5 Ways to Use Google Forms During Project Based Learning

When developing a project based learning unit, it's important to keep your students engaged, to assess them often for deeper learning, and to give your students an opportunity to express themselves in a non-threatening way. This is where Google Forms™ comes in. In this post, I've provided 5 Ways to Use Google Forms During Project Based Learning.

When implementing a project based learning unit, teachers find it difficult to track data and know how students are performing during the unit. With Google Forms™, teachers have the opportunity to connect with their students by providing personal feedback and assessing them in a variety of ways. With Google Forms, results can be within the app or in a spreadsheet.

A Google Form provides a variety of ways to create questions:

• Short answer - One or two words and numbers; Teachers can add specifications and descriptions.
• Paragraph - This gives students an opportunity to write more to give teachers a better understanding of their learning
• Multiple Choice - Great for quizzes or surveys
• True/False - Another excellent choice for quizzes and surveys
• Check Boxes - Give students the option to choose more than one answer in the list
• Drop Down Menu - Use the drop down menu when the choices that it take up too much space on the form.

Here are 5 ways to use Google Forms during project based learning:

1. Quizzes 

With Google Forms™, you can quiz students throughout the unit. You don't have to worry about paper and pencil or even grading the quizzes. Students can get immediate feedback and they can even be used as exit tickets. Just go into settings, and select Quiz. You'll also see other options for point values and more. Click HERE to learn more about creating exit tickets with Google Forms.

2. Surveys and Polls

• Surveys can be used in creating your PBL teams. It's a good idea to know more about your students in relation to the project...their interest in the project, knowledge level, and how well they work with other students.
• Surveys can be used for parent communication. Many parents can be used as experts or to connect the class with experts. You can create sign-up sheets for parents to help with field trips, assisting in the classroom, important due dates, or helping with the public presentations of the project.
• Students can create surveys or polls about the project to send to other students or parents. They can graph the results and use it in the findings.
• There are times when you may need to survey or poll your students during the project. Your survey or poll can be one or two questions. That's it! You'll get your results immediately.

3. Rubrics

Did you know that you can design your own rubrics with Google Forms? Your rubrics can be generic and used for all of your PBL units. Students can use these for self-evaluation. You just select multiple-choice grid to add your information. Alice Keeler has a great blog post on creating a rubric with Google Forms. Click HERE.

4. Journals

Students can answer general questions every day about the project. Ex. What did you learn today? What questions do you have? What else would you like to know?

5. Reflection 

At the end of the project, students can reflect on their learning, the project itself, and how well their team worked together. Empowering students with their opinions and input is essential during project based learning. It gives students an opportunity to take ownership in their learning.

With Google Forms, you can stay organized during project based learning and provide your students with many ways to connect, empower themselves, and deepen their learning. Try these ways to use Google Forms during Project Based Learning the next time you dive into a unit.

For more project based learning posts, click HERE.