Strategies and methods of teaching in contemporary higher education with reference to project work

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare project-based teaching in two different departments where the projects were organized differently. By means of qualitative methods, data were collected to give a description of the planning of the programmes and of student responses. The most important differences found concern: the degree of structure built into the programmes; and the sequence and extent of the various periods of deductive teaching and inductive student activities. The impact of the programmes on the students is described with reference to their motivation and their perceptions of the learning outcomes. The courses differed with respect to: maintaining the motivation of the students; and the learning outcomes as perceived by the students. As the term 'project method' is often understood differently by curriculum committees and teachers (and may consequently result in different types of learning), we conclude that reference to the underlying teaching principles will give a more precise description of, or prescription for, a project-based teaching/learning situation.