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Lessons learned from shift to project-based science instruction
Overview
San Francisco Unified School District is using a project-based learning science curriculum across middle schools. SFUSD leaders Devin Krugman and Renée Marcy explain in this District Administration article how their team developed and implemented the curriculum and the benefits they're seeing in the classroom. They also share advice for other system leaders interested in making a similar shift toward student-centered, inquiry-based learning at scale.
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Research
Equity-Centered Project-Based Learning
Cheng, B.H., Clark, T.L., Allen C.D., Garcia, A.G., and Scipio, D. (2023) Equity-Centered Project-Based Learning. Lucas Education Research. This paper provides a background on recent research related to learning and instruction, focusing on two mechanisms essential to deeper learning: (1) inclusion of authentic learning contexts and (2) valuing student voice as part of instruction. The […]
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Including teachers in the social justice equation of project-based learning: A response to Lee & Grapin
Adah Miller, E., Makori, H., Akgun, S., Miller, C., Li, T., & Codere, S. (2022). Including teachers in the social justice equation of project-based learning: A response to Lee & Grapin. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1– 7.
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The Impact of Project-Based Learning on AP Exam Performance
Harnessing a cluster randomized controlled trial, we estimated the impact on students’ advanced placement (AP) examination performance of a project-based learning (PBL) approach to AP compared with a lecture-based AP approach.
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Equity-Centered Learning Environments (ECLEs) 
LER funded four research teams who are engaged in ongoing research addressing equity and student-centered learning in educational contexts across the country.
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Democratic Knowledge Project
The Democratic Knowledge Project is a project-based learning civics initiative that includes a year-long 8th-grade civics curriculum, Civic Engagement in Our Democracy.
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Mapping Enabling Conditions for High-Quality PBL: A Collaboratory Approach
This paper explores enabling conditions for scaling high-quality project-based learning (PBL) to understand factors that influence how PBL spreads, whether and how it can be sustained and the extent to which it informs meaningful change in schools.
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Designing Project-Based Learning Curricula
This paper provides instructional designers with guidance on how to design high-quality PBL curricula, drawing on the LER research base, the learning science literature, and best practices from the field. To provide developers with guideposts that can inform design decisions, the paper describes a set of design principles that can support the creation of content-rich, student-centered experiences.
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Interdisciplinary Education: Literature Review and Landscape Analysis
Related to project-based learning, interdisciplinary education can create more relevant learning experiences for all students. This report, produced by RTI International for Lucas Education Research, explores the field of interdisciplinary education through an extensive literature review and landscape analysis. In both parts of the report, RTI examines the definitions of interdisciplinary education; how, where, and why the approach is practiced; and finally the existing research, resources, and structures for interdisciplinary education.
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Motivating Teaching, Sustaining Change in Practice
Miller, E.C., Severance, S., and Krajcik, J. (2021). Motivating Teaching, Sustaining Change in Practice: Design Principles for Teacher Learning in Project-Based Learning Contexts, Journal of Science Teacher Education, 32:7, 757-779 In A Framework for K-12 Science Education, researchers call for teachers to make dramatic shifts in practice – and sustain in these changes in practice […]
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Enabling Conditions Collaboratory
The Enabling Conditions Collaboratory brought together four research teams to work towards understanding the conditions that support high-quality PBL.
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