It is the fourth day in a six week project and 3 student teams are enthusiastically working to idealize the best product. Although the competition between the groups is not the intent of the instructor, it is providing that extra motivation to engage the most recalcitrant student. The product they are working on is a car which must protect and preserve two egg passengers in a head on collision with a brick wall.
The project was launched on day one with a bit of fanfare. This was not going to be another boring term, sitting in hard plastic chairs, trying to stay focused while taking notes and then followed up with some meaningless assessment task. Instead there are going to be many interesting days ahead working independently from the teacher, looking up key ideas on the internet, building something from scratch and testing out the theories in novel ways. 
In many ways education has not changed at all over the years. Adolescents in the last phase of concrete operational development struggle to qualify meaning from abstract ideas. Yet those ideas have been radically advanced and made even more abstract over the last century. In order for the development to occur meaningfully, young learners need to put abstract notions into practice. Socrates taught it best, “what do I need to learn to be able to do this?”
The genius in the design of the Physics syllabus on which the project is based, is that it lends itself to the Socratic Method. It is a context driven syllabus, taking a practical everyday phenomenon, dissecting it and then adding in the theoretical basis upon which it operates. The syllabus used here is from the NSW Board of Studies. It has been around now for fifteen years. The Syllabus is broken into four modules for the first year HSC Physics candidates and three modules plus one option chosen from six for the second year students. 
The students in this story are working on the module that deals with mechanics and dynamics. The context is the automobile. Students need to learn not only about Newton’s three laws, but how the knowledge of this can assist success on their project. The desire to learn about abstract ideas such as inertia and momentum are driven by the groups’ motivation to do an effective job. The learning occurs out of a necessity that the project requires.
In the more traditional pedagogy of the ‘chalk and talk’ kind, the task of teaching and learning is more difficult for students and teachers alike. Teachers must ensure that their pupils are ‘getting it’ with repetitive formative assessment. Students must endure hours of intense focus and revision. This is not to say that this form of teaching should be dispensed with, but rather it should be sparingly used to consolidate learning, after students have formed a foundation of knowledge and have made the critical links to what they already know.
Adopting a project based pedagogy requires a proper effort to be successful. Careful planning before launching the project is critical. The products to be developed and presented must be defined. This is best accomplished with a rubric, which highlights how high levels of achievement is best attained. The teacher must be active during all lessons, observing, directing and facilitating the learning, providing materials and marking major milestones along the way. As the crunch time nears, students work to put the final touches on their products so that they can explain to an audience what they have produced. 
In the story above, the students tested their first car with mixed results. They were not aware at the time that they were going to go back to the drawing board and do it all over again. It was in the second redesign that the students found even more freedom to experiment with the concepts from the syllabus. Their product in this round exhibited a more sophisticated approach which demonstrated a clear understanding not only of the concepts, but the concepts put into practice. Suffice it to say, these students were more engaged, took responsibility for their own learning and that of their peers and looked forward to school day, if not just to work on their project. 
On the yearly examination in the following month, the marks in this area was higher for all students then all the others. The learning that took place had perception beyond an intellectual sense but more of an intrinsic ‘gut feeling.’ It made for better connection between concrete and abstract thought.
The Buck Institute for Education provides great resources for those who want to try a project for their class. Their book, Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning is a must-read. It is concisely composed and provides clear directions that can be put directly into practice. Best of luck to you with your first project!