How do I create Benchmarks for a PBL?

 

Have you ever had a learner or group of learners present and you think, “How in the world did you make it this far and have so little to present?” Or maybe this is a fear of yours that is holding you back. Benchmarking can be a real confidence booster for facilitators and learners. Benchmarks help us to make sure all of our learners are on track to have a completed end product AND they are learning the content in the PBL Unit.

To help with the process, Magnify Learning teaches benchmarking in our professional development. There are two types of benchmarking:

Project Benchmarks - These are check-ins that we are doing with learners to see where they are in the creation process of a deliverable. For example: if your learners are building websites for local nonprofits, project benchmarks may include a website content plan, website skeleton, and a published rough draft before you get to the final presentation of the final website.

Standards Benchmarks - These benchmarks may be more like a traditional quiz or test to figure out where learners are at with the current content you are engaging. For example: If you are engaging a PBL unit that addresses geometry standards, you could give a pretest on certain geometry standards to see where learners are and then hold workshops based on the pre-test.

Benchmarks are key to developing a monthly, weekly and daily plan for YOUR classroom. Use the resources listed below to help with your benchmarking.

Video Related Resources

  1. Benchmarks (Website Resource Page)

  2. Benchmarks Slide Deck

  3. Benchmarks-What are They and Why do They Matter? (Blog)

Additional PBL Resources

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4. PBL Movement Online Community - Connect with other like-minded educators and get access to a ton of PBL Resources.

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