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PBL Checklist
Assignment:
1. Attach a copy of your PBL lesson plan/worksheets
2. Complete the check list, including comments where applicable. Note: this is an exhaustive list, do not
worry if your PBL lesson does not have all the components!
3. Answer the following question: How has this checklist contributed to your understanding of PBL?
Yes No n/a Goals/design
X Is the project focused on teaching students
important knowledge and skills?
      Are the learning expectations challenging
X and in alignment with my curriculum
priorities?
X   Have I broadened the project to an
interdisciplinary focus?
X      Will the final product be engaging for my
students to create and present?
X     Can my students be successful at this
project?
X     Will this project build my students’
literacy skills?
Comments
Yes, not only does it have students
apply a series of skills (covalent
bonding, Lewis structures, Naming
organic compounds) that align with
core standards for chemistry, it also
has socioscientific focus of teaching
students how to do their own
research on drugs or medicines they
may be currently using or may
potentially use in the future and
make informed decisions about
whether or not they should take
those drugs/medicines.
 See above.
Multiple representations were
employed, especially with respect
to the research poster, but other
disciplines were not directly or
purposefully tied into the project.
 Yes, once students created their
research posters, we held a gallery
walk that simulated a research
poster expo and had students walk
around with postits and leave
comments.
 Yes, the project is heavily chunked,
so that students are comfortable and
successful in completing the small
increments of the project vs. the
entire project at one time, and
receive immediate feedback (both
quantitative and qualitative). This
certainly encouraged students to
buy in.
 Yes, students had to read and
digest scientific articles online in
order to write their papers. A
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PBL Checklist
 X     Have I built in both formative and
summative assessments?
   X   Have I built in academic language goals
for all students, including English
Language Learners?
X Have I shared learning goals with my
students?
      Evaluation
 X     Have I designed a rubric that is consistent
with project process and goals?
 X     Is my rubric developmentally appropriate
and flexible enough to accommodate all
students in my class?
 X     Have I clarified project expectations with
my students?
      Collaboration
   X   Have I established a partnership with
fellow teachers, library media specialists,
and technology specialists?
   X   Have I involved cultural and scientific
institutions in the City, such as public
libraries, museums, and science agencies?
      Instruction
 X     Will I be following best teaching practices
by using such techniques as setting high
expectations, modeling, guiding individual
paraphrasing activity was done to
help support them in this process.
 Yes, see lesson plan and
subsequent project documents.
Research papers had to be in APA
format, but I don’t feel that I
pushed them enough towards using
academic language and formatting.
Something I would like to do
differently is to do some drafting,
peer editing, and one on one
conferencing with students about
their papers to potentially push
students to reflect and revise.
Yes, the goals for the project were
made clear at the end of the
introductory lesson.
 
 See rubrics.
 See rubrics.
Each step of the way, students had
access to rubrics and they were
discussed in class at the start of
every part of the project. Looking
back, clearer expectations should
have been set for the summary of
the chemistry of the drug.
 
This is certainly something I’d like
to do in the future with this project.
This is certainly something I’d like
to do in the future with this project.
 
I got the opportunity to show
students a research poster I had
created in college as an example of
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PBL Checklist
practice, structuring learning activities
around active engagement by students, and
employing the use of critical questioning to
push the level of thinking?
 X     Will my skills instruction build coherently
on previous instruction and experience by
my students?
 X  X   Have I provided enough opportunities for
feedback to the students?
      Resources and Technology
 X     Will my students be able to access and use
the resources they need?
   X   Have I collaborated with the library media
specialist to identify the most valuable
resources, both in print and online?
  X   Do my students know how to evaluate
resources to find the best information?
 X     Will my students have access to the
technology they will need? Do they need
instruction in the skills to navigate
databases and online resources?
 X     Do my students need instruction or
reminders to access information ethically,
legally, and responsibly (e.g., copyright,
fair use, plagiarism, illegal downloading,
diverse points of view).
      Environment
 X     Will the learning environment be
structured to support the project focus and
deadlines?
 X     Is the climate conducive to learning?
what an academic research poster is
supposed to look like; would like to
have provided more examples, such
as a good paper and poster, but now
that the project is done, I will have
access to good student work
examples for future classes.
 
Though students were provided
with almost immediate feedback, I
don’t feel I provided enough
opportunity for iteration (reflection
and revision).
 
 Almost all parts of the project were
done in class with access to laptops,
printers and everything that they
needed. The research paper was the
only part of the project that allowed
time outside of class besides time
already given in class.
 This is certainly something I’d like
to do in the future with this project.
 No all; would like to push for this
more in the future
 
This was the secondary purpose of
the paraphrasing activity. There’s
been a lot of copying work among
students and plagiarism when it
comes to papers.
 
 
 
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PBL Checklist
         
      Final Presentation and Evaluation  
 X     Have I arranged for an opportunity for  Gallery walk
students to share their learning with fellow
students, parents, the community, or other
audiences?
 X     Have I used the rubric to fairly and  
accurately evaluate students' work?

Adapted from: Project Based Learning: Inspiring Middle School Students to Engage in Deep and Active Learning. Accessed
12/30/19. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/8810519/project-based-learning-inspiring-middle-school-students-to-

How has this checklist contributed to your understanding of PBL?

Project-based learning is a lot more multi-faceted and pervasive than I originally thought.
Furthermore, because of its complexity, a lot of time and thoughtful planning need to go into it.
This Drug Project took weeks to appropriately plan and multiple iterations before it was ready to
roll out for the kids and even then, I found myself continuously adjusting. Another I notice is
how much of PBL is supporting the whole student so they are in a position to develop their own
thoughts and ideas (to be independent thinkers). The one thing I felt was seriously lacking in this
project is opportunities for an iteration loop (Feedback, Reflection, and revision).