A Project-Based Learning (PBL) Course Offered in Bulgaria in a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Project During the Pandemic

Abstract

The first author visited the Technical University of Sofia (TU-Sofia) in Bulgaria in Fall 2021 as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to conduct a research/teaching combination project, with the support from the other authors of this paper at both institutions. A project-based learning (PBL) course was offered at TU-Sofia as a facultative course, with 13 students enrolled from two programs and from freshmen to seniors. This paper reports the extensive efforts on course planning, the adaptation of the course offering on the go, and a follow-up plan such as a faculty-led trip to provide an opportunity for the U.S. students to visit Bulgaria (although the May 2022 trip had to be canceled due to the nearby war, the connections that were made and the trip planning will enable another trip in the future). All these activities were impacted adversely by the pandemic, such as the postponement of this trip from Spring 2021 to Fall 2021, the transition of in-person instruction to online instruction in late October, and the less than perfect final project's completion rate, beyond the normal adaptation of a course in a different country given the facility and product differences. The different academic calendars in the U.S. and Bulgarian institutions also made it impossible in finding a suitable period for the students from both institutions to interact, but we were able to connect the students with other American visitors in Bulgaria to get comments on their designs. There were many other challenges, including the cultural influences on design, and communication (often asynchronous with English not being the mother tongue for some), on top of the normal project constraints, which were exactly what stretched the students. This project aimed at carrying out and evaluating high-impact practices such as PBL and vertical integration in a different institution, via a comparison between precourse and post-course surveys. These practices could continue in various forms at TU-Sofia, and the collaboration could grow into COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) opportunities. We encouraged the students to discover and learn from each other. From the students' point of view, the senior students will be prepared for their intensive 7-week capstone project in the next semester, and the younger students will gain valuable experiences while shadowing and actively engaging in the development of the projects. The practices presented in this paper could provide some timely ideas and inspiration for other colleagues who wish to continue international collaborations during the pandemic.