Archive for October, 2011

Establishing a PBL-friendly Culture

Monday, October 31st, 2011

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It’s surprising to me, but I see little discussion within education of why PBL succeeds. To experts in the field of human performance, however, there is no mystery. Three decades of research—including findings from youth development, organizational psychology, positive psychology, and emotional intelligence—has identified three core factors that maximize individual effort and the desire to achieve:

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Want Better PBL? Use SEL.

Monday, October 17th, 2011

An unfortunate legacy of the cognitive model that dominates education is the belief that everything important in life takes place from the neck up. This belief is the primary reason that many teachers struggle with PBL. At its best, PBL taps into intangibles that make learning effortless and engaging: Drive, passion, purpose, and peak performance. But peak performance doesn’t start with a standardized curriculum.

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