PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: A WEB TOOL FOR PROJECT PLANNING

Abstract

Interdisciplinary courses contextualizing subject
matter to encourage deep understanding have been shown to
be effective ways to increase student learning and teach
important 21st Century skills. The Project-Based Learning
(PBL) method presents a model for creating such courses
and enables students to acquire the skills and knowledge
they need to be professionally successful in today’s changing
world. We have been investigating the use of the PBL
method developed by the Buck Institute, which is structured
around five project design principles. Each design principle
is described on a different form, which is completed by the
teacher proposing a project. We have noticed that teachers
usually have difficulty completing the forms, and do not
understand their connections with the design principles.
Thus, we decided to develop a web database system, which
allows teachers to complete the forms online and store the
project design elements in database tables.

Index Terms ⎯ Project-Based Learning, Interdisciplinary
Projects, Teacher Professional Development.