A New Framework for Project-Based Learning: Reclaiming Higher Education’s Purpose in a Time of Change

Friday, January 23, 2026

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM East Coast USA Time

Location: Silver Linden - Mezzanine

Primary Presenter(s)

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Kimberly LeChasseur (she/her/hers)

Senior Research and Evaluation Associate, Center for Project-Based Learning
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Co-Presenter(s)

J. Elizabeth Clark

Professor of English
LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York (CUNY), United States
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Ryan Madan

Associate Professor of Teaching and Director of the Center for Writing
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, United States
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Geoff Pfeifer

Associate Professor of Teaching
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts, United States
Sarah Stanlick, PhD (she/her/hers)

Associate Dean, Global School
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Students are graduating into a world of complex challenges that require them to navigate ambiguity with flexibility, confidence, and resilience—skills that are low among today’s students. Colleges and universities must find a way to meet these needs to be perceived as a worthy investment of students’ time and money. Project-based learning (PBL) may provide a path forward. In this session, we will introduce a new framework of design principles for PBL based on work with more than two hundred institutions and thousands of college educators. This discussion will introduce the framework’s six elements: 1) connectedness, psychological safety, and stretch; 2) student ownership over their learning; 3) exploring multiple perspectives; 4) engaging theory and practice; 5) valuing people and process, as well as product; and 6) grounding in real-world problems or questions. Through participants’ experiences and plans, the discussion will explore how these design principles can be translated into effective learning activities.