Putting PjBL to the Test: The Impact of Project-Based Learning on Second Graders’ Social Studies and Literacy Learning and Motivation in Low-SES School Settings

By Nell K. Duke, A. Halvorsen, Stephanie L. Strachan, Jihyun Kim, S. Konstantopoulos. The American Educational Research Journal, 2020

122 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This cluster randomized controlled trial investigated the impact of project-based learning with professional development supports on social studies and literacy achievement and motivation of second-grade students from low–socioeconomic status school districts. At random in within-school pairs, 48 teachers were assigned to the experimental or comparison group. Experimental group teachers were asked to teach four project-based learning units designed to address nearly all social studies and some literacy standards. Comparison group teachers were asked to teach social studies as they normally would except to teach a target number of lessons. The experimental group showed higher growth in social studies and informational reading but not writing or motivation. Greater consistency with project-based learning session plans was associated with higher growth in writing, motivation, and reading.

Subfields: Computer Science Applications, Education, Sociology and Political Science

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