Integrating Practical Units into Instruction: Project-Based Learning in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Four
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT004 (Saturday)

Abstract

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, project-based learning(pbl) centered around integrated practical units began to take shape. Based on the nature of the projects, activities such as handicrafts, workshop production, and agricultural cultivation in elementary and secondary schools, including the Sloyd System, manual training, and home project-plan, significantly influenced the spread of the concept of pbl. With the systematization and theorization by scholars like Dewey and William Kilpatrick, and through scientific research, the educational objectives of pbl increasingly focused on cultivating socialized and innovative individuals. This led to the development of clear, scientific instructional model steps and operational requirements, further enhancing the influence of pbl and laying a solid foundation for the application of educational ideas in more fields.

Author

• Cassie Ji, University of Wisconsin - Madison