Scaffolding and assessing PBL…

...using Gen-AI.

Hello all. Welcome to the 127th edition of TEPS Weekly! 

In our last edition, we wrote about how Gen-AI can help teachers brainstorm PBL ideas (Phase 1) and plan and design projects (Phase 2). In this edition, we move on and think about what happens once the project starts. This is where the challenge inside the classroom begins. Students learn at different speeds, ask unpredictable questions, and sometimes get stuck. Teachers need to give support without giving direct answers. They have to keep the whole class moving forward and assess students' progress. 

Phase 3 (continued from previous edition): Implementation and Scaffolding

"When students work on a project, some start confidently, but others need help all the time. Managing the class then becomes really difficult for me."

This is a common concern during PBL. Some students grasp the idea quickly, while others need constant scaffolding of tasks and concepts. And this is just one challenge. There are many more. Teachers struggle to:

• decide how much background information to give before starting the project.

• help students link the project to the real-world context.

• get students to connect observation data to the concept.

• keep students focused on the project goal rather than the fun parts.

• create extension activities for students who are ahead… and so on.

To handle these possible challenges, teachers should think and plan in advance. Is it possible to figure out all the challenges students/teachers may face in PBL beforehand? They could be about concepts or classroom management. What are the strategies to tackle these challenges? Is it time-consuming to plan for every challenge? Gen-AI can make it much simpler and more efficient to figure out and plan for these challenges. 

In Phase 2, Gen-AI created a PBL plan for Grade 6 on NCERT Chapter 2: Diversity in the Living World. It included a step-by-step, practical, two-week plan showing teacher actions, student activities and the expected outcome. 

Now, let’s adapt this plan to handle classroom challenges during the project. You can write your prompts in the same Gen-AI chat, continuing from before. Gen-AI mostly remembers your earlier instructions. So assigning the role and giving the classroom context again may not be necessary. You can continue by giving new prompts to build on the previous conversation. Let’s try the following prompts to get the expected challenges and solutions.

Parameter	Prompt Sentence
Clearly state what you need: Specify what you want Gen-AI to do.	You are going to implement the above PBL plan in your classroom. List all the possible challenges you might face during the process.
List what the response must have: Specify the features of the classroom challenges you are looking for.	Identify the points where students could get stuck and explain why. List the concepts that students are likely to know before starting, and the concepts they may not know yet and will need support to learn.
Specify the format of the plan: Clearly say how you want the response structured for easy use.	List out the challenges in a table. Make sure the challenges are practical, realistic and relevant to the rural classroom context. Use clear, teacher-friendly language.

Read the Gen-AI response (Click on the link here). Keep your classroom context in mind while reading. It lists possible challenges, points where students may get stuck and why, and what they may know or may not, in four sections. If any of the challenges listed don’t fit your classroom, tell Gen-AI that. Ask it to provide the challenges that best match your students. 

Now, let’s see how to include these challenges and solutions in the existing plan. Here, you need to refer to the original PBL plan that Gen-AI created in the earlier response. 

Parameter	Prompt Sentence
Clearly state what you need: Specify what you want Gen-AI to do.	Now look at the original 2-week PBL plan you created earlier and integrate the list of possible challenges into it. Place each challenge in the step where it is most likely to occur.
List what the response must have: Specify the features of the plan that you are looking for.	Keep the same day-by-day table format, but expand it to include five columns: Day – The specific day within the 2-week plan. Teacher Action – What the teacher will do to guide and support students that day.  At the start of every day, include the exact instructions the teacher should give students so they clearly understand the task for that day, what they need to do, and how they will work together. Possible Challenges – Specific points where students might get stuck or face difficulties. Strategies to Fix Them – Practical, realistic steps the teacher can take to address those challenges in the classroom. Output/Product – The expected student work or learning outcome for that day.
Specify the format of the plan: Clearly say how you want the response structured for easy use.	Keep all the original activities from the initial PBL plan, and only add the challenge and strategy columns. Make sure the challenges are relevant to a rural Grade 6 classroom with mixed learning levels in Karnataka, and the solutions are feasible for the local context. Keep the language clear and actionable so a teacher can easily follow it.

Read the Gen AI response (Click on the link here). Do you think this is helpful for you? If you think your students need more support, you can ask Gen-AI to recommend more scaffolding tasks for them. You can also ask it to create extension activities for students who are ahead

Phase 4: Assessment

“I don’t know how to do assessments in PBL. Should I just grade the final product as usual?”

Assessment in PBL is not just about grading the final project. It’s a continuous process. Teachers have to assess how students research, work together, solve problems and reflect on their learning. Formative assessment (FA) is the most important part of PBL. It gives ongoing feedback that helps students see their progress, find areas to improve and take charge of their learning. In PBL, there are two main ways to assess student learning:

1. Stop and Assess: Pausing students’ project work at certain stages to check their understanding. 

2. Assess in Action: Assessing students as they work on their projects without interrupting their progress. 

But the question is, “At what exact stage should I stop and check? How can I observe their work without disturbing them?”

Do you think Gen AI can help you here? Let’s try this prompt: 

Parameter	Prompt Sentence
Clearly state what you need: Specify what you want Gen-AI to do.	Create an assessment check-in table for the created PBL plan for teaching NCERT Chapter 2 to Grade 6 students.
List what the response must have: Specify the features of the plan that you are looking for.	Include the details – Stage, What to Check, Tool/Method. There should be: 4 to 5 “stop and check” points during the project What to assess at each point (concepts, skills, teamwork, etc.) Simple tools for assessment (rubrics, oral questions, peer review) “Assess in action” ideas to use while students are working
Specify the format of the plan: Clearly say how you want the response structured for easy use.	Present this in a table with columns for Stage, What to Check and Tool/Method. Keep the language clear and actionable so a teacher can easily follow it.

Here is the response (click on the link here). Does this check-in table sound good? Will it fit your PBL plan? Does the response clarify when you should assess students and at what level? If not, you can prompt Gen-AI to rewrite the response based on your specific instructions.

A rubric gives teachers a clear and structured way to assess student work. It also helps students understand what is expected and guides them to improve. The rubric should include criteria (skills and knowledge) for assessment and the competencies for each criterion.

Give this prompt to create rubrics for assessment: 

Parameter	Prompt Sentence
Clearly state what you need: Specify what you want Gen-AI to do.	Create an assessment rubric for the PBL plan that you have already created for the NCERT Chapter 2, Diversity in the Living World for Grade 6.
List what the response must have: Specify the features of the plan that you are looking for.	It should be in a table format with the following details: The first column should list the criteria for assessment, which must include both Skills and Knowledge categories. The next four columns should represent performance levels (competencies): Excellent (4 points) Good (3 points) Needs Improvement (2 points) Poor (1 point) Under each competency, provide a clear and concise description of performance for that level.
Specify the format of the plan: Clearly say how you want the response structured for easy use.	Ensure the table is neatly organised, with bold headings for categories (Skills, Knowledge) and competencies. Keep the language clear and actionable so a teacher can easily follow it.

See the response (Click on the link here). Does the rubric assess what you want your students to learn during the PBL? Can you realistically observe and score them in your class size and time? Do any criteria repeat the same thing? Is there a fair mix of skills and knowledge? Can you tick and score quickly while moving around the room? Do you want to give some criteria more marks? Think through the questions. Make sure you read the response carefully, improve details and adapt it to your classroom needs.

Phases 1 and 2 of using Gen-AI for PBL help teachers brainstorm ideas, plan and design for PBL efficiently. Phases 3 and 4 – implementation and assessment – are where planning meets real-life classroom action. To get an expected PBL plan from Gen-AI, the prompts should be clear and specific. Assign a role, clearly state what you want, give classroom context, list what the plan must have and specify the format of the plan. Using Gen-AI helps teachers to save time and prepare for PBL efficiently. When teachers prepare in advance, PBL becomes easier in the classroom.

We have a short course and a deep dive course on how GenAI can be leveraged by teachers to not only create inclusive, varied lesson plans, but also give assignments & homework to students, which are GenAI-proof. If you need to brush up on what PBL is, we have you covered with our course on how to plan for and run PBL lessons.

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Edition: 4.34