Lesson 3- Creating Performance Tasks

What is a Performance Task?

Students need to be coached in order to transfer their learning through application (Crawford, 2008). In PBL, it is vital to develop and create performance tasks that will allow students to apply their knowledge through reading, research, and discussion through performance tasks. By doing this, incorporating these opportunities in PBL will lead to skills of lifelong learning (Crawford, 2008). Many times through rote activities, students memorize and remember information in order to pass an exam or other form of assessment. Performance tasks allow for students to take skills they have learned and apply them to various contexts and content.

Read the following article to learn more about performance tasks and how they transfer knowledge. There are also examples of performance tasks for each academic level: What is a Performance Task?

Example Tasks

Darling-Hammond et al. (2008) discusses how performance tasks are usually take a short time to complete in order to assess student knowledge. They act as a form of formative assessment which will explore further in lesson 4. By completing performance tasks, students are able to apply their knowledge in a new context in order to transfer learning; this can be done individually or in small groups (Darling-Hammond, et al., 2008).

The following are examples of effective performance tasks:

Create a brochure
Create a PSA
Storytelling
Drama, role play, debate
Games and simulations
Field-based projects
Service Learning
Interactive Technology
RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Task)

While this is only a list, there are endless opportunities to incorporate performance tasks into your PBL unit. When creating your performance tasks, it is important to take students interests, learning preferences and needs in mind (Crawford, 2008).

Reflection and Feedback

Using data from your Needs Assessment, you can get a jump start on what kind of performance tasks to select. Incorporating a choice menu within your PBL could also further engage your students. Giving them the opportunity to select their own performance tasks will provide a chance for students to take ownership and responsibility for their creation (Crawford, 2008).

Use the following Google Form to reflect on the performance tasks you will crate for your PBL unit: Lesson 3 Performance Task Reflection

Continue to post ideas and ask questions on the PBL Padlet

Return to Project Based Learning Instruction for K-12 Educators

References

Crawford, G.B. (2008). Differentiation for the adolescent learner: Accommodating brain development, language, literacy and special needs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Darling-Hammond, L., Chen M., Barron, B., & Pearson, D.P. (2008). Powerful learning: What we know about teaching for understanding. San Francisco, CA: Wiley, John, & Sons.