Transforming Education Through Project Based Learning

Abstract

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and various State School Education Boards have introduced project based learning as an essential component of the school curriculum. A large number of Universities, Technical Institutes and Business Schools in different parts of the world are imparting professional education through Project based Learning and thus enabling the students to acquire and apply analytical and critical thinking to solve problems and challenges. Introducing projects into the curriculum is not a new or revolutionary idea in education, however, the practice has evolved recently into a more formally defined teaching strategy. Project-based learning has gained a greater foothold in the classroom as researchers have documented what teachers have long understood: Students become more engaged in learning when they have a chance to dig into complex, challenging, and sometimes even messy problems that closely resemble real life. Project-based learning goes beyond generating student interest. Well-designed projects encourage active inquiry and higher-level thinking (Thomas, 1998). Students' abilities to acquire new understanding are enhanced when they are "connected to meaningful problem-solving activities, and when students are helped to understand why, when, an d how those facts and skills are relevant" (Bransford, Brown, & Conking, 2000)