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Project-Based Learning Can Boost Joy and Engagement in Classrooms

By December 10, 2024No Comments

December 2024 | McREL’s Bryan Goodwin and Jess Nastasi co-authored an article on project-based learning for the December 2024/January 2025 issue of Educational Leadership magazine, which is now available online. Bryan’s reoccurring research-based column complements the issue’s focus on humanizing and cultivating learning through joy.

In the article, Bryan and Jess present insights from research on project-based learning (PBL) and how it can boost students’ academic achievement, collaboration, and engagement.

“Joyful learning that sparks student curiosity and engages students in hands-on and ‘minds-on’ learning is better learning,” they write. “Second, we can help teachers reimagine classroom instruction by providing them with models that show what joyful learning can look like in the classroom.”

Read more about the randomized control trial, the findings, and their takeaways here.

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McREL is a non-profit, non-partisan education research and development organization that since 1966 has turned knowledge about what works in education into practical, effective guidance and training for teachers and education leaders across the U.S. and around the world.