Motives for Involvement in Project-Based Learning at a University: Assessing the Opinions of Employers and Students

This study aims to identify the key characteristics of employer-client project engagement and student involvement in project-based learning, as well as their interest in project-based learning as an educational technology and the motives behind students’ selection of speciï¬ c projects for implementation. The article presents the experience of the Ural Federal University, where the format of project-based learning has been actively developing at a systemic level for over seven years. The authors present the results of a survey conducted among employers participating in project-based learning as clients, as well as students of the university. A key conclusion drawn from the research results is the presence of contradictions in understanding project-based learning between these two groups, leading to a gap in their behaviors. The authors offer their recommendations for bridging this gap from the perspective of managing the project-based learning process. The article will be beneï¬ cial to researchers studying practice-oriented learning formats, as well as university administrators developing project-based learning in their institutions.