Good practice: Scaffolded, Collaborative Project-based Learning

Abstract

Project-based learning (PjBL) is a philosophy of teaching and learning that includes a framework for how we will organize education in the future, according to Markham (2012). The framework involves interdisciplinary knowledge construction while completing a social activity that builds context-dependent self-awareness of learning and knowing (Tamim and Grant, 2013). For clarity purposes, we distinguish between project-based learning and problem-based learning (PBL). While there are many similarities between the two approaches, they both engage students in authentic tasks, are open-ended, involve collaboration, and simulate professional environments, the two approaches differ slightly. According to Donnelly and Fitzmaurice (2005), the key difference lies in the focus of the two strategies. In PjBL, the end artifact developed in the course is the driver of the course planning, implementation, and the evaluation process, while, in PBL, the primary focus of the learning process is on the inquiry (rather than the end product).