It gives the basic knowledge about what Project based learning (PBL) is.

1. Project Based Learning
with ICT
Assoc. Prof. Petya Asenova, PhD
Computer Science Department
New Bulgarian University
1.08.2014

2. Introduction
What is project based learning
Benefits/inappropriate sites
Roles in project based learning
Final delivery
Assessment
Challenges
Example
Topics

3. Introduction
This is the reason for the increased interest in
learning activities in which students are actively
involved. Such type of activity is learning through
projects.
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• Students are active
constructors of their
knowledge
• They apply them in
practical activities
More effective
acquiring
knowledge

4. Introduction
Some history
 Confucius (6-5 c.BC): “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me,
and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand”.
 John Dewey supported "learning by doing“, the end of the
19th century
 This sentiment is also reflected in constructivism
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Educational research has advanced this idea of teaching and
learning into a methodology known as "project-based
learning - PBL."

5. What is project based
learning (PBL)
PBL approach is a valid instructional strategy
that promote active learning and engage the
learners in higher-order thinking
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6. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Opinion [Blumenfeld et al, 1991, in Educational
Psychologist, 26(3&4)]:
"Project-based learning is a comprehensive
perspective focused on teaching by engaging
students in investigation. Within this framework,
students pursue solutions to nontrivial problems
by asking and refining questions, debating ideas,
making predictions, designing plans and/or
experiments, collecting and analyzing data,
drawing conclusions, communicating their ideas
and findings to others, asking new questions,
and creating artifacts.”
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7. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Opinion [Thomas, Mergendoller, Michaelson,
1999]:
Projects are complex tasks, based on challenging
questions or problems, that involve students in
design, problem-solving, decision making, or
investigative activities; give students the
opportunity to work relatively autonomously
over extended periods of time; culminate in
realistic products or presentations.
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8. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Opinion [ Greeno, J. G. (2006) in The Cambridge
handbook of the learning sciences]:
Project-based learning has been associated with
the "situated learning“.
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9. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Opinion [Stephanie Bell (2010), in Journal of
Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas]:
PBL is a student-driven, teacher-facilitated approach
to learning. Learners pursue knowledge by asking
questions that have piqued their natural curiosity. The
genesis of a project is an inquiry. Students develop a
question and are guided through research under the
teacher’s supervision.
PBL is not a supplementary activity to support
learning. It is the basis of the curriculum.
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10. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Opinion [Markham, T. (2011) in Teacher Librarian, 39(2)]:
PBL integrates knowing and doing. Students learn
knowledge and elements of the core curriculum, but also
apply what they know to solve authentic problems and
produce results that matter. PBL students take advantage of
digital tools to produce high quality, collaborative products.
PBL refocuses education on the student, not the curriculum
These cannot be taught out of a textbook, but must be
activated through experience.
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11. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Thomas, J. offered five criteria what must a
project have in order to be considered PBL:
centrality, driving question, constructive
investigations, autonomy, and realism.
[Thomas, J. (2000). A Review of the Research on
Project-Based Learning]
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12. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 1: PBL projects are central, not peripheral to
the curriculum. This means:
PBL projects are the curriculum. In PBL, the project is
the central teaching strategy trough which students
cover elements of the curriculum.
If the project provide illustrations, examples,
additional practice, or practical applications for
material taught already, it is not example of PBL.
Project in which students learn things that are outside
the curriculum ("enrichment" projects) it is not
example of PBL.
Example?
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13. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 2: PBL projects are focused on
questions or problems that "drive" students to
meet the central concepts and principles of a
discipline.
It means the project must provide such
activities for students to learn new
knowledge of a discipline/disciplines. This is
done with a "driving question".
Example?
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14. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 3: Projects involve students in a constructive
investigation. An investigation is a goaldirected process that
involves inquiry and knowledge building. Investigations may be
design, decision-making, problem-finding, problem-solving,
discovery, or model-building processes. To be considered as a
PBL project, the central activities must involve transformation
and construction of knowledge.
If the project activities represent no difficulty to the student or
provide application of already-learned information or skills, the
project is an exercise, not a PBL project.
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15. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 3: Projects involve students in a constructive investigation.
Example: given a right triangle (the black one)
with sites a, b, c, where c is hypotenuse.
Prove that: a2 + b2 = c2 (Pythagoras theorem)
It is involved in the curriculum but students
have not learned it before. Have to discover.
After additional drawing given on the figure,
Using previous knowledge (S and S ) they can prove the new
formulae a2 + b2 = c2
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16. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 4: Projects are student-driven to some
significant degree
PBL project are supervised by the teacher.
Doing students have autonomy, choice,
unsupervised work time, and responsibility.
If laboratory exercises and instructional
booklets are PBL projects?
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17. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Kriterion 5: Projects are realistic, not school-
like. It means:
Authenticity in everything: real topics and
tasks, real roles that students play, real
context of working, real collaboration, real
product produced with potential to be
implemented.
Assessment according to real criteria.
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18. Group activity:
You are teachers and have to create a PBL
project around a “driving question”. Having in
mind the curriculum, what students have
learned and what have not, find out a driving
question.
What is project based
learning (PBL)

19. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Collaboration is essential
Sharing information between members in the
group. Each individual share what he or she
has learned and how that information might
impact on developing a solution.
 Sharing products produced by individuals.
These products are combined in a common
product of the whole team.
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20. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Using ICT is essential. It gives:
Tools (software, hardware) to develop project
Skills to use technology
Sources of information
 Communication tools
Presentation tools
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21. What is project based
learning (PBL)
Using ICT is essential. It gives:
Cognitive tools:
• semantic organization tools (e.g., databases)
• dynamic modeling tools (e.g., spreadsheets)
• visualization tools (e.g., MathLab, Geometry Tutor)
• knowledge construction tools (e.g., a multimedia
authoring tool)
• socially shared cognitive tools (e.g., computer
conferencing, forums and computer-supported
collaborative tools)
[Kim and Reeves (2007:226)]
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22. Benefits/inappropriate
sites
Benefits:
Students are more active doing project
Students are more responsible in their
learning
Students have more autonomy to propose
and find solutions
Students can use their previous experience
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23. Benefits/inappropriate
sites
Benefits:
 Every student can participate according his/her learning
style, according to his/her strong sites and will achieve
better results
 Students are more motivated to discover, more confident
that can be useful
 PBL stimulate cognitive development and critical thinking
 PBL helps students to develop a variety of social skills as
communication and collaboration, working in group,
negotiation
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24. Benefits/inappropriate
sites
Benefits:
Accommodates different kinds of intelligence
Encourages the mastery of technological
tools
PBL make students better prepared for the
real life
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25. Benefits/inappropriate
sites
Inappropriate sites:
Heterogeneous group as level of knowledge
and skills
Different quality of the products produced
wich have to be assembled into one common
product
The nonworking students could hide
themselves behind the active students
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26. Benefits/inappropriate
sites
Inappropriate sites:
PBL request more time than traditional
strategies
It is not easy to create appropriate projects of
PBL
It is difficult to assess students working in a
group
Very often only the product is assessed, not
the process
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27. Roles in PBL
What students do:
Work in groups having autonomy
Choose a leader
Plan the activities, deadlines and
responsibilities to achieve the aim
Search information, experiment, analyze,
make hypotheses and conclusions, proves and
interprete
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28. Roles in PBL
What students do:
Debate and choose resources, tools, solutions
Share information and products
Manage and control each step, results and
deadlines
Present the result
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29. Roles in PBL
What teachers do:
Find out a “driving question” and create
appropriate projects
instruct and coach rather than teach, provide
expert guidance, feedback and suggestions for
better
Looking for the communication between
students in the group - if students shared
information and products
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30. Roles in PBL
What teachers do :
Give students autonomy and freedom
Control each activity, deadlines and results
and make corrections if needed
Resolve conflicts if needed
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31. Final Deliveries
 Presentations
 Project product
 Reports
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32. Final Delivery
Presentation:
Present the plan and first project ideas
Present one mid-term report about the project
progress (if the project needs a long time)
 Final presentation - each student report his part
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33. Final Delivery
Project product:
Each group at the end demonstrates the final
product – how the functionalities work
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34. Final Delivery
Project report:
Some projects require writing documentation.
 Each group submit a final report to layout the
structure of the project and to give detailed
information.
Each group has to report about the
contribution of each group member. It is
difficult to find out the truth but it is easy for
the lecturer to assess students.
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35. Assessment
Students need to be assessed on both –
process and results
The process assessment: mid-term results,
communication, deadlines
Final result assessment : knowledge/skills
covered, product, report, presentation skills
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36. Assessment
Students could be assessed in a group or as
individuals (example: group - 80% and
individual - 20%)
Appropriate for group assessment:
deliverables related to the development
process, final product, report
Appropriate for individual assessment:
individual tasks, communication, deadlines,
presentation skills
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37. Assessment
Self- and peer-assessment could take place
The final grade of the members of the same
group may vary.
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38. Challenges
Related to implementation:
To incorporate PBL in school curriculum
To find driving questions
To create appropriate projects
The real time needed for the project
development could be longer than the
planned time
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39. Challenges
Related to implementation:
To provide all needed resources for students
by the school
Setting of common deliverables for disparate
projects. Not all projects follow the same
scheme, but students have to work in equality
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40. Challenges
Students challenges:
Managing their time and activities
Developing logical arguments to support their
claims
Participating in the project based on personal
preferences rather than questions needed
Collecting data needed – not always full data
collection
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41. Challenges
Teacher challenges:
To find a driving question
To develop appropriate projects
To involve the PBL project in the curricula
To plan the assessment - define assessment
criteria
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42. Challenges
Teacher challenges:
To assess students working in different
projects (with different complexity) the same
way
To find a balance between supervise students
and to give them enough freedom they to
work independence
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43. Example – school
project
Subject: IT, grade 6, unit “Multimedia
presentations”
Driving Question: How to add audio and video in
power point presentation
Task definition: To create a multimedia book for
young children on a chosen field (Geography,
Literature, History, Music, etc) involving text,
audio and video materials.
Time: 6 hours
Team: 3 students (А, B и C)
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44. Example – school
project
Activities planned by teacher leading to new
knowledge:
- Investigating how to embed audio and video
files in a Power Point presentation
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45. Example – school project
Example of working plan (students work):
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Activities Period
1
/hours
Period
2
…. Responsi
ble
person
1. Planning activities x A, B, C
2. Product design x x A, B, C
3. Creating/Collecting
materials:
- Text
- Images
- Audio
- Video
x
x
x
x
A
A
B
C

46. Example – school project
Resources (students work):
Information resources
Human resources
Software
Hardware
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47. Example – school
project
Deliverables:
Task definition, target group, team
Working plan
Product design – how text, images, audio, video
contribute the idea
Final product
Report: details how the project is done
technologically; list of contribution of each
member; new knowledge (description); list of
information sources used
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48. Example – school
project
Assessment: Example – it is made by the teacher
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Individual Assessment –
25 %
Group Assessment – 75 %
Individual tasks – 10 % Mid-term deliverables -
15 %
Deadlines – 5 % Final product – 50 %
Communication – 5 % Report – 10 %
Presentation skills – 5 %

49. Example – school
project
Group activity on your project:
Imagine you are teacher. Have to produce for
the project “Multimedia book” the following
components:
Working plan
Resources
Deliverables
Assessment
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