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Converting Problem-Based Learning to Standards-Based Assessment

Eva Baker, Hasmik Avetisian & Denise Huang (UCLA/CRESST)

This study intended first to investigate the degree to which problem-based and project-based learning as instructional methodologies could be transferred to an elementary school setting with far fewer instructional resources, students from diverse backgrounds, and an afterschool program. Second, we intended to determine whether it was possible to infer systematically domain-independent performance in problem-based learning (PBL) situations.

In a collaboration among the LA’s BEST After-School program, CRESST at UCLA, and the UCLA Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School (UES), this study explored the following questions:

1. Could the complex, integrative learning program for young children used at UES be transferred into an after-school program populated by children from lower-income, lower-performing schools? Would their outcomes be comparable to those of UES students?
2. Could outcomes be inferred from problem-based and project-based learning with domain-dependent content?
3. Would domain-independent components be identified in student work, by the teacher, and by the researchers so that it could be argued that similar experiences were productive for after-school or other lower-performing students?
4. On a longer term basis, could quantification of such performance create more acceptance for integrated learning?