Implementation of project-based learning (PBL) has contributed to increases in students’ retention of concepts, engagement, and academic success. The problem for this study is that teachers’ and administrators’ experiences and perceptions have not been sought regarding the integration of PBL in the classroom at the school district. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to gain a deeper insight into the experiences of teachers and administrators implementing PBL. Centered on the theory of constructivism, the research questions focused on 10 teachers’ and 5 administrators’ experiences integrating PBL. Face-to-face interviews with participants and 10 classroom observations were conducted. Inductive coding and thematic analysis were used with the collected data. Results indicated that teachers perceived several benefits with PBL such as improved students’ retention and engagement, academic success, and 21st-century skills and a few challenges such as time consuming lesson planning and delivery, and lack of resources and materials. Observations showed improvement in students’ behavior and engagement. Administrators also indicated similar benefits, agreed that there was lack of resources, and perceived challenges to be teachers’ lack of willingness and openness to implement PBL. Recommendations were that schools or district develop accountability measures, best strategies, and curriculum alignment for standards-based PBL. Findings may contribute to positive social change by bringing greater awareness to local educators of the benefits and challenges surrounding implementing PBL. School administrators can foster a school culture and environment for student learning in which teachers are supported and lesson planning and collaboration are prioritized.

The academic benefits and enhanced social responsibility that students derive from service-learning (SL), defined as experiential learning that ties community service to academic courses, have been well documented. However, for a college to fully institutionalize SL, a high proportion of faculty needs to include SL in their courses. Based in Kolb's experiential learning theory, the purpose of this study was to enhance planners' understanding of how college faculty's past experiences assigning SL influence their inclination to assign SL in future courses. In this basic qualitative interpretive study, data were collected from 13 individual interviews with faculty who assigned SL at a Southern metropolitan university. Findings were interpreted using Chickering's 7 vectors of student development from the conceptual framework and other relevant perspectives from the literature. One of the major themes from emergent coding of data was that faculty viewed some difficulties as challenges to be overcome rather than as deterrents to using SL. To reduce deterrents, institutions could compensate for extra time required for SL by providing stipends, released time, and support databases; recognizing SL in tenure and promotion; and helping faculty brainstorm how to incorporate SL into courses. To increase incentives to use SL, institutions could provide a full range of training and support for faculty. More courses with SL, besides increasing benefits of SL for all stakeholders, may mean that students form the habit of serving in the community and continue serving and contributing to positive social change, perhaps for a lifetime.

This study examined seventh grade students&rsquo / perceptions about collaborative learning, peer and teacher support, project based learning, technology integration into Science and Technology lesson and forum. The research included the implementation of collaborative project-based learning during 10 weeks. Students as groups created educational web sites on Science and Technology subjects by working co9llaboratively in Information Technologies lessons. This research was an action research case study. The major purpose of the study was to enhance the collaborative skills of students by applying a new practice. Besides this, it was aimed that all students could use computer more comfortably and by discovering and could use their computer skills in other disciplines. Qualitative data were collected through student interviews, observations, web site evaluation rubrics, and forum archives. It was seen that students enjoyed project-based learning and they gained the habit of working together developed with the help of collaborative group work. Moreover, they started to appreciate peer support and learned to respect each other&rsquo / s ideas. According to results, aware of responsibility of both low-achievers and high achievers increased. The feeling of self-confidence they gained when they completed the project helped them to overcome their fear to use computer. Most of the students preferred using computer in their projects or homework from other disciplines.

The state of STEM education in America's high schools is currently in flux, with billions annually being poured into the NSF to increase national STEM literacy. Hands-on project-based learning interventions in the STEM classroom are ubiquitous but tend to focus on robotics or competition based curriculums. These curricula do not address musical creativity or cultural relevancy to reach under-represented or disinterested groups. By utilizing an analog synthesizer for STEM learning standards this research aims to engage students that may otherwise lack confidence in the field. By incorporating the Maker Movement, a STEAM architecture, and culturally relevant musical examples, this study’s goal to build both self-efficacy and literacy in STEM within under-represented groups through hands-on exercises with a Moog analog synthesizer, specifically the Moog Werkstatt. A quasi-experimental one-group pre-test/post-test design was crafted to determine study validity, and has been implemented in three separate studies. Several age demographics were selected across a variety of classroom models and teaching style. The purpose of this wide net was to explore where a tool like the Werkstatt and its accompanying curriculum would have the biggest impact. Results show that this curriculum and technique are largely ineffective in an inverted Music elective classroom. However, in the STEM classroom, literacy and confidence were built across genders, with females showing greater increases in engineering confidence and music technology interest than their male counterparts.

This report documents the experiences and applications to practice of a secondary science teacher, instructional coach, and educational consultant performing academic research on surface tension in thin films and self-diffusion in nanocomposites in a chemical engineering lab setting. Throughout this experience, the author developed knowledge for and of engineering teaching through authentic learning experiences. These learning experiences will be used as a model to assist mentee teachers in developing authentic learning experiences for students that create an awareness of engineering while fostering engineering habits of mind and an understanding of the engineering design process. / text

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A presente tese tem por objetivo investigar como a utilização de um sistema de gerenciamento de projetos e de recomendação de conteúdo, configurado de acordo com o conceito de ABP, pode apoiar os alunos no processo de investigação e de planejamento de projetos. Para isso, realizou-se um estudo sobre as características estruturais e didáticas da aprendizagem baseada em projetos. Verificou-se de que maneira as tecnologias da informação e comunicação apoiam a ABP e como recomendações de conteúdos influenciaram os alunos em suas investigações. Após a realização do levantamento bibliográfico, a metodologia projetual, denominada ‘Projeto E’ foi configurada como modelo ABP. Com base neste, desenvolveu-se um sistema de gerenciamento e planejamento de projetos acadêmicos com dispositivo de recomendação de conteúdos. Em seguida, realizou-se um experimento prático com o uso do sistema para verificar as contribuições do mesmo no processo de ensino de projetos. Para obtenção dos dados, foram aplicados questionários aos alunos participantes, realizadas entrevistas aos professores orientadores, observados os relatórios de projeto e averiguada a frequência de registro de eventos no sistema. A análise e avaliação dos dados foi dividida em oito aspectos considerados importantes para a realização das investigações e planejamento em ABP, a saber: autonomia, discussão, reflexão, colaboração, organização, projetação, apresentação e avaliação. Observou-se que o sistema influenciou positivamente nos seguintes aspectos: livre a organização das equipes, na gestão do tempo, no planejamento projetual, no trabalho a distância, na integração e sincronia dos alunos entre si e com os professores, na compreensão das estruturas metodológicos e no uso de métodos apropriados, nas investigações contextualizadas, na documentação do processo, na discussão e na colaboração entre as equipes, na comparação, revisão e avaliação dos projetos e na equalização da qualidade dos projetos. / This thesis aims to investigate how the use of a project management and content recommendation system, configured in accordance the concept of PBL, can support students in research and project planning process. Therefore, was performed a study on the structural and educational characteristics of project-based learning. Here was also checked how the information and communication technologies support the PBL and how recommendations and content influenced students in their investigations. After the completion of literature survey, the projetual methodology, called Projeto E, was configured as a PBL model and, based on this, was developed a managing and planning projects system for academic content with a recommendation device. Then, a practical experiment is conducted using the system to check out the contributions of them in teaching projects. To obtain the data, questionnaires were administered to participating students, interviews were conducted with teachers, observed the project reports, and ascertained the frequency of the system event log. The analysis and evaluation of data was divided into eight aspects considered important for the investigations and planning in PBL, namely: autonomy, discussion, reflection, collaboration, organization, design, presentation and evaluation. There was observed that the system had a positive effect on the following aspects: easy organization of the teams, time management, in projetual planning, in teleworking, in integration and synchronization among students and teachers, in the comprehension of the methodological structures and the appropriate use of methods, in the research contextualized, in the documentation process, in the discussion and collaboration among teams, in comparison, review and evaluation of projects and in the quality equalizing of the projects.

A presente tese tem por objetivo investigar como a utilização de um sistema de gerenciamento de projetos e de recomendação de conteúdo, configurado de acordo com o conceito de ABP, pode apoiar os alunos no processo de investigação e de planejamento de projetos. Para isso, realizou-se um estudo sobre as características estruturais e didáticas da aprendizagem baseada em projetos. Verificou-se de que maneira as tecnologias da informação e comunicação apoiam a ABP e como recomendações de conteúdos influenciaram os alunos em suas investigações. Após a realização do levantamento bibliográfico, a metodologia projetual, denominada ‘Projeto E’ foi configurada como modelo ABP. Com base neste, desenvolveu-se um sistema de gerenciamento e planejamento de projetos acadêmicos com dispositivo de recomendação de conteúdos. Em seguida, realizou-se um experimento prático com o uso do sistema para verificar as contribuições do mesmo no processo de ensino de projetos. Para obtenção dos dados, foram aplicados questionários aos alunos participantes, realizadas entrevistas aos professores orientadores, observados os relatórios de projeto e averiguada a frequência de registro de eventos no sistema. A análise e avaliação dos dados foi dividida em oito aspectos considerados importantes para a realização das investigações e planejamento em ABP, a saber: autonomia, discussão, reflexão, colaboração, organização, projetação, apresentação e avaliação. Observou-se que o sistema influenciou positivamente nos seguintes aspectos: livre a organização das equipes, na gestão do tempo, no planejamento projetual, no trabalho a distância, na integração e sincronia dos alunos entre si e com os professores, na compreensão das estruturas metodológicos e no uso de métodos apropriados, nas investigações contextualizadas, na documentação do processo, na discussão e na colaboração entre as equipes, na comparação, revisão e avaliação dos projetos e na equalização da qualidade dos projetos. / This thesis aims to investigate how the use of a project management and content recommendation system, configured in accordance the concept of PBL, can support students in research and project planning process. Therefore, was performed a study on the structural and educational characteristics of project-based learning. Here was also checked how the information and communication technologies support the PBL and how recommendations and content influenced students in their investigations. After the completion of literature survey, the projetual methodology, called Projeto E, was configured as a PBL model and, based on this, was developed a managing and planning projects system for academic content with a recommendation device. Then, a practical experiment is conducted using the system to check out the contributions of them in teaching projects. To obtain the data, questionnaires were administered to participating students, interviews were conducted with teachers, observed the project reports, and ascertained the frequency of the system event log. The analysis and evaluation of data was divided into eight aspects considered important for the investigations and planning in PBL, namely: autonomy, discussion, reflection, collaboration, organization, design, presentation and evaluation. There was observed that the system had a positive effect on the following aspects: easy organization of the teams, time management, in projetual planning, in teleworking, in integration and synchronization among students and teachers, in the comprehension of the methodological structures and the appropriate use of methods, in the research contextualized, in the documentation process, in the discussion and collaboration among teams, in comparison, review and evaluation of projects and in the quality equalizing of the projects.

abstract: Teamwork and project management (TPM) tools are important components of sustainability science curricula designed using problem- and project-base learning (PPBL). Tools are additional materials, beyond lectures, readings, and assignments, that structure and facilitate students' learning; they can enhance student teams' ability to complete projects and achieve learning outcomes and, if instructors can find appropriate existing tools, can reduce time needed for class design and preparation. This research uses a case study approach to evaluate the effectiveness of five TPM tools in two Arizona State University (ASU) sustainability classes: an introductory (100-level) and a capstone (400-level) class. Data was collected from student evaluations and instructor observations in both classes during Spring 2013 and qualitatively analyzed to identify patterns in tool use and effectiveness. Results suggest how instructors might improve tool effectiveness in other sustainability classes. Work plans and meeting agendas were the most effective TPM tools in the 100-level class, while work plans and codes of collaboration were most effective at the 400 level. Common factors in tool effectiveness include active use and integration of tools into class activities. Suggestions for improving tool effectiveness at both levels include introducing tools earlier in the course, incorporating tools into activities, and helping students link a tool's value to sustainability problem-solving competence. Polling students on prior use and incorporating tool use into project assignments may increase 100 level tool effectiveness; and at the 400 level, improvements may be achieved by introducing tools earlier and coaching students to select, find, and develop relevant tools. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Sustainability 2013

A presente tese tem por objetivo investigar como a utilização de um sistema de gerenciamento de projetos e de recomendação de conteúdo, configurado de acordo com o conceito de ABP, pode apoiar os alunos no processo de investigação e de planejamento de projetos. Para isso, realizou-se um estudo sobre as características estruturais e didáticas da aprendizagem baseada em projetos. Verificou-se de que maneira as tecnologias da informação e comunicação apoiam a ABP e como recomendações de conteúdos influenciaram os alunos em suas investigações. Após a realização do levantamento bibliográfico, a metodologia projetual, denominada ‘Projeto E’ foi configurada como modelo ABP. Com base neste, desenvolveu-se um sistema de gerenciamento e planejamento de projetos acadêmicos com dispositivo de recomendação de conteúdos. Em seguida, realizou-se um experimento prático com o uso do sistema para verificar as contribuições do mesmo no processo de ensino de projetos. Para obtenção dos dados, foram aplicados questionários aos alunos participantes, realizadas entrevistas aos professores orientadores, observados os relatórios de projeto e averiguada a frequência de registro de eventos no sistema. A análise e avaliação dos dados foi dividida em oito aspectos considerados importantes para a realização das investigações e planejamento em ABP, a saber: autonomia, discussão, reflexão, colaboração, organização, projetação, apresentação e avaliação. Observou-se que o sistema influenciou positivamente nos seguintes aspectos: livre a organização das equipes, na gestão do tempo, no planejamento projetual, no trabalho a distância, na integração e sincronia dos alunos entre si e com os professores, na compreensão das estruturas metodológicos e no uso de métodos apropriados, nas investigações contextualizadas, na documentação do processo, na discussão e na colaboração entre as equipes, na comparação, revisão e avaliação dos projetos e na equalização da qualidade dos projetos. / This thesis aims to investigate how the use of a project management and content recommendation system, configured in accordance the concept of PBL, can support students in research and project planning process. Therefore, was performed a study on the structural and educational characteristics of project-based learning. Here was also checked how the information and communication technologies support the PBL and how recommendations and content influenced students in their investigations. After the completion of literature survey, the projetual methodology, called Projeto E, was configured as a PBL model and, based on this, was developed a managing and planning projects system for academic content with a recommendation device. Then, a practical experiment is conducted using the system to check out the contributions of them in teaching projects. To obtain the data, questionnaires were administered to participating students, interviews were conducted with teachers, observed the project reports, and ascertained the frequency of the system event log. The analysis and evaluation of data was divided into eight aspects considered important for the investigations and planning in PBL, namely: autonomy, discussion, reflection, collaboration, organization, design, presentation and evaluation. There was observed that the system had a positive effect on the following aspects: easy organization of the teams, time management, in projetual planning, in teleworking, in integration and synchronization among students and teachers, in the comprehension of the methodological structures and the appropriate use of methods, in the research contextualized, in the documentation process, in the discussion and collaboration among teams, in comparison, review and evaluation of projects and in the quality equalizing of the projects.