Project Design

Thinking Skills

Project Plan Index

Teaching and Learning Strategies

• A Grade 1 learner says, “I can’t wait to see rhinos at the zoo and show my brochure to the zookeeper. Maybe the rhino at the zoo is ten times as big as me!”
• A Grade 5 learner asks, “I wonder if the sumflowers have bloomed in Alaska? I’ll send a message to our e-pals to find out.”
• A high school learner remarks, “The teleconference with the University will really boost the credibility of our research on sunbird migration, maybe we could publish our report?”
• A senior phase teacher comments, “The organized chaos in my classroom has really paid off. My learners have shown a deep understanding of ecosystems and created a newsletter on things everyone can do to protect our native species and habitats. They can’t wait to see their work displayed at the Community Centre.”

With assessment standards at the forefront of learning, teachers use project approaches to engage learners in authentic work and develop 21st Century skills of collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. When well-designed, project-based curriculum can yield high quality results for learners and a rewarding experience for teachers.

Project-Based Learning Defined
Project-based learning is a learner-centred, teaching and learning model. It develops content area knowledge and skills through an extended task that promotes learner inquiry and authentic demonstrations of learning in products and performances. Project-based curriculum is driven by important curriculum-aligned questions that tie assessment standards and higher-order thinking to real-world contexts.

Project-based learning includes varied teaching and learning strategies to engage all learners regardless of their learning style. Often learners collaborate with outside experts and community members to answer questions and gain deeper meaning of the content. ICT is used to support learning. Throughout project work multiple types of assessment are embedded to ensure that learners produce high quality work.

Characteristics of Projects >
Learn more about the design elements used in planning a project-based learning experience.

Planning Projects >
Get help with designing and assessing a projects for your classroom. Find ideas and ways to improve your projects.

Curriculum-Aligned Questions >
Learn more about how Focus and Content Questions spark interest and guide learner to higher levels of thinking and engagement.

Projects in Action >
Read about the shift from conventional teaching to project-based approaches. See examples of how teachers address challenges as they make the transition.