The Project Habit: Making Rigorous PBL Doable

Endorsements

Michael gets learning and teaching. He is in tune with the challenges teachers face in a complex environment. His strategies cut through the politics of distraction to make a difference where it really matters, which is in the classroom. This book has provided me with the tools to build teacher efficacy and better learners in the classroom. In my 10 years as a leader of pedagogy, I haven’t had any other experiences that have gained more traction with students and teachers than Michael’s work.

Carlo Trimboli, Leader of Pedagogy

St. Joseph’s College, Banora Point, Australia

This book is a must-read for like-minded educationalists who put the child at the center of their practice. Whether you are a novice to the world of PBL or you are well seasoned with the phenomenon, this book is invaluable and will guide you through the language of learning, be it through the lens of PBL or the day-to-day practices of being a teacher.

Eoin Shinners, Principal

Limerick Educate Together Secondary School, Ireland

The Project Habit: Making Rigorous PBL Doable lays out a clear path for educators looking to enhance student engagement and deepen student learning through straightforward, actionable steps. While many educators aspire to implement high-quality, rigorous PBL, designing and implementing a unit can feel daunting. This book provides accessible strategies and examples that allow educators to shift their practice and maintain focus on what matters most, student learning.

Megan Pacheco, Executive Director

Challenge Success, Stanford, California

Shifting how we think and act to enable today’s learners is no easy feat. The Project Habit provides just that, a shift. Deep thinking and rich action.

Gregory Tyszkiewicz, Coordinator and Primary Teacher

Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary School, Greystanes, Australia

Thought-provoking, actionable, and challenging in all the right ways, The Project Habit is filled with useful strategies that can be implemented immediately. Seamlessly tying together Teaching for Transfer, Rigorous PBL by Design, and James Clear’s Atomic Habits, The Project Habit presents a stepwise approach to preparing for and tackling the complexities that arise before, during, and post a project. The book guides educators to consider how to get the best out of students by habit-building the critical skills required for students to experience success and demonstrate real and measurable learning in a well-planned project. This is the ultimate tool to add to a teacher’s toolbox—providing real examples, usable templates, and well-designed habits that every teacher can consider implementing in their classroom.

Emmie Cossell, Secondary Science Teacher

Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast, Australia

Michael McDowell’s new book, The Project Habit: Making Rigorous PBL Doable, ought to come with a warning label: Thinking Required. This is no recipe book for easy-to-do projects. Rather, McDowell draws on research and practice to push readers to reconsider everything from project launch to final reflection. (Question everything is #9 on McDowell’s list of teaching habits worth cultivating.) His end goal—deeper, more equitable learning—makes this a challenge worth taking.

Suzie Boss, PBL advocate and author of Project Based Teaching:

How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences

McDowell and Miller’s The Project Habit successfully bridges the gap between adopting the pedagogical approaches that most impact student learning and . . . making instructional change manageable and sustainable for teachers. McDowell and Miller support educators in moving from motion into action while ensuring their focus remains on building strong learning cultures and enabling students to demonstrate their understanding at the surface, deep, and transfer levels of learning complexity. Providing rich examples, scaffolds, protocols, and templates, The Project Habit will provide teachers and leaders with the support they need to put into action the approaches that work best in learning, whether in the context of project-based learning or the mainstream classroom.

Kurt Challinor, Lead, Secondary Learning and Teaching

Catholic Schools Office, Diocese of Lismore, Australia

McDowell and Miller provide a practical, common sense approach to student learning through the lens of project based learning. More importantly, they offer a guide to closing the feedback loop with students, a task that can feel daunting at the best of times. Student engagement and achievement soared in my class when I applied the time saving strategies outlined in The Project Habit. This is a must read for any teacher that wants to engage, teach and refine student learning.

Stephanie Trott, Social Studies Teacher

Redwood Middle School, Napa, California

Copyrighted Material

The Project Habit: Making Rigorous PBL Doable

Copyright © 2022 by Michael McDowell and Kelley S. Miller. All Rights Reserved.


No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

For information about this title or to order other books and/or electronic media, contact the publisher:


Mimi and Todd Press

4629 Cass St. #292

San Diego, CA 92109

www.mimitoddpress.com

ISBN: 978-1-950089-12-3 (paperback)

978-1-950089-13-0 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

Program Director: Paul J. Bloomberg, Ed.D.

Publishing Manager: Tony Francoeur

Production Coordinator: Lisa Cebelak

Copy Editor: Terri Lee Paulsen

Line Editor: Rita Carlberg

Book Designer/Typesetter: Van-Garde Imagery, Inc.

Indexer: Maria Sosnowski

Cover Designer: Alison Cox

Creative Director and Graphic Design: Alison Cox

Marketing Manager: Jace McCracken

Office Manager: Leah Tierney

Online resources are available at mimitoddpress.com/the-project-habit

Acknowledgments

While learning is often done in the company of others, writing is a solitary task. My immense gratitude goes to the village that surrounded my family so that I was never truly working alone. The invisible labor of car pools, pizza dinners, and extended playdates is what gave me the time it took to co-author this book. Thank you to the Ex family, Southam family, Chatham family, Martha Clements, and the dear friends in my community who share the joy and labor of child-rearing with me. Much appreciation for the teachers and fellow learners in Napa Valley and beyond who continue to shape a more innovative and equitable vision for education; we learn something from each other daily. Unending thanks to my husband and my parents, lifelong learners who wondered why I hadn’t written a book already. And tremendous gratitude to Michael, who made sure we remedied that problem.

Kelley S. Miller

In 2017, when the book Rigorous PBL by Design was published, a great number of teachers, leaders, parents, and students embarked on a new journey of learning. This learning occurred around the world in every context imaginable, and I was overwhelmed by the impact, innovation, imagination, and inquiry that ensued.

In addition, I was blessed with feedback on how we could go further in our teaching, leading, and learning. I’m indebted to those educators, students, and families for sharing their journey with me in how to improve the learning lives of children. This book is for them and the new learnings we have codified from the original text. Kelley S. Miller is one of those trailblazers. I’m grateful to her for her experience, clarity in writing, expertise in teaching and leading, and passion for pursuing what’s next in education.

Thank you to Lisa, Alison, Paul, and Tony at Mimi & Todd Press and The Core Collaborative for your grace, clarity, support, and drive. As always, to Quinn, Harper, and Asher. I love you and thank you for your patience and grace.

Michael McDowell, Ed.D.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

The Design and Implementation Conundrum

Defining Rigorous Learning

The Case for Actionable Habits to Ensure Rigorous Learning

Empowerment

Equity

Engagement

The Project Habit

Setting the Stage for Habits of Practice

How This Book Is Set Up

Key Lessons or Takeaways

Conclusion

Chapter 1

Rigorous PBL: Overview

Defining Rigorous PBL

A Solid Research Basis for Rigorous PBL by Design

The Impact of Rigorous PBL

Thinking Again with Rigorous PBL by Design

Gearing Up for Rigorous Project Habits

RPBL Design

Design Habits Rationale

RPBL Actions

Phase 1 (Project Launch) Action Habits Rationale 17

Phase 2 (Surface -Learning Workshops) Action Habits Rationale 18

Phase 3 (Deep-Learning Workshops) Action Habits Rationale 20

Phase 4 (Presentations and Reflections) Action Habits Rationale 21

RPBL Inspection

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Chapter 2

Rigorous PBL: Planning

Habit 1: Make it clear by creating student-friendly learning intentions and success criteria at surface, deep, and transfer levels of learning

Habit 2: See it (the learning) everywhere by generating multiple contexts and one or more driving questions

Habit 3: Plan for the right fit by aligning tasks across surface, deep, and transfer expectations; and designing entry events, curveballs, and sequels for transfer

Deep-Learning Tasks and Assessments

Priming, Protocols, and Probing

Transfer-Learning Tasks

Entry Events

Curveballs and Sequels

Habit 4: Lock it (the schedule) in by setting tentative dates for workshops aligned to complexity levels

Template

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Chapter 3

Phase 1: Project Launch

Habit 5: Start with a challenge by setting your purpose with an entry event and getting students clear on what they’re learning and what success looks like

Single Context

Multiple Contexts and Co-Construction

GRASPS Framework and Authentic Situations

Matrix Problems

Habit 6: Name the gaps by pre-assessing and discussing the results with students

Habit 7: Look ahead by creating next steps based on knows/need-to-knows and holding to learning agreements and protocols

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Launch Showcase

Chapter 4

Phase 2: Building Knowledge

Phase 2: Surface-Learning Workshops

Habit 8: Build the foundation by applying instructional and feedback strategies to support surface-level learning

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Chapter 5

Phase 3: Deep-Learning Workshops

Impacting Deep Learning

Deep-Learning Habits

Habit 9: Question everything together through structured discussions, deep-level feedback strategies, and formative assessments

Barriers to Deep Learning

Overscaffolding to Avoid Desirable Difficulties

Avoiding Challenging Assumptions

Practicing Defined Autonomy

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Chapter 6

Phase 4: Presentations

and Reflections

Transfer Snapshot

Phase 4 Process and Overview

Habit 10: Return to transfer by implementing transfer-level workshops to apply learning in real-world contexts and address curveballs

Workshop Type 1: Application-Based Workshops

Habit 11: Deliver on the challenge by structuring means for showcasing work and giving/receiving feedback and engaging students in project sequels

Habit 12: Look in the mirror by conducting reflective protocols on academic growth, meeting cultural expectations, and addressing the driving question

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Chapter 7

Inspecting Our Impact

Habit 13: Make discourse deliberate by agreeing to shared values and behaviors for shared work and following through on them

Habit 14: Sprint by adhering to a rapid improvement process

Habit 15: Choose action by implementing a personalized plan for improving habits

Encouraging Deliberate Deviations in Our Practices

Calibrating Deliberate Practice and Deliberate Deviations as a Team

Conclusion

Review Questions

Next Steps

Summary

References

Online Appendix — mimitoddpress.com/the-project-habit

Foreword

Any method of teaching can be done well or badly. Didactic instruction can be extreme—mind-numbingly dull and formulaic—or it can be fascinating and enlightening. Project-based Learning (PBL) can be ill judged—creating confusion, frustration, and stagnation—or it can stretch, strengthen, and deepen students’ knowledge, intellectual expertise, and indeed their sophistication as independent learners. Teaching well is a matter of judgment, continually reviewed and adapted in response to its effects. Its success depends on sensitivity to the mood of a class, to students’ existing knowledge, their degree of interest in the topic, the intrinsic difficulties and demands of the topic itself, and the familiarity and comfortableness of both teachers and their students with that method of teaching.

PBL has been the subject of much polemical and polarized hostility from some teachers and educators. They have seen it done badly, or have tried it out themselves with high hopes, and it has not gone well, and they have leaped to the conclusion that the entire methodology is misconceived, or even downright damaging (especially to already disadvantaged students). But such knee-jerk condemnation is premature. First, they should have wondered: Hmm, perhaps this PBL business is more subtle and demanding than I thought. Perhaps the students didn’t have the sufficient background knowledge to make sense of the challenge I gave them; perhaps I needed to have taught them more before I introduced the project. Or maybe I overestimated the degree of responsibility or complexity that that group of students were able to handle. Perhaps they were so conditioned to being told what to do that they were simply thrown, made anxious or suspicious, by being asked to think for themselves. Perhaps students’ capacity for self-management and collaboration has to be seen developmentally, as reflecting skills and attitudes that need a slowly escalating diet of challenge and skillfully targeted coaching if they are to grow successfully over time. Maybe I should be more cautious next time or choose a more amenable class in which to try out something new. Maybe I have a lot to learn if I am going to do PBL well. Indeed, PBL may have been ‘oversold’ to such teachers by enthusiastic authors and consultants who set them up with naive expectations that were bound to be disappointing and have resulted in disillusionment and cynicism.

It is true that simplistic and exaggerated claims have been made by both traditionalists and progressives, but we should move quickly on from such slanging matches to more fruitful discussions of appropriateness, moderation, and balance. The issue is not which approach to adopt ideologically but when, with whom, for