Taking a Leap of Faith: Redefining Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Through Project-Based Learning

Abstract

This study examines two aspects of teaching with a project-based learning (PBL) model in higher education settings: faculty definitions of PBL and faculty PBL practices, as evidenced by their self-described successes and challenges in implementation. Faculty participants took "a leap of faith" in their teaching practices to redefine what it means to teach and learn using PBL as an instructional methodology. The findings provide insight into how faculty conceptualization of PBL drives implementation; how the PBL approach challenges college-level teachers; and how instructors' perceptions of their own role in the PBL process impacts how they implement PBL.

La alfabetización tecnológica: de la informática al desarrollo de competencias tecnológicas

“…Esta metodología implica un reto para estudiantes y docentes (Lee et al, 2013). Los estudiantes deben tomar responsabilidad de su aprendizaje y participar en los procesos de construcción de conocimiento y creación de significado (English & Kitsantas, 2013), siendo necesario modificar las estructuras de clase tradicional que se encuentran interiorizadas en la mentalidad de los estudiantes y que los ubican en una posición pasiva frente al conocimiento (Hung, 2011).…”

Producing an Online Undergraduate Literary Magazine: A Guide to Using Problem-Based Learning in the Writing and Publishing Classroom

“…My students, largely unfamiliar with literary magazines, had very little knowledge about the very print publications they were seeking to transform into digital format. What ensued was the chaos that often accompanies early phases or iterations of both PBL projects and real-word creative endeavors (Lee et al, 2014;Hanney, 2013;Savery 2006).…”

“…Increasingly, "educators and the public alike emphasize the need to work effectively in groups, to solve problems in a variety of contexts, [and] to think critically and imaginatively" (Riordan, 2005, p. 3) while developing requisite professional and disciplinary skills. In 2007, I experienced tremendous success designing a course on dating and domestic violence using community-based research (CBR), an engaged pedagogy that shares many important characteristics with problem-based learning (PBL), most notably the problem-led course design and the facilitative role of the instructor (DeBlasis, 2006;Lee, Blackwell, Drake & Moran, 2014;Hmelo-Silver & Barrows, 2006). The student enthusiasm for CBR as a community engagement model encouraged me to seek an equally engaged pedagogy when creating a course designed to produce the College's first online literary magazine, since it is well documented that student learning also increases when instructors use engaged pedagogy in writing classrooms (Rosinski & Peeples, 2012).…”

“…have been identified as key elements of collaborative innovation, which may be considered a specific kind of PBL" (West et al, 2013, p. 6). Students in writing workshops have been revising and critiquing work since the 1980s, but it is rare that writing teachers use the language of PBL to describe their classroom assignments and activities (Lee et al, 2014). While practitioners trained to teach writing often use techniques such as revision, problem solving, and peer editing, they may be unaware of how PBL methods can enhance student learning in the writing classroom (Rosinski & Peeples, 2012, p. 13).…”

Project-based Learning in Calculus on The Use of Maple Software Technology

“…The PBL approach shifts a focus from lecturer-centered content delivery to student-centered activity engagement by increasing students' self-efficacy [7]. The PBL pedagogy as an inquiry-based instructional approach offers an innovative teaching method [8]. It reflects a learner-centered environment that concentrates on students' use of disciplinary knowledge, experiences, practices, and technologies to discover answers for real-world problems throughout projects ( [9][10]).…”