Project-based civics education: A case study of a university research center

Abstract

Project Citizen is a civic education curriculum used across the US and internationally in 75 countries, but research centers' roles on Project Citizen lack literature. This paper examines the findings of a preliminary study designed to answer the "How does citizenship education occur through project-based learning via a research center at a university in the US?" question. In this case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, the study group comprises faculty members, teaching assistants, teachers, and administrators working in the College of Education and research center with Project Citizen's applications. The great majority of the participants were from the field of social studies education The data were collected through semi-structured interview forms, audiotaping, and observation. The transcription of the data set is done by using Dragon Professional software. Findings revealed that the mission of the research center's structure, studies, personnel, and budget is an essential factor; the research center plays an active role in addressing the problems of its practice by providing the teachers with the necessary in-service training support and student guidance. Besides, there are suggestions to be taken into account in the study of establishing a similar research center. The results show that research centers will have an essential role in extending project-based civics education.

Fostering Civic Engagement through Project-Based Learning

“…To date, the program has been used in 75 countries (http://civiced.org/programs/project-citizen). PC's objective is "to motivate and empower students to use the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship by intensively examining a policy issue in their schools or communities" (Ozturk, 2022). Students work as a class to identify a problem, research alternative policy-based solutions, develop a policy proposal to address the problem, and design a political action plan to convince public officials to adopt and implement the policy.…”

“…Effectively employing PBL in the classroom requires that teachers have the requisite active learning pedagogical skills. The need for quality PD for teachers implementing PC in their classrooms has been documented in the U.S. and abroad (Owen and Irion-Groth, 2020;Owen, 2023;Ozturk, 2022;Ozturk, Rapoport, and Ozturk, 2021;Root and Northup, 2007). Teachers' grasp of relevant content may exceed what is required for a traditional lecture and textbook heavy approach given the student-driven aspect of PBL.…”