BOOK REVIEW: Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding Deeper Inquiry

BOOK REVIEW: Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry

Krauss, Jane and Boss, Suzie (2013). Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding
Deeper
Inquiry . Corwin Publishing a SAGE company. Thousand Oaks CA, 216 pages

The most amazing learning experience I have ever witnessed took place at High Tech
High in San Diego in a science class. Students went on a field trip to the zoo and measured an
unused enclosure. They then took those measurements back to the school and plugged them into
Google sketch up to analyze the design options and the dimensions. Students then had to choose
what type of exhibit this should be turned into and what the animals that were in the enclosure
would need. They then had to analyze the cost of such a project and design the entire enclosure
in Google sketch up so there was a visual component. Finally they had to present their proposals
to members of the Zoo board. This is an experience that the students will never forget. They will
retain the information, they will learn from the process, they will grow. This is project based
learning at its finest. This is why project learning can be so powerful.
Thinking Through Project-Based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry is a practical guide
for anyone interested in diving deeper into project based learning. This book follows a very
logical progression from the Whys and Hows of PBL to actual examples of how you can
implement PBL in your classroom. The book provides examples of PBL activities in the
appendix in the four major subjects Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies for grades K12. The book covers PBL in a broad way, and could benefit from being more focused on a
specific subject or by grouping books by elementary versus secondary frameworks.
Written by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss, who had previously written the bestselling
Reinventing Project-Based Learning this book serves the purpose of making PBL more
accessible to educators and is certainly intended for teachers and administrators who have heard

BOOK REVIEW: Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding Deeper Inquiry

about PBL, but not implemented it. Krauss is a long time educator who is currently an education
consultant. Krauss also teaches online courses in project based learning and speaks at
conferences and professional development workshops. Boss is also an educational consultant
who contributes regularly to Edutopia.org. Each author has written with a passion for PBL and it
truly feels that they are driven by bettering the educational experience of our students and the
information they are able to retain. Chapters like Making the World Safe for Thinking are
proof of this.
This book is divided into two sections and appendices. In the first section Inquiry, The
Engine of Deep Learning, there are five chapters which cover why PBL is important and how it
works, that humans are natural an animal of inquiry, that the world needs to be made safe for
thinking, how to think out loud and how PBL looks in a classroom and how to design a rich
learning experience. Each chapter builds on the previous chapter, however the book can also be
used as a quick reference guide for teachers who are more experienced or more interested in just
diving in directly.
The second section of the book is also divided into 5 chapters and focuses more on how
PBL looks in the four main disciplines of the modern school, Language Arts, Social Studies,
Science, and Math. The chapter of connecting PBL across all disciplines is a powerful reminder
that PBL is based on solving real world problems. The book focuses on the point that As
wewe discussed in previous chapters, Project-based learning prepares students for the world that
awaits them by giving them opportunities to work with peers on authentic problems. PBL is
preparing our students for problem solving, in our constantly evolving world, we can not
possibly know what problems our students will face in the future, but we can help them with the
tools they will need to solve them.
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BOOK REVIEW: Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding Deeper Inquiry

The final sections of the book are 4 appendices that provide more real world supports for PBL.
Appendix A Project Library offers many ideas for PBL activities for grades k-12 in all four
subjects. Appendix B is a discussion guide for each individual chapter. Appendix C offers a very
brief idea about how to run professional developments for PBL activities. Finally appendix D
provides links and resources for additional information on PBL.
This book does a lot of things right but it has some areas where it comes up short. In
general it is designed for someone who is completely a novice at PBL. If you have any
experience with the ideas and reasons behind PBL then the entire first section is really just
affirming ideas that you already believe. The research on why PBL is effective would be more
powerful if brain research was added in order to provide cutting edge evidence into the way that
doing a project leads to a better understanding of a problem. This book would also be even more
effective if it were split into specific categories for elementary versus secondary education.
Although PBL can be important as an interdisciplinary approach, most educators could be served
better with more specific examples from their content.

BOOK REVIEW: Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding Deeper Inquiry

References
Krauss, Jane and Boss, Suzie (2013). Thinking Through Project-Based Learning : Guiding
Deeper
Inquiry . Corwin Publishing a SAGE company. Thousand Oaks CA