Project Based Learning (PBL) Approach for Improving the Student Engagement in Vocational Education : An investigation on students‘ learning experiences & achievements

Improving Transnational Education in Timber Construction by the Use of Project-Based Learning Approach: As Evaluated by Teachers and Students

“…As in the study by Viswambaran and Shafeek (2019), where students increased their study engagement when working according to PBL, a great deal of commitment from the students in the HiTimber workshops was experienced and the majority of the students would like to enrol in similar courses again. The authors believe that increased engagement and motivation was partly caused by much higher degree of autonomy and the need for independence in the learning process.…”

“…Besides, their engagement increased and they were motivated to extend their learning since they had to take responsibility of their own project and could decide their personal strategy for solving the assignment. The teachers in the project observed a positive change in the students' behaviour and the way of studying and even in class attendance throughout the courses (Viswambaran & Shafeek, 2019).…”

“…Moreover, the PBL often requires collaborative work from the students who have to solve the assigned tasks in smaller groups. The group work is a new way of studying for many students (and teachers) and can cause many small or larger issues and obstacles to the students' learning and, for example, "free riders" can affect student motivation in a group (Pawson et al, 2006;Viswambaran & Shafeek, 2019). Getting used to working in groups compared to traditional individual studies requires many efforts from students who have to make common planning, dividing tasks, trust each other's work and communicate their own findings.…”

“…However, the benefits of PBL are greater than the challenges. Viswambaran and Shafeek (2019) published their findings from a study regarding the impact of PBL as a tool to improve students' engagement and academic achievement and at the same time taking into account the curriculum of the education. All students who participated in the experimental project practically found that PBL made their studies more enjoyable and that they gained a deeper learning through their work on the assignment.…”

Implementing project-based learning to enhance creative thinking skills on water pollution topic

“…Memişoğlu (2011) focused to improve students' success and memorization using PjBL in teaching the "population in our country" unit in the social sciences class. Other studies analyzed the effect of PjBL on student motivation (Chiang & Lee, 2016); students' engagement (Viswambaran & Shafeek, 2019), metacognition (Pavkov-Hrvojevic, Obadovic, Cvjeticanin, & Bogdanovic, 2016), and science process skills (Hernawati, Amin, Irawati, Indriwati, & Aziz, 2018).…”