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Victoria Bushkova, Artem Piddubny

East European University of Economics and Management

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH

With the beginning of the Industrial Age there were considerable changes made throughout all aspects of education. The one-room schoolhouse model was expanded towards a pattern where students moved from teacher to teacher and room to room. Now, once more, our society undergoes significant shifts from an Industrial Age to an Information Age. Survival under today's economy circumstances demands workers with strong critical-thinking, interpersonal and foundational skills. These include teamwork and problem solving skills, effective oral and written communications skills, highly desirable in business communities. Our educational system searches for ways to respond efficiently to the changing requirements of today's global industry. As most instructors know, students learn more when they are creating their own learning means. The usual approach of providing students with information makes most of them learn and forget almost at once, showing gives far better results but involving into a practical task supports understanding. This concept should be acknowledged and implemented nationwide. Students have to master academic content standards while engaged in technology-integrated projects which supply learning experiences that are not usually possible within the limits of the traditional classroom. To implement the very method, project-based learning may be used as an instructional approach to prepare students to succeed in today's dynamic workplaces.

Project-based learning emphasizes learning opportunities that are interdisciplinary, student-centred, collaborative, and integrated with real-world issues and practices. Environments which foster academic achievement through hands-on learning can motivate students by engaging them in their own study. Students utilize and integrate the content of different subject areas in the production process, instead of in isolation or in an artificial environment. Thus, learning becomes relevant and useful as students establish connections to real life situations. Authentic projects also help develop real-world skills. Integrating technology with project-based learning catches and holds the attention of students who have grown up in the digital age and rely on computers, video games, cell phones and digital music players for their information and entertainment.

In project-based learning, instruction and learning both occur within the context of a problem assignment. Just as workers would confront complicated tasks in the workplace, in a project-based learning environment, student teams are presented with challenging problems that focus and act as triggers for what they have to study. The project, which could evoke multiple problems, encourages the learning process and gives it context. Typically, projects extend over time to act as interactive vehicles to help students acquire new, necessary knowledge and skill sets. Rather than working on a small project for a week, projects build upon each other and can carry over from semester to semester as they facilitate the learning process.

Project-based approach can be a powerful combination of several instructional theories such as:

·  Experiential learning – Experiential learning is the process where learners actively engage in creating their own knowledge; experience is the teacher. Students learn by doing – rather than by listening – in a highly applied environment.

·  Collaboration – As collaborative, interpersonal and communication skills are highly valued in today's workplace, this instructional approach immerses students in a series of increasingly difficult projects while working in teams.

·  Competency-based learning – Well-defined competencies are critical because they determine what will be taught and how it will be assessed, they communicate what knowledge and skills learners must attend to, and they indicate to potential employers the concrete skills that the graduates possess.

·  Integration – Content, projects and courses are tightly woven together. What students learn in class feeds into what they are doing on their projects.

·  Learner-centred environment – In contrast to a traditional education, which tends to be very teacher-centric with instruction designed around faculty interests and teaching styles, in a learner-centred environment, student needs and learning styles drive the educational process.

Combining all the previous academic aspects project-based learning provides:

·        Higher conformity with workplace needs;

·        A more improved skill set and knowledge of subject matter;

·        Ameliorated problem-solving and critical-thinking skills;

·        Better-developed collaborative and leadership skills;

·        Greater student interest, motivation and empowerment;

·        A higher faculty satisfaction.

Because of an opportunity to confront the complex aspects of real-world projects, students learning in this type of setting will have a more perfected understanding of the subject matter, as well as better technical and collaborative skills. Facing numerous sophisticated problems that students will have to work through, their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills will be improved in comparison with students who learn in a traditional setting.

In conclusion, as the Information Age continues to require knowledge workers who are capable of adapting to an ever-changing workplace, our educational system needs to prepare students to succeed in such an environment. Project-based learning is preparing students to succeed in the real world. It is an effective instructional approach that can equip graduates with the necessary value and technical skills to contribute to the workplace. Graduates who have experience with project-based learning will not only survive at their first job – they will thrive.

Literature:

1.     Bowerman M. Technology for All // T.H.E. JOURNAL (Technological Horizons in Education). – 2005. – Vol. 32, # 10. – Pp.20-24.

2.     Bradford M. Motivating Students Through Project-Based Service Learning // T.H.E. JOURNAL (Technological Horizons in Education). – 2005. – Vol. 32, # 6. – Pp.29-30.

3.     Gonzales A. H., Nelson L. M. Learner-Centered Instruction Promotes Student Success // T.H.E. JOURNAL (Technological Horizons in Education). – 2005. – Vol. 32, # 6. – Pp.10-15.