Debriefing after the culminating activity

The culminating event is over, the project presentations have been presented, groups and peers have been evaluated, reflection journals are in. Is the PBL experience really over? Absolutely not. One of the most powerful forms of assessment and project evaluation is the post project reflection. Use the resources from this week to assist you as you think about how you intend to debrief your PBL experience. Some questions to consider:

• Who will you involve in the process?
  • First off I feel one important person to consider in the process is you, the teacher. Being able to take some time and reflect on what went well. What could be improved. What will you do again, and what will you change? It is so easy to forget about ourselves in this process and since we are the ones facilitating year after year, it is important to keep some time sacred to be able to do that.
  • The next group that I would include in the debriefing process is students who participated in the project. As I teacher I value the opinion that they have of their class experience. I also often get the best suggestions from my students – often on rather simple things to include into my practice that I would never have thought of otherwise.
  • Finally, if I had colleagues or an administrator who were part of the PBL process I would want to make sure that I included time to debrief with them. Often times the position we have in the classroom everyday makes it hard to see the obvious that a passerby may notice. Getting feedback from them on this is likely to be an important asset in the improvement process.
• What will your process look like?
  • Below are features that I would include in my debriefing process with the different groups:
    • Self – I want to create a simple set of questions that I can ask myself at the end of each project. That way I can have a similar baseline to see how things may improve as I do different projects for potentially different courses.
    • With Students – I think a two pronged debrief would be most effective. Giving a chance for anonymous feedback in something like a google form, and then a group discussion.
    • With Teachers / Admin – When meeting with these groups I would hope to be able to do more of an informal discussion, taking notes of suggestions that they have.
  • After meeting with these different groups and reflecting on my own I would want to take time and compile the different suggestions and comments. Obviously not everything can be taken and put into future plans, but often patterns emerge where it is easy to make changes.
• Is it just a one-time assessment?
  • Reflection is important in this process. I think it is important to see how things went after each time you complete a project. It should be an ongoing process. What happens the second time through after making some improvements may bring to light additional ideas or details that could be further changed and improved.