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PBL Diagnostic Quiz

What is project-based learning (PBL)? It's the evolution of classroom instruction from exclusively traditional study and drill methods to meaningful content-based projects. How much PBL do you already do with your students? Take the diagnostic quiz on the following slides to find out!

Knowledge and skills received from teacher and learning materials

Knowledge and skills gained by researching and designing solutions to real-world questions or problems, facilitated by the teacher

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

If PBL were a breakfast cereal, I think it should be named:

Crunchy Standards-Based, Meaningful Learning-Os

Frosted Fun Break From Memorization Flakes

Raisin Hands-On & Mostly Related to Our Unit of Study Bran

Cinnamon Toast Shush-Ups, Now Fortified With Vitamin Be Quiet and Let Me Get Some Grading Done

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

If my students were to endow me with an overly lengthy royal epithet (like King Frederickson the Sworn Enemy of Smart Boards), it would be Queen/King [my last name] the:

Spontaneous Assigner of Unplanned Tasks

Procedural Micro-Manager

Balancer of Teacher Direction With Student Choice

Divulger of Bizarre, Irrelevant Personal Anecdotes

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

Student voice and choice is such an important educational concept that it deserves its own theme song,
which could be:

Walk This Way

(I Get By) With a Little Help from My Friends [and Teacher]

Free Bird

What Does the Fox Say?

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

When I introduce a new project, the emoji that best represents my students' response is:

😕
Booorrring!

😃
Wow, an appropriately challenging, relevant problem or question? Bring it!

😭
Whaa? Way too hard!

😎
No explanation needed.

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

When I think about the authentic purpose and real-world relevance of my PBL projects, I liken it to my students playing:

Angry Birds: yes, they're helping save the world, but it's definitely not their world.

Farmville: everybody needs food, and my students are solving problems to make that happen.

Candy Crush: they're engaged, busy, motivated, and… what was the point again?

Fruit Ninja: however this relates to the question, you HAVE to see the live-action video version!Fruit Ninja (clip)

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

During projects, my students demonstrate the self-motivated, sustained inquiry of:

Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, whose strict adherence to Star Command protocol jeopardizes his missions that require innovation to succeed

Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazzard, whose singularly simple-minded pursuit of the Duke boys blinds him to exploring other solutions or even remembering what the actual problem was to begin with

Sherlock Holmes, seeking information and formulating questions that go beyond the initial presentation of the facts

Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther, fortuitously bumbling into clue after clue

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

The organization that most closely resembles my PBL student grouping is:

A benevolent herd of mythical ponies, sharing strengths and learning from weaknesses to complete challenging tasks

The members of a university department committee who dislike their assignment even more than each other and thus miraculously put aside personal differences to get the job done

The rec league basketball team that loses every game but at least enjoys playing together

A loose affiliation of disaffected superheroes

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

If, while checking on students during PBL group work, I suddenly turned into an animal, it would be a:

Cat, paying scant attention to students due to my frequent, fastidious self-grooming

Sheepdog, incessantly urging students forward and nipping at the off-task ones

Monkey, curiously circulating among the groups to ask and answer questions

Hyena, seeking for weaknesses to exploit and emitting barks and cackles

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

During projects, my students take part in peer critique and revision as if they all belonged to the Hogwarts house of:

Hufflepuff: amiably ineffectual, low motivation to improve

Gryffindor: brave and skillful enough to point out and correct flaws

Ravenclaw: wise and insightful but not sufficiently assertive to make and take constructive feedback

Slytherin: please, please not Slytherin

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

If my assessment procedures for PBL were represented by a superhero tool or attribute, it would be:

Jean Grey's mental powers, conveying assessment criteria telepathically and expecting students to read my mind back

Supergirl's x-ray vision, with its discerning but single-source power of observation

Batman's utility belt, stocked with a variety of rubrics and
peer-evaluation forms

Hulk Smash

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

When my students have finished a project, they write reflection pieces that demonstrate the detail, wisdom, and insight of:

Helen Keller's concise, moving autobiography

The exhaustive
stream-of-consciousness narrative in James Joyce's novel Ulysses

Blank paper (they don't write reflection pieces)

Student desk engravings

PBL Diagnostic Quiz

Instructions: This fun quiz has two purposes: to introduce you to some of the major concepts of PBL, and to help you determine how many of these PBL concepts you currently involve in your practice. For this reason, choose the answer that best represents your current teaching practice, not the (fairly obvious) “correct” option for each question.

The iconic movie scene that best represents my approach to end-of-project student presentations is:

The end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the ark is impersonally evaluated, classified, and carted off to indefinite storageRaiders of the Lost Ark (clip)

The sequence in Apollo 13 where the flight director tasks engineers with creating a makeshift CO2 filter and then observes as they explain to the crew how to build itApollo 13 (clip)

The Sound of Music scene where Maria orchestrates the Von Trapp children's performance of Do-Re-MiSound of Music (clip)

The epic friendship-building moment when Napoleon Dynamite watches Pedro take his bike off a sweet jumpNapoleon Dynamite (clip)

Your score:

0 – 18 = You're in the right place to learn about and begin practicing PBL!

19 – 29 = You've got good experience with hands-on activities, and you'll quickly learn how to adapt them into meaningful, memorable PBL.

30 – 36 = You might be ready to skip this course and submit evidence that you already practice the basics of PBL.

Download both evidence components below to view the requirements for this micro-credential. You may complete and submit the components now if you feel prepared to do so, or you may take the PBL Level 1 course first.

Evidence Plan 1Evidence Plan 2