Meeting Learners’ Needs through Project-Based Learning

There is a significant divide between what students want and what students receive in the classroom. Students increasingly lack interest and motivation to participate and learn. Instructional practices within and across schools vary widely, creating inconsistencies. Teachers’ instructional plans may put content and curricular needs above individual student needs. For some, the lack of desire to learn causes them to leave school. However, project-based learning, a student-centered, inquiry-based activity set in a real-world context, which uses technological tools to produce real-world artifacts, may be the solution to this dilemma. Project-based learning motivates students to actively apply critical thinking skills for project planning, collaborative problem solving, and higher-order thinking. Project-based learning can motivate students because it requires students to take ownership of their projects and learning, employ real-world technological tools and skills, collaborate with peers, reflect continuously on the process and the project, and develop a solution to a complex problem.