In his article "Problem-based learning: Six steps to design, implement, and assess" for Faculty Focus in 2015, Vincent Genareo suggests following six steps to embed assessment throughout your problem-based learning (PBL) assignments to collect meaningful, usable data from start to finish.

Based on our own experiences with PBL over the last decade, we present these steps with some personal revision/additions, where appropriate.​

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Step one - From 'product' to 'process:' PBL works best and is best assessed when created within a process-oriented context. As you begin your assessment, look at the outcomes you've created for your activity/assignment (or for your course) and ask yourself – "Am I assessing skills acquired during a specific process to 'fit' this assignment to a PBL structure? If not - can I reformulate them so that they do fit?" You can then include specific process-developed skills within assessments like peer evaluations and rubrics to assess achievement of your learning outcomes.​

Step two - Design your PBL activity/assignment scenario: Imagine this process as if you were following a recipe. If you are a master chef, creating complex gastronomic delights with minimal guidance is no challenge for you. However, if you're a beginning baker, you need a recipe that is written simply and has easy-to-follow steps (with examples of 'this is what this should look like' wherever possible). It's the same with PBL assignments – design a scenario with an embedded problem appropriate for the educational level and abilities of the students you are teaching, and which allows students to combine what they are learning in your class in a constructive, understandable way through group discussion, critical thinking, and research.​​

Step three - Introduce the PBL concept: Just like any new learning method, you should introduce the concept of PBL in a simple and easily 'solved' learning activity before introducing the full assignment. This activity should give students the ability to 'fail upward,' by learning what does and doesn't work with your guidance and input, and that allows them to learn with and from each other. Also during this process, you should let your students work in groups and tell you which points are unclear, hard to follow, etc., so that you can adapt your full PBL assignment and its assessment metrics appropriately.​

Step four - Research: We'll separate this step into two categories: "Brain" research, and "non-brain" research. Because your PBL assignment will have students apply their learning in the course thus far to a PBL scenario, allow students room (in groups or individually) to discuss what they currently know about the presented problem (brain research) and what they don't know but will need to find out about (non-brain research). Then, guide students in crafting a hypothesis or research question related to their problem, the results of/answer to which will help them 'solve' the problem at hand. These may change over time but will help students establish a foundation for completing the assignment.​​

Step five - Present solutions: Here is where students share their 'solutions' to the problem they investigated, along with the methods they used to craft this solution. This can be done through speeches, poster presentations, interactive activities with classmates, completing a particular assignment or task that demonstrates 'solutions,' etc.​​

Step six - Final Assessment or 'did it work and if so, how (well)?': Here's where we come back to the idea of PBL assessment being cyclical or continuous - create an assessment system that continuously assesses the assignment throughout the process.

• For many PBL assignments, you can break assessment into categories throughout the process – one assignment, multiple evaluation and assessment points. In this way, you can 'correct course' at different stages if students are not accomplishing what they need to so they can effectively move to the next stage, as well as address areas where more clarity is needed. For group work, I also provide students with the ability to confidentially evaluate their own performance and contributions, as well as the performance and contributions of their fellow group members at the end of the group project/assignment/activity - this level of self-assessment increases both engagement in the learning process, as well as autonomous investment and ownership of the results.
• Finally, consider having your students complete a 'reflection' related to their PBL assignment. This reflection should, among other things, ask them to tell you what the most challenging parts of the assignment were, and to tell you what you could do to provide more support for them in tackling these parts, and/or things you could change/amend to make the assignment's expectations clearer and more manageable/achievable.​
• Selected Research on Problem-based Learning Selected Research on Problem-based Learning Selected Research on Problem-based Learning Selected Research on Problem-based Learning For students struggling with low or no motivation in higher education, this is particularly effective – because they have the opportunity to 'weigh in,' they feel an autonomous connection to the learning process overall that encourages them to try and connect with the instructor when they otherwise may not have. As a teaching tool and a motivational learning opportunity, it is invaluable in this regard.

Relevant references:​

Blumberg, P. (2006). Assessing student during the problem-based learning process. IAMSE, 15(2). http://www.iamse.org/mse-article/assessing-students-during-the-problem-based-learning-pbl-process/

Genareo, V. R. (2015, November 30). Problem-based learning: Six steps to design, implement, and assess. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/problem-based-learning-six-steps-to-design-implement-and-assess/