Future PjBL research should use active control groups, random assignment, blinding, validated measures, and report replication details and intervention fidelity¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The review recommends that future research overcome the shortcomings it encountered: "the lack of active control groups; the lack of randomly assigned participants; inappropriate blinding of participants, instructors, and evaluators; un-validated measures for the learning outcomes; or the lack of detailed information to replicate the study". It also advises researchers to provide detailed information about the fidelity of the intervention to key features of PjBL and to address the impact of student and teacher prerequisites.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers should provide detailed information about the fidelity of the intervention to key features of PjBL

Constraints¶

• A wider search not limited to peer-reviewed articles might yield more results but would most likely diminish the average quality of the final sample

Target Learners¶

• kindergarten students
• elementary school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• content knowledge acquisition

Claims¶

• The evidence base for PjBL in kindergarten and elementary education is very small: eleven articles comprising 722 students aged 6 to 11 [+W]
• Systematic review finds that studies of PjBL in kindergarten and elementary students yield inconclusive results, with six of eleven studies showing significant improvement for PjBL groups [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Future active-learning research should use randomised controlled designs with larger samples and standardised outcome measures

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Ferrero Marta, Vadillo Miguel A., León Samuel P. (2021). Is project-based learning effective among kindergarten and elementary students? A systematic review. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249627