Project Based Learning in Higher Education: Student’s Perception of Transforming Traditional Learning Into an Active and Constructivist Experience

Project-Based Learning and the Acquisition of Competencies and Knowledge Transfer in Higher Education

“…Regarding the second aim, positive associations were found between the research variables. Specifically, as found in previous studies, greater development of the three competencies (general, specific and transversal) correlated with increased KT and higher student rating for the PBL program, while increased KT was also associated with higher student rating [29,41]. In addition, the competencies were positively interrelated.…”

“…At a more specific level, the use of PBL methodology provides students with useful intellectual tools and improves their perception of learning. With respect to intellectual tools, these include developing effective learning strategies such as problem-solving, planning and learner autonomy while learning to research a topic [12,27], and cross-cutting skills transferable to new situations or other academic subject areas [28,29,30]. In terms of perception of learning, project-based approaches have been found to increase motivation, develop competencies and content knowledge [31,32], enhance students' perception of their learning progress [29,33], improve group work skills, promote positive attitudes towards investing effort and interest, and develop oral skills for presenting the results of their work [31].…”

“…With respect to intellectual tools, these include developing effective learning strategies such as problem-solving, planning and learner autonomy while learning to research a topic [12,27], and cross-cutting skills transferable to new situations or other academic subject areas [28,29,30]. In terms of perception of learning, project-based approaches have been found to increase motivation, develop competencies and content knowledge [31,32], enhance students' perception of their learning progress [29,33], improve group work skills, promote positive attitudes towards investing effort and interest, and develop oral skills for presenting the results of their work [31]. In addition, the competencies gained are retained for longer [34], the activation of prior knowledge is facilitated, students' abilities for working autonomously and finding reliable sources of information are improved, and their critical reasoning develops, along with their social interaction, and self-cognition skills [35,36].…”

“…The application of PBL to higher education has also had a significant impact on training courses [22,37,38]. In the last few decades, the approach has shown itself to be especially effective applied to degrees in Education [29,30,37,39,40,41,42], as well as Psychology [43], Sports Science [44] and Educational Psychology [45]. Among the positive outcomes associated with PBL methodology, teachers and students have reported high degrees of acquisition of competencies, increased motivation, an appreciation of constructive learning environments [17,29,32,46], and a better perception of the learning process [33].…”

“…It is clear that integration and transfer do not occur automatically, and in this respect PBL methodology is a significant tool for dealing with complex problems [50]. Various trials carried out in the fields of Education and Psychology have proved very efficient [40,51,52,53,54,55], and have provided the foundation for more recent research and innovation programs in higher education, which have not only evaluated the project in question alongside students' perception of their acquisition of competencies [29,43,44], but also examined students' perception of knowledge transfer [41].…”