Project Based Learning (PBL): Issues Faced by Faculty for its Effective Implementation

Abstract

Project based learning (PBL) is increasingly being used in technical education as a learningmethodology to enhance student learning and make them useful to the society and employable. There is a need to integrate it into the existing curriculum to make it current and relevant to the society. Projects have been an integral part of technical education, ever since it started. But these have not been managed properly to make students realize the use of this for their learning. The needs of the industries keep changing and the developments in science and technology is so fast that existing technologies become outdated in no time. In this changing scenario, there is a need to implement PBL in the teaching-learning process to effectively attain the 'outcomes' of a course, as there is a transformation to 'Outcome-based Education' (OBE), and the accreditation is also OBE based. Among the various aspects, the role of faculty in effective implementation of PBL is very important. In this context, this paper will analyze the various issues faced by the faculty and then take one of the departments of the authors' institution for obtaining feedback based on a survey instrument. The preliminary findings are presenteda long with the general guidelines to be followed to overcome difficulties and to facilitate effective implementation of PBL.