What Is Eco-PBL for Language Learning?

The eight components of the Eco-PBL for English Framework include: 

Needs Assessment - Teachers conduct some background research in preparation for the unit and later engage students in understanding environmental concerns in the community. ADD some resources for fact-finding OR making surveys here, too. Needs assessment can be part of inquiry, related to the driving question.

Inquiry - Arousing curiosity and pursuing answers to questions is at the heart of Eco-PBL.

• Projects begin with an entry event - a shared experience relevant to students' age and stage of development. The entry event arouses curiosity to carry out a project. Entry events might include comparing "before and after" photographs from the community, interviewing a community expert, taking a walk and making observations. For example, perhaps students take a walk around the school campus and note where water should be conserved.

• Next, students consider a driving question, the main focus of a project. For example, a driving question might be, "How can we, as creative writers, persuade our school community to conserve water?" Students will have many ideas for products in response to this question. As students develop their projects, they will devise even more essential questions and need-to-know questions including questions related to the study and practice of English.

Final Product - Students collaborate on determining final products for the unit. The final product should have a specific audience in mind or be designed to meet the needs of that audience. For example, perhaps students will collaborate on preparing a play, movie, or illustrated books on the topic of water conservation at the school that can be used by another class.

Resources - Resources should be both local and global in order to help students in their inquiry. Resources include authentic texts (such as infographics, photographs, videos), information from textbooks, presentations by community experts, interviews or surveys with community members.

Lesson Planning - Unit lessons contextualize learning to reach project goals and address targeted English objectives. Bear in mind that planning documentation differs in different educational settings. However, Eco-PBL objectives are outcomes-based, so planning needs to start by focusing on the project end-goals. Click here for an example to guide planning.

Culminating Event - Celebrate students' work with an audience. The audience could be other students (in the same school or a partner school), families, community members or organizations. In the culminating event, students share their work. The audience can provide feedback.

Assessment - There are different types of assessment in project-based learning. These include:

• formative assessment - How do teachers capture students' ongoing progress throughout a project?

• peer assessment - How can students give each other constructive feedback throughout a project?

• self and group reflection - Students consider their own progress and set personal goals. As a group, students can reflect on their teamwork. Such reflective practice promotes learner agency and helps them to develop collaborative skills, too.

• input from community experts or professionals - 

Evaluation - In the Eco-PBL framework, evaluation relates to grading and project impact. Consider how students will be graded on a project and how project participation has affected students’ attitudes toward and action in the environment.

• Make sure that all expectations are clear. Whenever possible, provide rubrics for the final product at the beginning of the project. Offer a checklist that corresponds to the rubric so that students can make sure that they are meeting expectations. Students can help to create these checklists. 

• Survey how participating in the project has influenced students’ environmental behavior. 

• Grade students’ developing mastery of English.

Click here for an infographic of the planning process.