Project-Based Learning Analysis

In 1916, education reformer John Dewey (1997) wrote, “education is not an affair of ‘telling’ and being told, but an active and constructive process” (p. 38). Project-based learning, then, is the embodiment of Dewey’s educational sagacity. Project-based learning is a dynamic, multi-faceted teaching method and learning approach in which students actively engage with a given topic or idea by means of questioning, research, hands-on activities, and real-world scenarios. Project-based learning casts aside the confines of the traditional lecture-based classroom, replacing an arguably outdated model of instruction with the promotion of higher-level thinking. Project-based learning not only engages students, but encourages learning in a contemporary

Through project-based learning, students not only realize the tangible value of knowledge, but also come to demonstrate acceptance of self-worth through both academic and personal accomplishments. The successful employment of project-based learning with students greatly rests upon the educator’s ability to provide students with as much choice as possible within the parameters of an assignment: “A project that draws on students’ own lives, cultures, and identities can be the most compelling of all” (Larmer, 2014, p. 44). Successful projects create (and emphasize) relationships between projects and the students’ lives; successful projects are related to something tangible and modern, rather than something foreign or extraneous; successful projects emphasize teamwork and collaboration, and involve resources outside of the academic setting. Upon completion, students are able to present their work to their peers, thus imbuing students with a sense of pride for their own

However, studies have also shown that at-risk students are remarkably receptive, and subsequently successful, when project-based learning is applied to their learning experiences. Some opponents of project-based learning feel that this methodology “waters down” the curriculum for at-risk students, creating a severe contrast between what the students do in order to pass, versus what the state standards demand of the students. However, this position is without merit, as successful educators implement curricular standards within students’ project objectives, simultaneously encouraging and enabling students to engage with the content on their own terms while successfully achieving academic goals. Why is this significant? For at-risk learners, students who consistently struggle, regardless of content or instructor, in traditional classrooms, project-based learning creates a crucial opportunity to learn through the application of both lower- and higher-level cognitive functions (Heitin, 2012, p.