PBL IMPLEMENTATION – NEXT STEPS IN STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING

Move from a strong PBL design to daily routines that put students in charge of the work.

Quick facts

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Format

Facilitated cohort plus self-paced modules

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Time

25 hours total

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Certificate

Yes

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Price

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Agency by Design:

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Agency by Design:

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Agency by Design:

Why this VLC

You’ve designed a PBL task and rubric—now make the learning run on purpose. This VLC focuses on implementation: differentiated digital activity lists, facilitation grids and questions that keep thinking high, and four types of formative assessment to guide next steps. You’ll apply each move to your existing PBL unit so students can plan, start, stick, and finish with greater independence.

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Agency by Design:

replace tasks with authentic problems and give learners real decisions to make.

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Structures First:

time, resources, choice, and feedback systems that transfer responsibility to the learner.

Who it is for

Teachers and instructional coaches ready to operationalize an existing PBL unit

Structures First:

School and district leaders building common routines for student-driven learning

Executive Function for All:

Teams seeking clearer progress monitoring and facilitation moves during PBL

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Evidence of Learning:

use student work to guide the next move, not just to record a grade.

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Human and Tech Together:

tools serve the design, not the other way around.

Professional Learning That Puts Learners in Charge

Great teaching is design. Our Professional Learning Experiences help teams create learner-active environments where people own the work, build executive function, and solve authentic problems.

What you will gain

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Replace tasks with purpose-driven problems

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Build structures for choice, time, and resources learners can manage

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Coach executive function skills that drive results

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Use evidence of learning to adjust in real time

What you will be able to do

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Build differentiated digital activity lists  with required, choice, and optional extensions

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Develop facilitation grids  that align skills/concepts with when and how to support learners

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Craft facilitation questions  that move students into higher-order thinking

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Implement four types of formative assessment  to monitor progress and adjust instruction

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Design a transfer task  so learners apply understanding in a new real-world context

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Streamline day-to-day management of your PBL unit with visible structures students can self-navigate

Syllabus snapshot

  • DIFFERENTIATE WITH DIGITAL ACTIVITY LISTS

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    Takeaway: Design required items for access, multiple-choice pathways for learning, and optional extensions for advanced learners—built from a scaffold for learning.

  • BUILD FACILITATION GRIDS

    Group of people working on laptops around a table with holographic icons floating above them.

    Takeaway: Lay out target skills/concepts and plan how you will assess and coach while students work.

  • ASK BETTER QUESTIONS

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    Takeaway: Write facilitation questions that nudge students into analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and transfer.

  • USE FOUR TYPES OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

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    Takeaway: Clarify when and how to deploy quick checks that inform feedback, grouping, and next steps during PBL.

  • DESIGN THE TRANSFER TASK

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    Takeaway: Create a performance task that requires learners to apply (“transfer”) understanding in a new, authentic context.

  • PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

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    Takeaway: Assemble your implementation package for immediate use with your previously created PBL task and rubric.

Course materials and access

Prerequisite note: You will apply course content to a previously created PBL task and rubric.

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Required text: Participants use Students Taking Charge  by Dr. Nancy Sulla. Please purchase the book in advance.

Included access: MyQPortal  access is included for all participants while enrolled in the VLC. 

Evidence and impact

The transfer task revealed deeper understanding—we saw students carry ideas into new problems.
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Our activity lists and facilitation grids made independent work time productive and predictable.
The transfer task revealed deeper understanding—we saw students carry ideas into new problems.
Our activity lists and facilitation grids made independent work time productive and predictable.
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Related Resources

Six colorful book covers by Nancy Sulla about classroom instruction and student taking charge

Dr. Nancy Sulla Books

Unlock Educational Success with Dr. Sulla’s Books

Enter the Library
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MyQPortal

The Pathway to Student-Driven Learning!

Open MyQPortal

FAQs

  • HOW MUCH TIME WILL I NEED

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    Plan for 25 hours total including self-paced work and scheduled sessions.

  • CAN OUR TEAM ENROLL TOGETHER

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    Yes. Seat bundles are available. Price:

    VLC PRICE LINE

  • DO I GET A CERTIFICATE

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    Yes. You will receive a certificate noting contact hours and outcomes.

  • DO I NEED A PBL UNIT READY TO GO

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    Yes. You’ll bring a previously created PBL task and rubric to implement and refine.

  • WILL THIS ALIGN TO OUR STANDARDS AND PACING

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    Yes. You will build lists, grids, and assessments aligned to your standards, timeline, and learners.

  • DO I NEED THE BOOK

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    Yes. Students Taking Charge is a required resource for this VLC.

Ready to Make PBL Run on Purpose

PO accepted. Seat bundles available.