PROJECT BASED LEARNING

Edited by susmita pathak

Gangadharpur Sikshan Mandir

West Bengal University of teachers’ training, education planning and administration

INTRODUCTION :- Project based learning is a student-centred pedagogy that

involves a dynamic classroom approach in which it is believed that students
acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges
and problems. This method was propounded by Kilpatrick in 1918.

A project is a whole hearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social

environment.

Project based learning is a teaching method in which students gains knowledge

and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and response
to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.

COMPONENT OF PROJECT BASED LEARNING:-

Key knowledge, understanding and success skill - the project is focused on

student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such as
critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and self management.

Challenging problem or question - The project is framed by a meaningful

problem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of challenge.
Sustained inquiry - Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of asking
questions, finding recourses and applying information.

Authenticity - The project features real-world context, tasks and tools quality
standards or impact or speaks to students’ personal concerns, interests and
issues in their lives.

Student voice & choice - Students make some decisions about the project,
including how they work and what they create.

Reflection - Students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of their

inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles and how to
overcome them.

Critique & Revision - Students give, receive and use feedback to improve their
process and products.

Public product - Students make their project work public by explaining,

displaying and presenting it to people beyond the classroom.

FEATURES OF PROJECT BASE LEARNING:-

1. Use of real world problems - Problems is relevant and contextual. It is in

the process of struggling with actual problems that students learn content
and critical thinking skills.

2. Reliance on problems to drive the curriculum - The problems do not test

skills, they assist in development of the skills themselves.

3. The problems are truly ill- structured – There is not meant to be one
solution and as new information is gathered in a reiterative process,
perception of the problem and thus the solution changes.

4. Project base learning is learner- centred - Learners are progressively

given more responsibility for their education and become increasingly
independent of the teacher for their education.

5. Project based learning produces independent, life –long learner-

Students continue to learn on their own in life and in their careers.

6. Students make decisions within a prescribed framework.

 7. There’s a problem or challenge without a predetermined solution.

8. Students design the process for reaching a solution.

9. Students are responsible for accessing and managing the information they
gather.

10. Evaluation takes place continuously.

11. Students regularly reflect on what they are doing.

12. A final product is produced and is evaluated for quality.

13. The classroom has an atmosphere that tolerates error and change.

STAGES OF PROJECT BASED LEARNING :-

Creating a situation

Selection of problem

Planning

Execution

Evaluation

Educational Application Of Project Based Learning:-

● PBL promotes self-motivation and self-responsibility to learn.

● This method facilitates more enjoyable and more effective learning.

● PBL encourages learning from experiences, allowing students to use and

organise what has been learnt to understand problems.

● PBL integrates knowledge with practice.

● PBL nurtures the ability to analyse problems and to identify and acquire
knowledge and skills needed to deal with real life situations.
● PBL develops teamwork and communication skills.

● PBL trains students to be reflective and assess their own and others work.

● PBL cultivates independence, curiosity and skills for self – directed life –long
learning.

Disadvantages of project based learning:-

1. Project method based teaching is not always the most effective model and
cannot necessarily be applied to every teaching learning process. Its efficiency
or inefficiency can best be evaluated by its ‘Cost effectiveness’ that is, in this
context, a comparison between the efforts made or dedication shown by
students and the degree of success obtain in contrast to other learning
models.
2. It can sometimes prove difficult to get poorly motivated students in this form
of learning. Students with a history of failures generally have a low curiosity
level and can be reluctant to being a search for new concepts, as a result of
previously negative experiences.
3. If student do not have any previous experience with the proposed subject
matter it is difficult to use the project Method, unless the teacher first presents
the students with tasks that they can carry out and then use as a base for the
project itself.
4. Research and discussions often take up more time than expected. Exploring
ideas thoroughly also takes more time than relying on superficial and known
sources of concepts.
5. Knowledge of the guidelines of the study programme – Teachers need to
select the lead questions carefully, so that student can learn the contents
required under the programme.
6. Class room Administration- Students need to be sufficiently free to discuss
their research, but teachers must maintain order so that students can work
productively.
7. Control- Teacher often feels the need to direct the lesson in order to ensure
that students receive the correct information.
8. Learning support for students- Frequently, teachers allow student too much
independence without an adequate thought model, structured situation or
feedback.
 9. Uses of technology- Teacher who have not used technology as a cognitive
tool find it difficult to incorporate it into their classrooms.
10. Evaluation- Teachers have difficulties designing a system of evaluation that
a majority of students will understand. The results they expected of their
students do not always require them to synthesizes information or generate
new conceptual representations. The evaluation of these results is difficult.

CONCLUSION
In summary, research indicates that PBL: (a) has a positive effect on
student content knowledge and the development of skills such as
collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving; (b) benefits students by
increasing their motivation and engagement; and (c) is challenging for
teachers to implement, leading to the conclusion that teachers need support in
order to plan and enact PBL effectively while students need support including
help setting up and directing initial inquiry, organizing their time to complete
tasks, and integrating technology into projects in meaningful ways.

Reference :

1. Sites.google.com

2. www.ble.org

3. www.tes.com

4. En.m.wikipedi.org