Project-based learning as a teaching strategy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63969/02nb2d56Keywords:
project-based learning, secondary education, teaching strategies, formative assessment, collaborative workAbstract
Introduction: Project-based learning organises teaching through investigations that connect curricular content, collaboration and the development of products. Its implementation requires distinguishing completed activities from constructed knowledge. The aim was to analyse its foundations, contributions and implementation conditions, with implications for Ecuadorian upper secondary education. Methodology: A narrative review of twenty academic and institutional sources was conducted, comprising publications dated between 1991 and 2025 and an undated resource. Four themes guided the analysis: meaningful learning and curricular integration; competencies and collaboration; teacher support and assessment; and institutional challenges. Published findings were distinguished from pedagogical guidance. Results: The reviewed meta-analyses and school studies report favourable outcomes in certain areas of learning, although effects depend on design and context. Projects offer opportunities to apply knowledge, investigate, argue and communicate when they include relevant questions, support, responsibilities and revision. Difficulties include interdisciplinary coordination, unequal workloads, resource availability and assessment focused exclusively on the product. Conclusions: Project-based learning can enrich teaching when it integrates objectives, guided inquiry and individual and collective evidence. Its relevance to Ecuadorian upper secondary education requires contextual adaptation and local evaluation. The review proposes assessment criteria and an implementation pathway without reporting an original intervention. Intentional source selection and the absence of a complete record of the original search limit comprehensiveness and generalisation. Further research is needed to examine students’ understanding, their transfer of knowledge to new situations, equitable opportunities to participate in projects, and the sustainability of these educational experiences across different school settings and their institutional conditions over time.
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