job seekers in the community to make career inquiries seamless and accessible to all?
​2. Action-Taker(s)
​The action-taker is the person or group that will participate in or execute the experience. This is written into the driving question so that students are clear on who will be involved, including peers, partners, and collaborators

The action-taker might be "I", "our economics class", "our neighborhood community", etc. 

PBL Driving Question Example: How can our senior class create a free, interactive, digital career station for students and other job seekers in the community to make career inquiries seamless and accessible to all?
​3. Action
The action is what the action-takers will do or create. This is the "what" of the experience. What final product will they make? What service will they provide? This is essentially the final product or information that they will produce that will serve or impact the community.

PBL Driving Question Example: How can our senior class create a free, interactive, digital career station for students and other job seekers in the community to make career inquiries seamless and accessible to all?
4. Recipient
The recipient is an important piece of project-based learning. PBL is authentic, meaning the experience and outcomes should be relevant and impactful to those beyond the walls of the classroom.

An authentic presentation is an important component of project-based learning that distinguishes it from other teaching methods.

Students do not share their final products exclusively with their teacher and class. They share it with the public, and not just the public in general, but a public audience that is relevant to the topic or final product. The person or group that will receive the information or product is written directly into the driving question.

PBL Driving Question Example: How can our senior class create a free, interactive, digital career station for students and other job seekers in the community to make career inquiries seamless and accessible to all?
​5. Impact
The impact is the "why", the purpose, and the ultimate goal of a project-based learning activity. Students often ask me why we do something. Why are we learning this? The impact is their answer.

The impact gives students a sense of purpose and desire to participate in the experience. I felt that the impact was a little lost with my self-directed high school students without a driving question. 

The impact is what the action-takers wish to impart to the recipient(s) of the final product or information shared.
​
PBL Driving Question Example: How can our senior class create a free, interactive, digital career station for students and other job seekers in the community to make career inquiries seamless and accessible to all?
PBL driving questions for project based learning lesson plans guide the experience by providing learners with clarity and purpose. But how to write one, that is the question? Start here.
Again, mix and match these PBL driving question components as you please. The idea is simply to provide students with clarity and purpose.

It will be a work in progress, and that is okay! PBL driving questions do not have to be perfect. Good luck! And as always, reach out and connect with any questions!​
PBL Resources from Experiential Learning Depot
Project-based learning tool kit, which includes a driving question element in the project proposal.
Project-based learning student-led design workbook, which includes PBL driving question graphic organizer.
Guided project-based learning lesson on current events
Related Project-Based Learning Blog Posts
Components of project-based learning, including PBL driving questions.
100 final product ideas to add to a PBL driving question
Common obstacles to project-based learning blog post including writing PBL driving questions.
Join our experiential learning Facebook group!

Did you know there is an experiential learning Facebook group? Check that out - Experiential Learning Community for K12 Teachers - and join in the discussion about experiential learning ideas!
​

Find us on social media!

Follow Experiential Learning Depot on Pinterest, Youtube, and Instagram for more on experiential education, and check out my shop for experiential learning resources. ​
Observe. Question. Explore. Share.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Blog Intent

    To provide innovative educational resources for educators, parents, and students, that go beyond lecture and worksheets.

    Free Tools

    ​Author

    Sara Segar, experiential life-science educator and advisor, curriculum writer, and mother of two​.

    Check out my experiential learning resources on TPT, Experiential Learning Depot 

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    21st Century Skills
    College And Career Readiness
    Community Action Projects
    Community Learning
    Current Events
    Design Thinking In Education
    Distance Learning
    Experiential Learning
    Experiential Science
    Holidays
    Inquiry Based Learning
    Outdoor Education
    Personalized Learning
    Problem Based Learning
    Project Based Learning
    Senior Project
    Service-Learning
    Social Emotional Learning
    STEM
    Student Activism
    Student Directed Learning
    Student Travel
    Technology

    RSS Feed

    Shop Resources

    Archives

    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018

© 2023 Experiential Learning Depot, LLC

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

Disclaimer

Contact