Basics of PBL

• Introduction to Project Based Learning (PBL) Process (Youtube)

  • What is PBL? Project-Based Learning is a student-centered pedagogy that involves dynamic classroom activities where students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period to investigate and respond to real-world questions or challenges.Implementing international PBL enriches the educational experience by fostering global awareness, enhancing communication skills, and providing practical problem-solving opportunities. By understanding the fundamentals of PBL, following a structured approach to international collaboration, and drawing inspiration from existing projects, educators can create impactful learning experiences that prepare students for a connected world.

  • Key Features of PBL

- Real-world relevance
- Collaboration and communication
- Inquiry and innovation
- Student ownership

• • Why Global PBL? By integrating global issues and cross-cultural teamwork, international PBL fosters global competence, empathy, and problem-solving skills. It helps students succeed in an interconnected world.

  • ICP (International Collaborative Project)

    • What is ICP?  ICP is a short term for International Collaborative Project. Student teammates from different countries in help each other to explore specific issues to their concern by means of Information Communication Technology. 

    • Three Levels of ICP: What are the levels of ICPs? Basically, three exchange levels, basic, intermediate, and advanced, in conducting ICPs could be observed. 

(1) At the basic level, participants from different countries simply greet each other through ICT to establish international partnership. This might happen due to poor telecommunication between the two collaborative teams. For example, some students come from the remote areas without internet access. They largely rely on expensive telecommunication media, such as telephone calls, or fax machines. 

(2) At the intermediate level, international student partners would help each other to collect data, as in a questionnaire survey. 

(3) At the advanced level, international students tightly work together on a certain topic to develop relevant projects. 

• Dive into PBL Course Design (By Dr. Doris Wu) (Powerpoint Slides)

  • Gold Standard PBL--Essential Project Design Elements and 7 PBL Teaching Practices

  • Project Design Rubric [Chinese] [English]

  • The Tiny House Project [An Example of Conducting PBL]

• PBL Learning Process 

  • Journal Article on the experiences of instructing a learning project at the elementary level [An Example]

  • New Way for International Collaborative Project via the Internet by Cheng-mei Sun, Badi Chen, Mokoto Kageto, Sylvia Li [Slides] 

• Differences between Project-based Learning and Problem-based Learning -- [PDF]

• Camparisons among PBL, High School Essay Contest, and Senior High School Project Courses--Tabluted Comparison(PDF /  Word)