How to Simplify PBL Planning With AI

AI can help teachers save time in creating meaningful project-based learning opportunities for students.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) Can Feel Overwhelming—AI Can Help

Implementing project-based learning can be a daunting task for teachers. With so many components to juggle—especially when empowering students to take charge of their learning—it’s easy to feel stretched thin. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is making a big difference. I’ve integrated AI into my PBL approach in multiple ways and have experienced the benefits firsthand—for both my students and myself.

How AI Supports Student Reflection

One of the biggest challenges after a PBL unit is encouraging students to thoughtfully reflect on their work. Standard reflection questions often fall flat, especially when students are tired or disengaged. But personalized reflection prompts can make a real difference. Thanks to AI, it’s now possible for teachers to generate tailored prompts for each student even in classes with 20 to 30 learners.

Teachers can also build custom chatbots to guide students through their reflection process. These tools give students ownership of their learning journey. Here’s an example of a prompt and how the AI responded:

Create Personalized Reflection Questions With AI

Use AI to generate a customized set of reflection questions for students who have just finished a project on a specific topic. These questions should encourage thoughtful reflection on what they’ve learned, how their understanding has developed, and how they plan to use this knowledge moving forward.

The questions should:

• Prompt students to reflect on their learning process, challenges they encountered, and how they overcame them.
  
• Explore real-life applications of their new knowledge—whether in academics, the community, or future goals.
  
• Help students set meaningful goals and consider next steps to build on what they’ve learned.
  
• Be engaging, open-ended, and tailored to support authentic, student-centered reflection.
  

Below is an example set of AI-generated reflection questions to foster deep thinking and meaningful insights after completing a project:

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Reflection on Learning and Understanding

1. What are the top three concepts you took away from this project? How has your understanding of these ideas evolved?
   
2. Can you describe a moment when something “clicked” during the project? What sparked that realization?
   

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Overcoming Challenges

1. What difficulties did you face during the project, and how did you work through them?
   
2. Think about a specific obstacle—what strategy did you use to overcome it, and what did you learn from that experience?
   

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Real-World Applications

1. How can you apply what you learned in this project to real-world situations or future learning experiences?
   
2. Can you think of a way this knowledge could benefit your community? How would you put it into action?
   

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Interdisciplinary Connections

1. In what ways could the knowledge or skills from this project connect to other subjects you’re studying?
   

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Goal-Setting and Next Steps

1. What goals do you want to set to keep building on what you learned in this project?
   
2. What are your next steps in continuing your learning in this area?
   

Creating Personalized Reflection Prompts with AI

Whether you’re using a dedicated tool like SchoolAI Spaces or a general chatbot such as Gemini or ChatGPT, AI can generate tailored reflection questions that prompt students to think deeply about their project work.

These tools can craft engaging, personalized prompts that encourage students to analyze their learning, evaluate challenges, and plan next steps. However, it’s important to be cautious when using commercial large language models (LLMs). These platforms are not covered by FERPA or COPPA, meaning any student data entered could potentially be used to train the model. When using AI tools with or for students, it’s best to choose education-specific platforms that are designed with student privacy protections in mind.

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Using AI to Create Student Rubrics

As an English language arts teacher, I often found that building project rubrics was one of the most time-consuming parts of my job. Formatting alone was tedious, and designing criteria that matched each student’s unique project was a constant challenge. Thankfully, AI has made this process faster and more personalized.

With AI, teachers can quickly generate custom rubrics aligned to each student’s project. Here’s a sample prompt to use with your preferred LLM:

“Create a self-assessment rubric for my project on [project topic]. The rubric should assess [criteria such as creativity, research depth, collaboration, presentation skills, technical accuracy]. Include clear performance levels and provide guidance on how to improve and grow as a learner.”

Students can complete the prompt by inserting their project details and submit it to the teacher. The teacher then inputs the prompt into an LLM to generate a customized rubric. This process can be easily managed using a Google Form shared through Google Classroom or another learning management system.

Here’s an example:

“Create a self-assessment rubric for my project on the cost and value of recycling at our school. The rubric should assess research depth and accuracy, presentation skills, artifact design and creation, and documentation. Include performance levels and suggestions for improvement.”

When I submitted this prompt to ChatGPT, the rubric was generated in under 90 seconds. Multiply that by 32 students, and I had personalized rubrics for an entire class in the time it would normally take to prep for a single lesson—saving hours compared to doing it manually.

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Using AI to Differentiate Instruction

Differentiating assignments to meet the needs of students with 504 plans, IEPs, and multilingual learners is essential—but often time-intensive. AI can significantly streamline this process while maintaining instructional quality and rigor.

Here’s a sample prompt that can help you adapt a PBL lesson for learners with diverse needs:

“Adapt this project-based learning lesson to support students with varying abilities while maintaining core PBL principles. Provide three versions:

• Scaffolded Version: Include supports like sentence starters, visuals, guided questions, simplified texts, or step-by-step instructions.
  
• Standard Version: Keep the lesson at grade level, aligned with relevant learning objectives and instructional goals.
  
• Enriched Version: Challenge advanced learners with higher-order thinking questions, opportunities for independent research, creative tasks, or real-world problem solving.
  

Ensure all versions remain engaging and accessible by incorporating hands-on activities, collaborative learning, tech integration, or interactive elements as appropriate.”

In one of my classes, I used this prompt with Claude, and it delivered fully differentiated content—including the necessary materials—in just under four minutes. While you’ll still need to review and tweak the content to ensure it aligns with your specific classroom standards, the initial time savings are significant.

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A Word of Advice

While AI tools are powerful and time-saving, the content they produce should never be used without careful review. Consider everything AI generates as a first draft. It’s up to us as educators to fine-tune and personalize the final product so it truly fits the needs of our students.

As with any edtech tool, approach AI thoughtfully. When used well, it can be an incredible partner in creating more meaningful, responsive, and efficient learning experiences for all students.