Enacting Project-Based Science: Ronald W. Marx Phyllis C. Blumenfeld Joseph S. Krajcik Elliot Soloway

Abstract
Enacting Project-Based
Science Recommendationsfor reform in science educa-
tion place a premium on students' understand-
ing of scientificconceptsand theirabilityto iden-
tify problems, conduct inquiry, and use
informationflexibly. They call for an apprecia-
Ronald W. Marx tion for how ideas evolve and are validated. In
this article we discuss changes in ideas about
Phyllis C. Blumenfeld learningthat underpinthe reforms.We then de-
Joseph S. Krajcik scribe our experiences with project-basedsci-
ence, a pedagogy that addresses the reformrec-
Elliot Soloway ommendations.Project-basedscience focuses on
Universityof Michigan student-designedinquirythatis organizedby in-
vestigations to answer driving questions, in-
cludes collaborationamong learnersand others,
the use of new technology, and the creation of
authenticartifactsthat representstudent under-
standing. Finally, we illustrate the challenges
this type of innovationposes for teachers'class-
room practice, for professional development,
and for policy.
Recent recommendations for science edu-

cation reform (American Association for the
Advancement of Science, 1993; National Re-
search Council, 1996) reflect new concep-
tions of teaching and learning that assign
primary importance to the way students at-
tempt to make sense of what they are learn-
ing rather than to how teachers should de-
liver information. This current view
pictures students as actively constructing
their knowledge by working on authentic
tasks in which they must apply and repre-
sent ideas (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989;
Newman, Griffin, & Cole, 1989; Resnick,
1987). Programs based on this view raise
many questions for education. In this article
we describe the challenges the reforms pose
The ElementarySchoolJournal for education, focusing on a new pedagogy,
Volume 97, Number 4
? 1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
project-based science, that is consistent with
0013-5984/97/9704-0005$01.00 these reform recommendations. We follow
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All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
342 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL
this with a discussion of challenges project- sults. They did not relate the activities to
based science presents for teachersand de- everyday experiences, so that, even when
scribe attempts to help teachersmeet these students could explain experimentalresults
challenges via new approaches to profes- and answer test questions correctly in
sional development. school, their misconceptionsabout the phe-
nomenon persisted outside school. Teacher
The Challenge for Education implementation varied considerably. The
In addition to facility at basic skills, science innovations involved considerable change
education reformersargue that, in a post- in classroommanagement,lesson structure,
industrial, information economy, citizens and student assessment.Although students
need to have a command of key scientific were active and on task,much of theirfocus
ideas, be able to solve problems, and think was on carryingout proceduresratherthan
critically.Theseaims are informedby recent thinking deeply about important science
ideas about learning that stress student ac- concepts. In fact, work on activities was
tive constructionof ideas. The National Re- characterizedas hands-on, but not neces-
search Council's (1996) standards for sci- sarily minds-on (Tobin,Tippins,& Gallard,
ence education emphasize understanding 1994).
concepts and developing inquiry abilities. In contrast to previous approaches to
They suggest that a smaller number of sci- activity-based science, recently developed
ence concepts be studied and integrated programsare premised on new researchon
across disciplines. The standards propose learning that examines how knowledge is
that subjectmatterbe learnedthroughlong- organized and stored in memory and how
term inquiryactivitiesthatinclude such ele- the social context influences these pro-
ments as argumentationand explanation, cesses. A large body of research (McGilly,
communicatingideas to others,and using a 1995) has shown that, when informationis
wide range of manipulative,cognitive, and acquiredthrough the memorizationof dis-
proceduralskills. crete facts, it will be isolated and inert. As
The newer approaches to instruction a result, it is hard for students to access the
emphasize student activity but stand in informationand apply it to new situations.
contrastto programs that relied on hands- Alternatively, knowledge can be robust
on activities to promote the discovery of when it is organized into large, conceptu-
ideas (Karplus, 1977). In some instances, ally linked networks. This kind of organi-
students' achievement and attitudes im- zation facilitatesflexible access and use of
proved after students participatedin these knowledge so that the learner can ask and
hands-on, activity-based programs (Bred- answer questions, draw analogies to new
derman, 1983).However, the effect of these situations, and solve problems.
earlierscience reformeffortswas limited by To achieve robust understanding, stu-
problems related to the design of activities, dents need to relate new information to
student learning,and classroomimplemen- what they already know in order to build
tation.Activitieswere designed to show ab- connected networks of concepts. To do so
stractprinciples,generallyprocedureswere they need to use memory, elaboration,and
specified, and results were already known. organizational strategies to elaborate, or-
The activities were not related to students' ganize, and remember new information,
lives and were discrete rather than con- and they need to employ metacognitive
nected to a particularset of questions or or- strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of
ganized around a phenomenon. Students their strategy use and understanding. Con-
often did not discover the intended ideas nections are strengthened as students use
and relationships or accommodate their un- and represent information in many differ-
derstandings in light of experimental re- ent ways, by writing, graphing, and mod-
MARCH 1997

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PROJECT-BASED 343
eling. Knowledgealso grows as students re- explore ideas in a subject, uses for these
organize and restructureexisting ideas that ideas, and ways that ideas are validated;
prove to be inadequateto explain new phe- that is, students learn what constitutes le-
nomena. It is not the hierarchicalbuilding gitimate knowledge in a field. Disciplines
up of bits of informationabout a phenom- that underlie the school subjects have vo-
enon that is criticalbut how it is used and cabularies, established bodies of knowl-
how it is related to other informationthat edge, and rules for gatheringevidence and
createsunderstanding. evaluating results. As students engage in
Knowledgegrowth is influencedby sev- conversations,they can draw on others'ex-
eral factors. First, what students attend to pertise;explain, extend, and reflecton their
and how they storeinformationdepends on own ideas; and gain exposure to the ways
existing knowledge and beliefs. Therefore, of thought exhibitedby disciplinaryexperts
teachers need to determine what students (Bruer,1995).
alreadyknow and work with potentiallyer- Fourth, learning also is entwined with
roneous conceptionsthey bring. the use of cognitive tools. With the explo-
Second, learning is situated;knowledge sive growth and accessibilityof new tech-
is contextualizedand cannot be easily sep- nologies, the possibility now exists for sup-
arated from the situation in which it devel- porting robust learning.Such tools include
ops (Brownet al., 1989). Knowing and do- interactive videodisks, telecommunica-
ing are not separate;knowledge is not an tions, microcomputer-based laboratories,
abstractionthat can be transferredreadily and software applicationsfor modeling, vi-
from how it is learned in the classroom to sualizing, and simulating. These tools sup-
how it needs to be used out of school. More- port learnersas they solve complex and am-
over, how students are asked to demon- biguous problems by providing access to
strate knowledge affects what they learn. data and information,and opportunitiesto
Therefore,authentic activities and assess- collaborate, investigate, and create repre-
ments need to be designed carefully.These sentations.
activities should mirror real-world situa- Overall, the new approaches view the
tions; they should afford students oppor- teacher as a coleamer and guide. Collins,
tunities to engage ideas in many different Brown, and Newman (1989) use the anal-
ways so that they build representationsof ogy of a cognitive apprenticeship for the
conceptsunder study and see how they can teaching-learningsituation. Like a master
be applied. Rather than rely on standard- craftsman, the teacher should scaffold in-
ized tests that tap fragmented and decon- structionby breakingdown tasks,use mod-
textualized knowledge, the use of alterna- eling and coaching to teach strategies for
tive assessmentsis encouraged.Assessment thinking, provide feedback, and gradually
should focus on students' mastery of the release responsibility to the learner. Simi-
discipline and knowledge integration. For larly, Driver, Asoko, Leach,Mortimer,and
example, Perkins (1992) calls for "under- Scott (1994) use the metaphor of a tour
standing performances"in which students guide with the teacher mediating between
engage in demonstrationsof thoughtfulness the child's everyday world and the world
that go beyond answering test questions or of science. They suggest that the teacher's
writing brief reportsfor the teacher. role is to acquaintlearnerswith new ideas
Third, environment and culture affect or cultural tools and to support and guide
knowledge. What students learn is influ- students as they make sense of these. As
enced by social interaction; students can class discourse unfolds, the teacher listens
learn by talking and collaborating with oth- and interprets the ways in which learners
ers and with more experienced adults. understand instructional activities to guide
Through collaboration, they encounter and further action. In this manner, teachers help

students understand concepts and intro- enhanced instruction. Projects serve as pri-
duce them to the discipline. The idea is to mary tasks through which students explore
foster critical perspectives on knowledge topics, or they supplement instruction by
and scientific culture including the pur- providing ways for students to demonstrate
poses of scientific knowledge, its limita- understanding.
tions, and the basis on which evidence is Our group has been working on a proj-
gathered and claims are made. ect pedagogy. We have articulated features
These ideas lead to instructional pro- of project-based science (PBS) in collabora-
grams that differ considerably from what tion with teachers as they have enacted the
typically goes on in schools and from earlier innovation in their classrooms. We have re-
activity-based approaches to science edu- ported research on our efforts with teachers
cation. They include changes in student (Blumenfeld, Krajcik, Marx, & Soloway,
roles, the nature of content and tasks, as- 1994; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, & Solo-
sessments, learning tools, and social orga- way, 1994; Ladewski, Krajcik, & Harvey,
nization. Such approaches entail numerous 1994; Marx et al., 1994), and teachers have
challenges. One involves creating new ped- described their experiences enacting PBS (B.
agogies that reflect the new ideas of teach- Brown, 1994; D. P. Brown, 1994; Scott,
ing and learning. A second is in creating 1994). We have reported studies of stu-
new approaches to teacher professional de- dents' attitudes toward science in PBS class-
velopment that help teachers understand rooms (Stratford & Finkel, 1996), students'
the innovations and meet the difficulties of use of inquiry strategies (Krajcik et al.,
instantiating them in classrooms. We turn 1996), the use of PBS as a basis for curricu-
now to a description of the challenges and lum change in a high school (Heubel-Drake,
ways to meet them. Mouradian, Stem, & Finkel, 1995), and the
development of technologies for students as
A New Pedagogy
they learn in PBS classrooms (Jackson, Strat-
A number of developers and researchers ford, Krajcik,& Soloway, in press; Stratford,
have created approaches to science educa- Krajcik, & Soloway, 1996).
tion that are more consistent with the cur-
rent views of students as constructors of un- Features of Project-Based Science
derstanding. The programs differ in their We have identified five features of PBS
point of departure and in the inclusion of that help communicate the complexity of
the elements of the newer approaches re- the innovation in terms that are familiar to
viewed above. Some are very specific in the teachers. The features of PBS (Krajciket al.,
concepts and topics they address; for in- 1994) include a driving question, investi-
stance, conceptual change models underlie gations and artifacts, collaboration, and
Linn's (1986) work on heat and temperature technological tools.
and Anderson's (see Anderson, Sheldon, & Driving question. To overcome the per-
Dubay, 1990) work on photosynthesis and sistent problem that school learning is often
states of matter. Others showcase technol- separated from out-of-school contexts and
ogy; for example, Pea and his colleagues focused on ideas whose connections are not
(Gordin, Polman, & Pea, 1994) have devel- apparent (Perkins, 1992), we orchestrate in-
oped a tool to facilitate visualization structional units-we call them projects-
through collaboration in the study of around a driving question. There are three
weather. Other programs provide a general essential characteristics of good driving
framework that can be applied to different questions. First, they need to be worthwhile
topics, such as the community of learners in that they are consistent with existing cur-
described by Brown (1992). Many of these riculum frameworks. In exploring the driv-
programs use project-based or project- ing question students develop conceptual
MARCH 1997

SCIENCE
PROJECT-BASED 345
understandings stipulated by district and swer are not known to students before be-
state curriculum frameworks. Second, driv- ginning. Following prescribed steps in a
ing questions need to encompass real-world laboratory task is insufficient as an investi-
problems that students find meaningful, gation because the task is not authentic.
thereby motivating them to take ownership Well-conceived and authentic investiga-
of the questions and to thoughtfully pursue tions provide opportunities for students to
answers to them. Third, questions need to engage in scientifically important endeav-
be feasible; students need the prerequisite ors like planning and designing experi-
knowledge and skills to design and conduct ments, searching for information in libraries
investigations to find answers to their ques- and electronic sources like the World Wide
tions. Web, observing natural phenomena, col-
Projects designed to help students an- lecting and analyzing data, developing ex-
swer the driving question last from 2 weeks planations, drawing inferences and conclu-
up to the entire school year, although our sions, and reporting findings to others. For
experience is that most teachers prefer proj- instance, in a project called "Is the water in
ects that last about 6-8 weeks. Teachers can Traver Creek safe?" one of the major inves-
create projects by adapting topic-based tigations was to map a section of the creek,
units and instructional materials, or they identify and measure pollutants, derive a
can use published materials. Well-designed water quality index, and monitor popula-
projects enable students to ask their own tions of benthic macroinvertebrates.
subquestions that personalize the driving Similarly, students need to create prod-
question. Questions like "What is air?" in- ucts that contribute to and reflect their
volve important science content but are not learning. We call these products artifacts.
authentic. The same content can be learned Artifacts are tangible, real results of the pro-
and more authenticity is afforded by a ques- cess of investigation that represent student
tion like, "Will breathing the air in my city understanding. Artifacts can be computer
make me sick?" Similarly, the question, programs, multimedia documents, written
"What are Newton's laws?" involves sub- reports, posters, group presentations, or
stantial science content, but the question any complex representation (or preferably,
"How do I stay on my skateboard?" relates multiple representations) of the students'
this science content to the lives of students. thinking (Perkins, 1992). For instance, stu-
Investigations and artifacts. If students dents have prepared a presentation to the
are to understand complex ideas in science, local water board about results of a study
they need to engage in deep cognitive pro- of stream quality; others have designed an
cessing of the content. Surface-level pro- exhibit for a local children's museum. Be-
cessing like recall and recognition is not cause they are tangible, artifacts can be
likely to result in sophisticated understand- shared and critiqued by other members of
ing. Students need to organize and elabo- the learning community in a manner similar
rate their thinking as they answer the driv- to the way that scientists share their work
ing question. Two PBS features- within research communities.
investigations and artifacts-encourage Collaboration. In PBS, we encourage
and support such thinking. teachers to structure the classroom environ-
Investigations emulate the real work of ment so that students work in groups. We
science; they engage students in planning, do this because group activities can foster
designing, and conducting real-world re- collaboration-literally laboring together to
search to collect and analyze data and draw accomplish a task. Collaboration is an es-
inferences from those data. Investigations sential component of PBS. It provides op-
are not mere activities. They need to be portunities for students to share ideas, ex-
open enough that the method and the an- tend their thinking, draw on the expertise

of others, and experience the value of think- highlight its unique and promising poten-
ing intelligently (Bruer, 1995). Teachers and tial.
students collaborate with each other as they Using new computing and communica-
work on investigations and artifacts; they tions technologies in PBS makes the envi-
collaborate with members of the local com- ronment more authentic to students. For
munity (experts like the forester who works one, students use tools that enable them to
for the community's parks department or carry out serious inquiry, much like profes-
an engineer in a local company); and they sional scientists. For example, these tech-
collaborate with teachers, students, and nologies facilitate real-time data collection,
with experts through telecommunications visualization, and modeling; expand collab-
activities like participating in listserve oration possibilities beyond the confines of
groups on the Internet and publishing the a classroom; and support the construction
findings of their investigations on the of sophisticated artifacts. As well, the mul-
World Wide Web. timodal, multirepresentational, and multi-
It is important to distinguish between media capabilities of technology not only
collaboration and cooperative learning. The enhance the physical accessibility of infor-
latter is often highly structured and stu- mation, they facilitate its intellectual acces-
dents are assigned roles, tasks, and proce- sibility as well.
dures. The tasks are generally designed to We have explored the pervasive use of
help students learn information already technological tools in our classroom work.
presented or to solve problems provided by Using microcomputer-based laboratory
the teacher. In contrast, collaboration is (MBL) probes, students can gain a personal
more loosely structured with roles largely sense of otherwise abstract physics notions
negotiated among participants. Coopera- such as motion and acceleration. The porta-
tion focuses on small groups within the bility of new handheld computers, like Ap-
classroom; collaboration envisions a wider ple's Newton, makes collecting data and
sphere of communities of learners. Coop- conducting analyses at remote sites, like a
erative learning highlights sharing answers stream or lake, a reality. These technological
and explanations in order to learn teacher- tools allow students to focus on analysis
determined concepts and procedures; col- and interpretation of data rather than on the
laboration often is in the service of answer- mechanics of data collection. Scientists rou-
ing questions posed by students. tinely use visualization tools to uncover re-
Technological tools. Technological tools lationships that are buried in mounds of
are emerging as an important component of data; similarly, students are using our
the PBS classroom: they enable more au- ScienceWare Viz-It software tool to analyze
thentic investigations as well as support numeric, image, and text data to express dy-
deep understanding and learning in ways namic relationships (e.g., as the cloud cover
that are not possible with paper and pencil at night, depicted as radar images, disap-
(Gordin et al., 1994; Linn, in press; Wisnu- pears, students see that the temperature, a
del, Stratford, Krajcik,& Soloway, in press). numeric quantity, drops). Modeling, which
We identify technology as a separate fea- typically requires considerable mathemati-
ture of PBS in light of the emergence of dra- cal sophistication, is not accessible to mid-
matically more powerful new technologies. dle and high school students. However, us-
In many respects, technology pervades all ing our ScienceWare Model-It software tool,
of the other features, although PBS can be students are building models for complex,
conducted (and in many cases because of dynamic systems such as a stream ecosys-
limited resources must be conducted) with- tem, a climate system, and a predator-prey
out new technologies. Thus, we consider system (Jackson et al., in press; Stratford et
technology as a separate feature in order to al., 1996). A tool like Model-It enables stu-
MARCH 1997

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PROJECT-BASED 347
dents to use data they collected via MBL tally, PBS requires attention to a range of
tools and analyzed with visualization tools challenges for it to succeed. If an innovation
to construct and test their models. With represents a dramatic departure from estab-
such tools, students can experience first- lished practice, it will be more difficult to
hand the real activities involved in doing enact because it will require a more sub-
science. stantial change in the teacher's stable and
Learners have unique needs. Unlike
well-practiced repertoire. Furthermore, if
adult and professional users, students do the innovation is derived from theory that
not typically come to a task with a deep un- is divergent from that which underlies the
derstanding of either the content or process teacher's established practices, then the
underlying that activity; learners display a teacher's beliefs and assumptions about
greater range of knowledge and skill than learning might also need reexamination.
professionals. And, unlike professionals, Both of these potential challenges presage
the motivation of students cannot be as-
the need for careful and long-term support
sumed. Work is progressing on a Learner-
for teachers as they attempt change (Blu-
Centered Design Framework that seeks to
menfeld, Marx, Patrick, Krajcik,& Soloway,
develop guidelines for software developers in press; Putnam & Borko, in press).
that address the unique needs of learners
As well as confronting the teacher's
(Soloway, Guzdial, & Hay, 1994).
The explosion of Internet technology af- practices and beliefs, innovative instruction
fords educational opportunities that reso- might conflict with students' expectations
nate with PBS. Although traditional print and abilities. For example, students who
resources will continue to have their place, have been successful at memorization or the
the World Wide Web's access to primary routine application of learned strategies
sources, current information, and dynamic might be reluctant to embrace new ap-
and computational media provides unique proaches that require greater thoughtful-
learning opportunities. Using readily avail- ness and initiative. Or students who are un-
able information-manipulation tools, stu- familiar with working with peers in groups
dents build on resources from the network or who lack the skill to negotiate roles or
and construct their own relationships and engage in productive discussions as they
representations. Moreover, students can work on collaborative tasks might prefer to
use the Web to have others read and com- work by themselves (Blumenfeld et al.,
ment on their work, thus enhancing student 1991).
motivation and sense of community. For ex- Our experience (Blumenfeld et al., 1994;
ample, students published a set of articles Ladewski et al., 1994; Marx et al., 1994) has
on diseases that affect teenagers (see http: / /
been that most teachers face common prob-
chs-web.umdl.umich.edu/classes/founda- lems when enacting PBS. One challenge is
tions, and http://www.umich.edu/ time. Investigations and discussions often
-aaps). Of course, the real challenge is not take longer than anticipated. Also, in-depth
the technology per se but how it is used by
classroom teachers, curriculum designers, exploration of ideas takes longer than the
more familiar broad and superficial survey
school media specialists, and students; go-
of concepts. A related challenge is how to
ing beyond surface accomplishments takes meet district curriculum guidelines while
considerable effort, energy, planning, and
experience. incorporating new in-depth approaches.
Teachers need to select driving questions
The Challenge of Enacting Project- carefully in order to ensure that students'
Based Science investigations enable them to learn the sci-
Like other instructional innovations that at- ence content stipulated in curriculum
tempt to change school learning fundamen- frameworks.

A third challenge is classroom manage- generate conceptual representations in the

ment. Teachers must balance the need to al- production of some artifacts. Moreover,
low students the freedom to talk together evaluating artifact quality is difficult and
and explore the design and execution of in- must take into account the design, organi-
vestigations with the need to maintain or- zation, and presentation of information, as
der so that students can work and converse well as what information is included and
productively. Some teachers have difficulty how accurate the representation of the in-
organizing and monitoring simultaneous formation is. As well, because of the ubiq-
tasks and dealing with increased activity uitous use of classroom tests, teachers
and noise. Related to problems of curricu- might continue to use exams designed to
lum frameworks and classroom manage- assess the breadth of content coverage
ment is the challenge of control. Teachers based on their former use of lecture and rec-
often feel a need to control the flow of in- itation teaching. Students who are heavily
formation because of concerns about learn- involved in project-based investigations are
ing. They assume that students need to not all exposed to the same content in the
master lower-level material and facts, even same way, thus rendering conventional
though they also think that students need tests inadequate.
to build their own understanding. They We have found that teachers tend first
want to direct lessons to ensure that stu- to explore aspects of PBS related to their
dents get the right information. professional needs, such as enhancing stu-
A fifth problem is support of student dent motivation or becoming proficient
learning. Teachers have difficulty scaffold- with technology (Ladewski et al., 1994;
ing experiences so that students can take re- Marx et al., 1994). Correspondingly, their
sponsibility for learning, and they fre- change efforts often focus on one or two fea-
quently give students too much tures of PBS such as collaboration or inves-
independence without adequately model- tigation. Developing expertise with one fea-
ing thinking, structuring the situation, or ture provides a base of competence from
providing feedback. Often teachers' ability which teachers can venture to incorporate
to scaffold is related to their own mastery other features that are initially less compat-
of the subject matter. ible with their approaches and past experi-
A sixth is technology use. Teachers who ence. Moreover, teachers are inclined to
are not proficient users and have not used concentrate and perfect a few strategies to
technology as a cognitive tool have diffi- meet challenges rather than to develop nu-
culty incorporating technology into the merous ones. Initial enactments are influ-
classroom. They might use it to enhance enced by teachers' incomplete understand-
their previous instructional practices, such ing of broad conceptual issues in PBS and
as using multimedia for demonstrations, more specific issues regarding the feature
but it takes considerable time and skill be- they attempt to implement. First efforts are
fore they can help students exploit technol- also restricted by a limited vision of what
ogy's benefits as a tool (Mergendoller, John- the classroom might look like, how a project
ston, Rockman, & Willis, 1994; Sandholz & unfolds over time, and a lack of exposure to
Ringstaff, 1996). examples of instruction of this type. As a
A final problem is assessment. Teachers result of this complex set of factors, teachers
have difficulty designing assessments that modify their practices in idiosyncratic ways
measure student understanding. The arti- based on their prior experiences and beliefs.
facts they ask students to produce often in- This mapping of new onto old is sometimes
volve participating in a public performance problematic and unsuccessful. For instance,
or sharing reports, but do not always re- teachers used to doing activities con-
quire students to synthesize information or strained investigations. They avoided plan-
MARCH 1997

SCIENCE
PROJECT-BASED 349
ning, defined procedures rather than let stu- work to the driving question and by scaf-
dents determine how inquiry might best be folding investigations through carefully
designed, and kept investigations discrete, crafted tasks (Crawford, 1996).
failing to help students see how investiga- Teachers also confront dilemmas as they
tions were related to each other and to the reconcile conflicting priorities about the
driving question. need for students to engage in conversation
Moreover, initial attempts to change and their beliefs about the importance of
from a didactic model of instruction cause students getting right answers. It takes con-
teachers to be novices once more. Trying siderable time for teachers to allow students
unfamiliar instruction for which their prac- the freedom to grapple with ideas and to
tical or event knowledge is limited results meet the challenges of guiding students as
in awkward orchestration of the classroom. they generate problems and engage in pro-
Teachers who are masters at managing ductive conversations. The difficulties they
classrooms find that they run out of time, encounter sometimes reaffirm teachers'
leave activities unfinished, and fail to re- feeling that students are not mature or ca-
spond to or return to student suggestions pable enough, and thus some teachers pre-
or questions. Attempts to deal with one fea- maturely abandon their efforts.
ture (e.g., engaging learners in investiga- At the end of a year of work in PBS,
tions) inevitably entail problems with other teachers' practices represent a profile of en-
features (e.g., the teacher forgets to help stu- actment, with some features instantiated
dents link the investigation clearly to the more than others in a manner congruent
driving question). Teachers not only have with the premises underlying the innova-
difficulty with individual features of PBS, tion. Overall, teachers' progress is not lin-
they have difficulty orchestrating among ear; they move between new and old ideas
them. and practices. Generally, as Shulman (1987)
How teachers dealt with student collab- suggests, development is a "dialectic."
oration illustrates these points. Teachers Teachers advance and retreat as they con-
who agreed to try PBS because they wanted front dilemmas and attempt to meet chal-
to enhance student motivation tended to lenges posed by the new approaches to
work first on issues of student collaboration teaching for understanding. In fact, we have
and of fostering ownership and autonomy. found that it takes almost 3 years for teach-
Collaboration requires exchanging ideas ers to grasp the ideas underlying PBS and
and negotiating meaning. However, teach- to become proficient enactors of the inno-
ers often thought that simply having stu- vation (Blumenfeld et al., 1994).
dents work together by completing pre-
scribed procedures for an experiment The Challenge of Fostering Change:
constituted collaboration. Like many oth- Teacher Professional Development
ers, they also presumed that any type of in- A key to promoting PBS and similar inno-
volvement equaled thoughtfulness (Prawat, vations is to support teachers as they
1992). Moreover, they constrained oppor- change from information-transmission
tunities for interaction and sharing of ideas models to those that stress students' trans-
among students. Drawing on prior experi- formation of ideas. The literature on teacher
ence with cooperative learning, they often change is clear--change will not take root
overspecified tasks, required roles for stu- and innovation will not be sustained if one
dents, and assigned "canned" problems adopts traditional top-down models of dis-
with predetermined procedures and out- semination that rely on single workshops,
comes. In contrast, a teacher with more ex- distribution of curriculum materials to be
perience using PBS was able to foster col- used exactly as prepared, and lists of pre-
laboration more readily by linking class scribed practices (Cohen & Ball, 1990; Hall

& Hord, 1987; Joyce & Showers, 1988; Kaes- new practices in classrooms, extendedeffort
tie, 1993). In fact, critics of such dissemina- to instantiate change, and reflectionon prac-
tion models assert that they are frequently tice. As a result of engaging in staff devel-
naive about complexities of teaching, are opment designed to address these elements,
couched in abstract theoretical terms, are teachers are able to gain visions of new in-
not situated in the reality of schools, do not structional practices, understand the fea-
provide follow-up help and support, and tures of PBS, and develop and enact prac-
maintain teachers' isolation (Guskey, 1985; tices congruent with the theory that
Richardson, 1990; Sarason, 1993). New ap- supports PBS. An acronym for these ele-
proaches to professional development are ments is CEER (Marx, Freeman, Krajcik, &
needed in order for PBS and other construc- Blumenfeld, in press). It is important to note
tivist innovations to be adopted success- that this type of approach is not unique to
fully. PBS, but can be adapted to help teachers
Fullan (1993) argues that staff develop- deal with other constructivist innovations.
ment must lead to improvement of school
organization, not merely the skills of indi- CEER
vidual teachers. In order to accomplish
The development of teachers' under-
school change through staff development,
efforts should focus on teacher learning, not standing and practice is idiosyncratic. Their
enactments are likely to differ yet should be
merely training in specific skills; quality consistent with the guiding premises of the
leadership as a result of change, not only as innovation in terms of understanding,
a necessary condition; attention to fostering
an organizational culture that supports ef- ideas, strategies, and enactments. In other
forts to change; and engaging local and re- words, teachers apply the premises of PBS
to develop a range of suitable enactments
gional agencies in the school's efforts. Ef-
fective teacher professional development within the confines of personal factors and
needs to be based on a clear model of contextual constraints-a process similar to
teacher growth and development that ac- Richardson's (1990) "warranted practice."
Warranted practices emerge when teachers
knowledges the complexities of classroom,
school, and community as settings and con- form new conceptions as a result of blend-
texts for teachers' work. Also, professional ing theory with their own ideas and expe-
need to be riences. According to Richardson (p. 16),
development programs
grounded in a substantial and verifiable "opportunities should be created to allow
knowledge base and have to be receptive to teachers to interact and have conversations
teachers' thinking, feeling, and attempts to around standards, theory and classroom ac-
draw meaning from their experience (Put- tivities. It also suggests that a necessary ele-
nam & Borko, in press; Sprinthall, Reiman, ment of the conversation are discussions of
& Theis-Sprinthall, 1996). alternative conceptions and activities that in
In this section we describe our work combination with some of the teachers' own
with science teachers that incorporates ele- conceptions form a view of warranted prac-
ments emerging from the literature as nec- tice."
essary for successful staff development. We We first describe the four essential ele-
address teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and ments of CEER, arguing that the result of
experience; the need to collaborate and re- CEER is not the acquisition of a set of pre-
flect on practices; and the importance of scribed behaviors but rather the develop-
contextualizing innovation and promoting ment of theoretically congruent practices.
systemic change. Our work with teachers is We then describe the interpersonal and
based on a dynamic interplay of four ele- technological support systems that we have
ments: collaborationwith others, enactmentof developed to engage teachers in CEER.
MARCH 1997

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PROJECT-BASED 351
Collaboration. Collaboration involves proaches and strategies because of the safe

teachers and researchers working together environment provided by collaboration.
to inform, critique, and support each other Enactmentin classrooms. Collaborative
(Lieberman, 1992). CEER stresses collabo- conversations serve as an impetus for
ration among teachers, consultants, and change but are not enough to promote
university staff. Teachers play a key role by teachers' learning. Experience and reflec-
providing knowledge of schools and class- tion are also essential. Teachers must try
rooms. University researchers and consul- complex innovations in their classrooms be-
tants provide information on scientific fore they understand the innovations' full
knowledge, application of new technolo- implications. Enactment involves planning
gies, and new approaches to teaching and for innovation and conducting new prac-
learning that often are unavailable to teach- tices in classrooms. We use the term enact-
ers in their practice community. Through ment (instead of the more commonly used
presentations, demonstrations, and discus- term implementation)to emphasize that the
sions, researchers introduce premises and process is generative and constructive.
features of innovative instruction and con- Rather than merely applying a set of pre-
tent for authentic tasks on which learners scriptions, teachers attempt to establish
work. Teachers are given opportunities to practices congruent with the premises of the
try activities, practice new skills, and dis- innovations (Snyder, Bolin, & Zumwalt,
cuss ideas and instructional strategies. 1992).
Collaboration provides opportunities to Planning for enactment is essential as
share and critique ideas, plans, and class- teachers learn new practices. Planning is
room enactments. Teachers represent their not merely scheduling time, resources, and
ideas in a way that makes sense to others, activities; it is better characterized as prob-
and in the process they gain greater clarity. lem solving and translating instructional
Through stories, written case reports and theory and teachers' craft knowledge into
journal entries, plans, and videotapes of designs for student learning. Planning en-
classroom instruction, teachers describe gages teachers in thoughtful consideration
what they do, how students react, what of what their classroom might be like when
problems they encounter, and solutions to they try to enact PBS. As teachers think
their difficulties. Conversations include di- through issues of content, instruction, and
lemmas teachers face in making choices as management (Borko & Niles, 1987; Clark,
they reconcile conflicting beliefs and chal- 1988), they benefit from anticipating and
lenges of enacting PBS in their situation. solving problems that might arise. More-
Teachers also critique their own and others' over, the plans serve as flexible blueprints,
attempts to employ PBS and examine how rather than exact scripts for classroom en-
enactments relate to premises of PBS. actments, that can be modified depending
Through discussion, participants develop on how students respond and on other con-
richer definitions of PBS and its possibilities ditions and constraints. Because PBS in-
for classroom practice, clarify their concep- volves dramatic reconfigurations of the way
tions of the features, gain understanding of content is addressed, planning is often quite
practices that address challenges, and con- different from conventional, objectives-
front their beliefs. driven accounts (Ladewski, Marx, & Blu-
Sharing and critiquing encourage peer menfeld, 1995). Planning for PBS requires
support. By listening to others and reveal- consideration of how to represent content
ing one's own difficulties, motivation to in order to engage learners thoughtfully in
persist in the face of difficulties and to try authentic activities. Moreover, new ap-
new practices increases. Peer support also proaches to authentic assessment require
fosters risk taking; teachers attempt new ap- that evaluation tasks be integrated coher-

ently with instruction, rather than being throughout the year, in the beginning we
treated as end-of-unit tests (Paris & Ayers, encourage teachers to enact at least two or
1994). Thus, planning requires extensive three projects over a school year. These pro-
consideration about the nature of the arti- jects will only address part of the year's cur-
facts students will create. Finally, and per- riculum, and teachers often use conven-
haps most importantly, PBS requires tailor- tional approaches to teaching the remaining
ing instruction to local contexts. Thus, content. Thus, project-based instruction
enactments will look different in various runs the danger of becoming encapsulated
classrooms, and planning will have to ac- and isolated, without affecting the rest of
commodate these differences. the teachers' instruction. We address these
Enactment of plans provides the expe- problems by working with teachers over
rience necessary for teachers to determine several years.
what is possible in their situation and to Reflection. We share Schdn's (1983)
modify their ideas accordingly. Knowledge view that teachers must reflect on teaching
is transformed by action; teachers' under- to extract the knowledge that leads to im-
standing of PBS will not, indeed cannot, be proved student learning. Experience edu-
formed until the practice is enacted. In this cates via reflection. Reflection involves both
sense, knowledge about teaching is embed- private and public acts. In private, teachers
ded in the act of teaching. may use journals to capture the daily or
Extended effort. Educational change weekly experience of change and use the
takes a long time. Change requires much acts of writing and rereading as occasions
more than helping teachers understand infor reflection. Teachers may also write case
novations and learn new approaches. Many reports (Shulman, 1992) of their efforts for
other issues are involved-the school cur- others to read, rendering public some of
riculum; governance and policy; local, re- their private reflections. These case reports
gional, and national politics; and changes in constitute narratives of the teachers' expe-
the broader social setting in which schools riences that can provide ideas for others as
are embedded. Virtually all serious writing well as opportunities for reflection by the
about how to help teachers improve their authors. Reviewing videotapes of class-
craft strongly urges that change efforts be room implementations also stimulates re-
sustained (Fullan, 1993). flection, as does the use of new multimedia
As described above, teachers begin to tools. The opportunity to discuss their work
understand PBS through what initially mo- with peers and researchers becomes a pub-
tivated their participation. Teachers inter- lic venue for reflection.
ested in helping students work together
focus on collaboration as they start enact- New Technology
ment; teachers in
interested learning how to Supporting cycles of collaboration, en-
use computers focus on technology. We actment, and reflection is time consuming,
capitalize on teachers' interests by helping labor intensive, and expensive. Promoting
them work on these features in their initial change requires efficient processes. Har-
enactments. As they gain expertise, they be- nessing the potential of new technologies is
come more fluid and comfortable in using one route to supporting change in educa-
PBS. But there is a cost to this single-mind- tion (Hunter, 1992; Roup, Gal, Drayton, &
edness-the teachers lose sight of some of Pfister, 1992; Woolsey & Bellamy, 1997, in
the other features and the complexity of or- this issue) if change is guided by current
chestrating all of them. Thus, it takes con- ideas about teacher learning. We have de-
siderable time for teachers to work on all veloped an interactive learning environ-
features of PBS. Although there is no reason ment, the Project Support Environment, to
that projects cannot be done consistently be used as an integral part of our interven-
MARCH 1997

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PROJECT-BASED 353
tion to help teachers make the transition to and to provide information and ideas of
PBS (Krajcik et al., in press). how to do PBS. As its name suggests, CaPPs
The Project-Support Environment is a compendium of cases documenting
serves as a teacher's workbench. The tech- teachers' experiences with PBS.
nology components of the Project-Support The intent of CaPPs is to promote un-
Environment include (1) PIViT (Project In- derstanding of project-based science by il-
tegration Visualization Tool) to assist teach- lustrating instructional possibilities, fea-
ers in designing, planning, and modifying tures, and strategies. The Casebook of
projects; (2) CaPPs (Casebook of Project Project Practices is structured around
Practices) to help teachers learn features of video-based teacher cases accompanied by
PBS and strategies for enactment through teacher and researcher written and oral
video-based teacher cases; and (3) PSNet commentary. Each case in CaPPs depicts
(Project-Support Network) to promote col- how a teacher faced challenges associated
laboration via telecommunications. In the with a particular PBS feature throughout
Project-Support Environment, documents the enactment of one project. Each chal-
and applications are linked to each other, lenge is structured around a series of ques-
providing the user with a dynamic, nonlin- tions depicting a variety of potential enact-
ear structure that allows them to move eas- ment difficulties. For instance, a case about
ily among the components. For instance, if the feature investigation is organized by
a teacher is planning a project in PIViT and questions of how the teacher met challenges
has a question about orchestrating an in- such as introducing students to the inves-
vestigation across several days, only a few tigation, helping students use investiga-
mouse clicks bring up video cases of how tions to answer the driving question, and
other teachers did this. helping students design and conduct inves-
PIViT (Project Integration Visualiza- tigations and interpret results. Because
tion Tool). The Project Integration Visuali- teachers need to see enactments in different
zation Tool is a scaffolded, computer-aided contexts, the cases represent diverse set-
design environment in which teachers can tings to illustrate how teachers address dif-
construct and modify project designs (La- ferent circumstances and constraints. To
dewski et al., 1995). Teachers design, plan, orient the teachers there are several levels
and modify projects in PIViT, returning to of written and oral commentary about the
their design documents to record reflections background of the overall case, the teacher,
on their classroom enactments. Teachers setting, and nature of the project; issues re-
can graphically display project descriptions lated to the challenges; highlights of the
(e.g., student investigations, assessment ac- particular video clips; and teacher reflec-
tivities), concept maps of content domains, tions. Video clips contain prompts that fo-
and curriculum objectives from state guide- cus a viewer's attention on important is-
lines. These entities are then linked to high- sues.
light their relationships. Teachers can write Project-Support Network (PSNet). The
detailed descriptions of the various com- Project-Support Network (PSNet) supports
ponents of projects. Finally, PIViT provides teachers and researchers in conversations.
a calendar teachers can use to linearize and Experience with teacher use of telecommu-
temporalize their plans. nications is mixed (Roup et al., 1992); often
CaPPs (Casebook of Project Practices). the "conversations" are not particularly
When teachers are introduced to PBS, they substantive. The challenge for researchers is
need to see what it looks like in practice and to help teachers engage productively-that
hear what challenges and successes other is, have conversations that support learning
teachers have had. We built CaPPs to pro- new approaches to teaching. We help teach-
vide images of doing PBS in the classroom ers engage in conversations that revolve

around PIViT documents. The Project Inte- with community problems as a source of
gration Visualization Tool is the lingua driving questions and to community mem-
franca, the common language, underlying bers as sources of expertise because this also
electronic conversations in PSNet. The ele- exposes the school to more scrutiny by out-
ments of a PIViT document correspond to siders. It is likely also that parents will be
important conversational topics. For exam- skeptical of change, wondering what the
ple, concept maps help teachers focus on new approaches mean, how they will affect
subject-matter concepts and their interrela- student test scores, and how to interpret al-
tionships, and conversations about investi- ternative assessments. Moreover, newly
gations help teachers talk about students' adopted classroom practices will not be
cognitive engagement. Teachers can down- fluid, errors will be made, and lessons
load PIViT and send their PIViT project might not go as anticipated. Consequently,
plans to the PSNet where they will be in- teachers' images of themselves as compe-
dexed and added to the database (accessible tent professionals will be challenged.
through the World Wide Web: http:// Given these potential barriers, it is essen-
www.umich.edu/-pbsgroup/psnet). Over tial that norms of risk taking necessary for
the years, this growing database of plans innovation be supported in schools that at-
serves as a form of community memory. tempt new pedagogies like PBS. Individuals
More experienced PBS teachers upload are not likely to be able to meet and solve
their plans, annotated with suggestions for these challenges alone. And they are not
how to implement the plans, and new par- likely to continue to try when the profes-
ticipants are able to benefit from the project sional climate does not reward their efforts.
plans created by more experienced teachers. One way to support teachers is to provide
time for planning and interaction with oth-
The School ers. With the vast majority of school district
When teachers embark on dramatic budgets earmarked for salaries, it seems
changes in the way they teach, they take a nearly impossible to find money to pay for
big risk. Whether they are willing to sustain activities that do not place teachers directly
their efforts and whether instructional with students. As a consequence, teacher
changes like PBS take root will be influ- planning time is often a most precious com-
enced by the school context. One important modity. However, it is essential. To build
aspect of the school environment is norms collegiality and to improve practice, teach-
of risk taking and collegiality. As teachers ers need to collaborate with peers as they re-
attempt PBS, questions and concerns are flect on what they do in class, how successful
likely to arise. As they move from a broad it has been, and how to change it.
but shallow coverage of subject matter to Allocation of time and technical re-
more narrow but deeper examinations of sources also will affect whether these in-
driving questions, they might doubt that novations are sustained. Class scheduling
they will achieve the goals of local or state may need to be revised. In PBS, investiga-
curriculum frameworks. They will encoun- tions designed to find answers to driving
ter students whose previous experience questions are likely to be more successful if
makes them reluctant to engage in new students have more than 30 or 40 minutes
ways of learning and negotiating new types to do their work and collaborate with oth-
of activities and tasks. They will also face ers. Block scheduling is one route that has
administrators who doubt the wisdom of been gaining acceptance as a way to reor-
encouraging students to be self-directed in ganizing time. In addition, for teachers to
their learning as they explore their own integrate technology into daily instruction
ideas. Administrators also may be reluctant to exploit its potential as a tool for learning,
to open the school to greater involvement they will need adequate numbers of com-
MARCH 1997

SCIENCE
PROJECT-BASED 355
puters and access to telecommunications in of ideas, and generation of artifacts. Arti-

their classrooms. Technology cannot be iso- facts that represent student understanding
lated in a laboratory that students visit oc- should require students to integrate ideas
casionally. Furthermore, teachers will need and display their knowledge of content and
adequate technical training and support; of the discipline. Such artifacts should also
they cannot be left to solve the software and be authentic in that they have value beyond
hardware glitches that will inevitably arise the classroom. Finally, learning is inher-
and that require expertise beyond that of ently a social enterprise. As students con-
most users. verse and collaborate with peers and adults
Efforts at school reform that involve in and out of the classroom, they share and
changes in pedagogy, scheduling, and re- justify ideas, draw on the expertise of others
source allocation are often difficult and for information and ways of thinking. Thus,
painful. Not all stakeholders are committed they extend their understanding. The role
to change, and often improvements in one of the teacher is to introduce students to sci-
area of the school threaten other established entific ideas, premises, and ways of gath-
programs. It is essential that change be ap- ering information and validating hypothe-
proached in a manner that includes all of ses. The teacher provides scaffolding to aid
the school's stakeholders as participants students by modeling expert thinking,
and at a pace that does not lead to a feeling coaching, diagnosing learning difficulties,
that the change compels some into compli- giving feedback, and orchestrating oppor-
ance when, in fact, they have little commit- tunities for learning.
ment. Like similar programs centered on in-
quiry into authentic problems, collabora-
Summary and Conclusions tion, technology, student-generated arti-
New approaches to science education like facts, and alternative assessments, PBS
PBS are based on the idea that understand- poses considerable challenges for pedagogy
ing is a result of active construction by the and teacher professional development that
learner. Learners must relate information to must be met if the approach is to be adopted
what they know and use information in a and maintained. To develop "warranted
variety of ways and situations so that it be- practice" that is theoretically and practi-
comes connected rather than remains iso- cally justifiable, teachers need to gain an un-
lated. Students need to decide whether new derstanding of the innovation as well as
information is compatible with or requires strategies to meet the problems of class-
accommodation of previous ideas. This re- room enactment. New ways to deal with
quires that students be intentional rather subject-matter content, activities, time,
than passive; they must use learning strat- classroom management and organization,
egies, elaborating and organizing new in- technology use, and assessment must be ex-
formation to make sense of it, and use meta- plored. This process takes time and entails
cognitive strategies to evaluate the success considerable risk as teachers alter well-
of their attempts. established practices. Older models of
Learning cannot be separated from the professional development that stressed top-
tasks and conditions in which it occurs. down delivery of information and imple-
Consequently students need to work on mentation of prescribed practices and cur-
tasks that afford opportunities for inquiry riculum models are not sufficient to help
and deal with problems that do not have teachers accomplish these changes. Profes-
ready solutions if they are to use what they sional development needs to reflect the fact
learn outside the classroom. Moreover, new that teachers, like students, construct un-
technologies can be employed to aid infor- derstanding; they need to collaborate with
mation access, exploration, representation others, try things out, reflect on the results,

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MARCH 1997


Enacting Project-Based Science: Ronald W. Marx Phyllis C. Blumenfeld Joseph S. Krajcik Elliot Soloway

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Abstract

Recent recommendations for science edu-

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A third challenge is classroom manage- generate conceptual representations in the

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Collaboration. Collaboration involves proaches and strategies because of the safe

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puters and access to telecommunications in of ideas, and generation of artifacts. Arti-

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