Does studying soil erosion in the classroom beat out visiting a local farm to figure it out yourself? A new study put that very question to the test, observing thousands of Advanced Placement students as they tackled challenging curricula through experiential project-based learning (PBL) or more traditional instruction. In a national study conducted independently by the University of Southern California—and funded by Lucas Education Research, a sister division of Edutopia—researchers randomly assigned teachers responsible for over 3,600 AP students to one of two groups. In the first group, teachers used a PBL approach centered around essential questions, collaborative learning, group research, and simulations that mirror real-world activities—participating in a mock Supreme Court trial, for example, or calculating their family’s ecological footprint. Meanwhile, teachers in the second group taught their classes in a more traditional format, emphasizing lectures, lots of independent re...