Project learning involves completing complex tasks that result in a realistic product or presentation to an audience. "A Review of research on Project-Based Learning," prepared by researcher John Thomas for the Autodesk Foundation, identified five key components of effective project learning:

• Centrality to the curriculum
• Driving questions that lead students to encounter central concepts
• Investigations that involve Inquiry and knowledge building
• Processes that are student driven, rather than teacher driven
• Authentic problems that people care about in the real world