Need to
Know
f!e project does not motivate students
to learn new content knowledge or gain
skills.
fNo entry event is planned. Day one of
the project will feel like any other day (or
worse, because it seems like more work
than usual).
f!e project motivates students to learn
new content knowledge or gain skills
because they see the need for them in
order to complete project products and
not be embarrassed to present their work.
f!e entry event will gain student
attention but it will not begin the inquiry
process by creating a “need to know” or
generate questions about the topic of the
project.
f!e project motivates students to learn
new content knowledge or gain skills
because they genuinely find the project’s
topic, Driving Question, and tasks to be
relevant and meaningful.
f!e entry event will powerfully
engage students, both emotionally &
intellectually (make them feel invested in
the project & provoke inquiry)
Voice &
Choice
fStudents are not given opportunities, if
appropriate, to express “voice & choice”
(to make decisions affecting the content or
conduct of the project).
fStudents are expected to work too much
on their own, without adequate guidance
from the teacher and/or before they are
capable.
fStudents are given limited opportunities
to express “voice & choice,” generally with
less important matters (deciding how
to divide tasks within a team or which
website to use for research).
fStudents are expected to work
independently from the teacher to some
extent, although they have the skills and
desire to do even more on their own.
fStudents have opportunities to express
“voice & choice” on important matters
(the topics to study, questions asked, texts
& resources used, products created, use of
time, and organization of tasks).
fStudents have opportunities to take
significant responsibility and work
independently from the teacher.
Revision &
Reflection
fStudents do not give and receive feedback
about their work-in-progress.
fStudents are not taught how to give
constructive critique of each other’s work-
in-progress (it is brief, superficial, vague).
fStudents do not use feedback about the
quality of their work to revise and improve
it.
fStudents and the teacher do not engage
in reflection about what students learn
and about the project’s design and
management.
fStudents are provided with opportunities
to give and receive feedback about the
quality of their work-in-progress, but they
may be unstructured or only occur once.
fStudents are given brief, general
guidelines for critiquing each other’s work-
in-progress.
fStudents look at and/or listen to feedback
about the quality of their work, but do not
substantially revise and improve it.
fAfter the project’s culmination, the
students and the teacher briefly reflect on
what students learned and on the project’s
design and management.
fStudents are provided with regular,
structured opportunities to give and
receive feedback about the quality of their
work-in-progress.
fStudents are taught how to constructively
critique each other’s work-in-progress.
fStudents use feedback about the quality of
their work to revise and improve it.
fAt key checkpoints and after the project’s
culmination, students and the teacher
engage in thoughtful, comprehensive
reflection about what students learn and
the project’s design and management.
Public
Audience
fStudents do not present or exhibit their
work to an audience.
f!e audience for student presentations is
limited to classmates & the teacher.
fStudents present culminating products,
but their explanation of how & why they
did things is limited to a short, superficial
question/answer session.
fStudents present or exhibit their work to
an audience that includes other people
from both within and outside the school,
which may include online audiences.
fStudents present culminating products
and defend them in detail & in depth (by
explaining their reasoning behind choices
they made, their inquiry process, etc).
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