Project Management in Local Nonprofit Organizations: Engaging Students in Problem-Based Learning

Abstract

This article describes problem-based learning (PBL) at the subsystem level, namely, the application of PBL in a project management course that empowers student teams to solve problems in nonprofit organizations. Faculty members teaching in project-based disciplines can employ the authors' approach to introduce PBL and document its effectiveness, possibly using this to move their university toward system-wide PBL. Faculty members teaching in other disciplines can adapt portions of the authors'approach to their courses. This article explains the course objectives, the project selection, the deliverables, and how students direct their own learning. The authors describe their assessment process in which expert judges evaluate completed projects and award a prize to the best team project.

The Effect of Project Based Learning in Teaching EFL Vocabulary to Young Learners of English: The Case of Pre-school Children

“…Moreover, learners were observed to be more active in PBL classes than the ones in traditional classrooms. Reviewing all these findings, these results confirmed the study by Kloppenborg & Baucus (2004) asserting that PBL enables a more active and successful learning environment than the use traditional methods and techniques. Firstly, the motivational success of PBL instruction might also be related to learner autonomy in language classrooms.…”

“…In terms of academic performance, the results supported Kloppenborg &Baucus (2004) andPoonpon, (2017) who proposed that learning becomes efficient for learners if they exhibited their abilities to plan, manage, and accomplish projects through their content knowledge and language skills. The findings showed that PBL could provide easier learning which positively affected test scores and exam performance.…”

The Investigation of Students’ Attitudes toward Project Work in Enhancing Independent Learning in English I at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok

“…For example, through project work the students gain ability to effectively cooperate in a group work, deal with interpersonal conflicts, and figure out solutions for complex problems while working with their group members (Kloppenborg and Baucus, 2004;Bell, 2011). It is believed that these social skills are necessary for working successfully in the 21 st century.…”

Project Based Learning in Teaching Communication Skills in English as a Foreign Language to Engineering Students

“…Second, learning through PBL becomes fruitful for learners because they exhibit their abilities to plan, manage, and accomplish projects through their content knowledge and language skills [4]. Thirdly, PBL is considered as student-centred since students are driven by the need to create an end-product which brings them opportunities to develop their confidence and independence in learning EFL [5].…”