Furthermore, Bransford and Stein 1993 unfold that project-based learning is a comprehensive instructional approach to engage students in sustained, cooperative
investigation. Within its framework, students work together on the project and collaborate their ideas to make sense of what is going on. Since it is part of social
activity, therefore, it takes place within the context of culture community and past experience.
Thus, from the definition above the project-based learning could be summarized as the central framework upon which the teaching and learning of core concept is
built, and not a supplementary enrichment activity which should be undertaken after the hard work of learning is done. Within the PBL process, learners not only give
response by feeding back information, but they also actively use what they know to explore, negotiate, interpret, and create a product. In addition, the PBL model
encourages teachers to rely on their experience and expertise to blend projects and conventional methods of instruction into cooperative activity that provides students
with a rich integration of content, skills, and opportunities for academic and personal growth.
a. Project-Based Learning Focus
As noted above, much of existing work in PBL has been based on inductive account derived from empirical experience Schindler and Eppler, 2003, or has
focused exclusively on either generation of learning within Project Huber, 1999, or the transfer of knowledge to and from project Hansen, 1999. Another proponent,
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Thomas 1999 theorizes that standard-focused PBL is a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry
process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks. This definition encompasses a spectrum ranging from brief
projects of one to two weeks based on a single subject in one classroom to yearlong, interdisciplinary projects that involve community participation and adults outside the
school. Thus, the careful development and planning of effective project are crucial for the successful and effective application of a project-based learning paradigm. The
basic properties of such effective project might be focused as follows Thomas, Mergendoller, Michaelson, 1999 :
To recognize students inherent drive to learn, their capability to do important work, and their need to be taken seriously by putting them at the center of the
learning process.
To engage students in the central concepts and principles of a discipline. The project work is central rather than peripheral to the curriculum.
To highlight provocative issues or questions that lead students to in-depth exploration of authentic and important topic.
To require the use of essential tools and skills, including technology, for learning, self-management, and project management.
To specify products that solve problems, explain dilemmas, or present information generated through investigation, research, or reasoning.
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To include multiple products that permit frequent feedback and consistent opportunities for students to learn from experience.
To use performance-based assessments that communicate high expectations, present rigorous challenges, and require a range of skills and knowledge.
To encourage collaboration in some form, either through small groups, student-led presentations, or whole-class evaluations of project results.
Projects have been used as fun or change-of-pace events completed after students have been pushed through homework assignments, lectures, and tests. In
standards-based PBL, students are pulled through the curriculum by an authentic problem that creates a need to know the material. The authentic problem is tied to
content standards in the curriculum, and assessment is explicitly designed to evaluate the students knowledge of the content. Similarly, project-based learning is sometimes
equated with inquiry-based or experiential learning. Though PBL shares some overlapping characteristics with these two terms, standards-focused PBL is designed
to acknowledge the importance of standards and evaluation of student learning.
b. Project-Based Learning Benefits
