Integrates curriculum areas, thematic instruction, and community issues.
Assesses performance on content and skills using criteria similar to those in the work world, thus encouraging accountability, goal setting, and improved
performance.
Creates positive communication and collaborative relationships among diverse groups of students.
Meets the needs of learners with varying skill levels and learning styles.
Engages and motivates bored or indifferent students. At its best, PBL can be also beneficial for teachers. It helps teachers to create a
high-performing classroom in which both teacher and students form a powerful learning community focused on achievement, self-mastery, and contribution to the
community Thomas, 1999. It allows teacher to focus on central ideas and salient issues in the curriculum framework, create engaging and challenging activities in the
classroom, and support self-directed learning among students Michaelson, 1999.
c. The Students in Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is centered on the learner and affords learners the opportunity for in-depth investigations of worthy topics. The learners are more
autonomous as they construct personally-meaningful artifacts that are representations of their learning. It is agreed by Solomon 2003 who mentioned that in entering
project-based learning, the students’ role are to put into students-as-workers setting 19
where they learn collaboration, critical thinking, written and oral communication, and the values of the work ethic while meeting state or national content standards.
Through PBL, students are able to discover the knowledge actively to be put into the process of making a product. Students can also be responsible for the creation of both
the question and the activities, as well as the nature of the artifacts. Additionally, teachers or curriculum developers can create questions, task, and activities related to
many issue. Nevertheless, fulfilling the project such as generating the artifact or a model, report, consequential task, videotape, or film needs the students’ critical
thinking. Through the process of generation, students are demanded to construct their own knowledge and put into project of artifact which is concrete and explicit that can
be shared and critiqued. This allows others to provide feedback, makes the activity authentic, and permits learners to reflect on and extend their knowledge and revise
their artifacts Thomas, Mergendoller, Michaelson, 1999. Thomas 1999 stated that projects are decidedly different from conventional
activities that are designed to help students learn information in the absence of a driving question. Such conventional activities might relate to each other and help
students learn curricular content, but without the presence of a driving question, they do not hold the same promise that learning will occur as do activities orchestrated in
the service of an important intellectual purpose Sizer, 1984. Supporters of project- based learning claim that as students investigate and seek resolutions to problems,
they acquire an understanding of key principles and concepts Blumenfeld et al.,1991. Project-based learning also places students in realistic, contextualized
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problem-solving environments Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt [CTGV], 1992. Projects can thus serve as bridges between phenomena in the
classroom and real-life experiences. Questions and answers that arise in daily enterprise are given value and are proven open to systematic inquiry.
Project-based education requires active engagement of students effort over an extended period of time.
Project-based learning also promotes links among subject matter disciplines and presents an expanded, rather than narrow, view of subject matter.
Projects are adaptable to different types of learners and learning situations Blumenfeld et al., 1991.
As stated by Mergendoller 1999, there are four stages of inquiry that can be used as guideline for students in the process of work through the problems and
projects. They are searching, solving, creating, and sharing. The further explanation could be enlightened as follows.
Searching It requires the students’ identification and representation of a problem. In this
stage, students might divide their idea into groups by interest area and narrow their focus, they are even recommended to put and purposing their ideas into a
question format. 21
Solving Solving the problem involves gathering information and generating a solution
includes planning the project and exploring the solution possibility. In this phase, each group may ask for consultation in order to carry out the project.
Creating Creating refers to the creation of a product. Students in group start to
accomplish the project. Sharing
Sharing involves the actual communication of findings, such as a presentation oral report to class members or the school. It result evaluation of the project
and the suggestions for the generation of future project.
Figure 2.2 The Working Process of Project-Based Learning
Searching Solving
Creating Sharing
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3. Audio-Visual Media
