Teachers’ perspectives on project-based learning in mathematics and science

The key characteristics of project-based learning: how teachers implement projects in K-12 science education

“…However, it might also be true that these characteristics are generally commonly implemented at schools, or aspects of social constructivism or PBL familiar to teachers. For example, Viro et al (2020) found that teachers saw development of teamwork skills among the most important characteristics of PBL. However, both Viro et al (2020) and Aksela & Haatainen (2019) also found that teachers consider technical issues and collaboration as significant challenges in science PBL; as such, teachers' attention may have been directed to describe the use of these practices in their project reports.…”

“…According to Thomas (2000), this is not PBL, but Tamim & Grant (2013) suggest taking a broader outlook on what is considered PBL. Nevertheless, as collaboration, time and organisation of the projects have previously been found to be among the aspects of PBL that teachers find challenging (Viro et al, 2020;Aksela & Haatainen, 2019), it is not surprising that teachers would prefer to use PBL outside of regular lesson time and focus on developing students' soft skills, rather than focusing on content acquisition. However, spending sufficient time and covering central content have been identified among the central variables for successful PBL teaching in science education (Tal et al, 2006), in addition to building strong teacher-student relationships (Morrison et al, 2020).…”

“…However, PBL is supported by governments, researchers, and teachers in many countries (Novak & Krajcik, 2020;Condliffe et al, 2017;Aksela & Haatainen, 2019;Annetta et al, 2019;Hasni et al, 2016). Studies have found that teachers consider PBL as an approach that promotes both students' and teachers' learning and motivation, collaboration and a sense of community at school level, student-centred learning, connects theory with practice and brings versatility to teachers' instruction (Viro et al, 2020;Aksela & Haatainen, 2019). However, regardless of teachers' enthusiasm towards PBL, they can still struggle with its implementation (Tamim & Grant, 2013).…”

“…Both Viro et al (2020) and Aksela & Haatainen (2019) found that according to STEM teachers, the most challenging aspects of implementing PBL are project organisation (for example, time management), technical issues, resources, student-related challenges and collaboration (Viro et al, 2020;Aksela & Haatainen, 2019). As PBL requires students to study a certain phenomenon in detail by using scientific practices, it takes longer than more traditional approaches (Novak & Krajcik, 2020).…”

“…As PBL requires students to study a certain phenomenon in detail by using scientific practices, it takes longer than more traditional approaches (Novak & Krajcik, 2020). Researchers have also reported that teachers consider irrelevance to subject teaching and an unfamiliar teaching style among the significant negative aspects of PBL (Viro et al, 2020). Implementation of PBL should focus on teaching twenty-first century skills, being studentcentred, and building strong and personal interaction between students and teachers (Morrison et al, 2020).…”