Definition
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- Engaging learning experiences that involve students in complex,
real-world projects through which they develop and apply skills
and knowledge
- A strategy that recognizes that significant learning taps
students' inherent drive to learn, capability to do important
work, and need to be taken seriously
- Learning in which curricular outcomes can be identified up-front,
but in which the outcomes of the student's learning process
are neither predetermined nor fully predictable
- Learning that requires students to draw from many information
sources and disciplines in order to solve problems
- Experiences through which students learn to manage and allocate
resources such as time and materials
Autodesk Foundation Homepage
Autodesk Foundation - The PBL Network
http://www.autodesk.com/foundation/pbl/pbl.htm
Whereas in problem-based learning the overall
goals and the problems are set by the teachers, project-centred
learning requires the students to set their own learning objectives,
decide on their own learning strategies and propose what they want
to be assessed on. Considerable time is spent in coaching the students
in the selection of their learning objectives and in any skills
they decide they need to achieve them. The problem to be tackled
is chosen by the student in consultation with other students and
tutors. Formal teaching as such does not occur, but close attention
is given to the process of enabling the students' autonomy and self
direction, and that is likely to include the provision of adequate
working space.
Jaques, D., G. Gibbs, and C. Rust, Designing
and Evaluating Courses. 1993, New South Wales: Educational Methods
Unit, Oxford Brooke University.
A crucial element in the education of an undergraduate is the
development of learning autonomy. This is the motivation and ability
to:
- identify learning needs
- marshall the resources required to address the needs
- learn effectively
- and assess the outcomes of learning
with minimal intervention of traditional tuition. An additional
element is that autonomy can, and perhaps must be, developed within
the constraints of interdependence on other people. Learning autonomy
in the context of interdependence assists in enabling the graduate
to work co-operatively with peers and clients. This means developing
a self-motivated attitude taking into account the needs of the
group. Autonomy and interdependence together facilitate 'life-long'
learning enabling the graduate to adapt to technical and social
change. Projects in the undergraduate curriculum may be a critical
mechanism to develop these key skills.
Birtle, M (1998) email message to announce Workshop on Negotiated
Learning, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)/
Effective Project Work in Computer Science (EPCOS),
http://www-scm.tees.ac.uk/users/m.birtle/epcos/wshoppage.htm.
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