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Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an innovative approach to learning that employs a multitude of strategies critical for success in the twenty-first century. It exposes students to the real world, opens an extended inquiry process, and boosts their communication skills and interdisciplinary learning. However, the extant literature on PBL places more emphasis on learning through internal rather than external projects. Industrial collaboration projects build partnerships and provide opportunities to work on real problems, often seeking multidisciplinary approaches. This study explores and suggests the benefits that students derived from their participation in an external research and consultancy project at a University in Oman.

The study follows a qualitative analysis approach founded on an exploratory research design. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten research assistants, two research coordinators, and two project leaders involved in the project. The data from the interview were subjected to the thematic inductive qualitative analysis using Atlas.ti 8 software.

The results of the study revealed that students derived some direct academic benefits, mainly in the area of conducting research. The major learning happened mostly in non-academic areas, for they learned many things necessary for success in real-life work situations. The students benefited largely on behavioural skills and abilities such as communication, self-confidence, English language skills, planning, thinking, and time management skills. Altogether, project-based learning offered them a different skillset beyond what they usually acquire in the conventional teaching and learning environment.

The outcomes of this research support the development of curriculum design and instructional pedagogy in higher education in a specific context, concluding that PBL has much to do with the practical aspects of learning and employability. The finding suggests that by engaging in PBL, students can develop certain skills that cannot be acquired in a conventional teaching environment. PBL enables self-learning and prepares students to deal with different situations and challenges on the ground while inculcating professionalism to act in real-life situations. This study advocates the introduction of some PBL based courses in the curriculum to nurture a balanced set of skills and abilities among business students.

The research outcomes support Oman’s Vision 2040 and one of its strategies for capacity building that aims to adopt innovative methods for individual/collective development of students, as well as for their life-long learning.

Project-based learning described in this study provides a pedagogical way to connect university education to a real-life situation. These results offer promising prospects for infusing outdoor multidisciplinary projects in the course curriculum. This work bears significant value for educators in designing curriculum and facilitating projects, particularly in environments where students exhibit weaknesses or inhibitions to receive the knowledge, appropriately, from the conventional mode of teaching.

According to the traditional “stable‐process” problem, the project‐based company's memory and project implementation cannot interact. They remain conceptually distinctly different entities, the differences stemming from epistemologically different theoretical projects. However, the idea of recursivity within autopoiesis theory and autopoietic epistemology might enable an approach to this problem by bridging the gap. A recursive view of the project‐based company assumes that the memory of the company and the project implementation processes within the company exist at different levels of analysis. They remain analytically distinct from each other, yet they interact in such a way that they are both modified through interaction. Therefore, this paper aims to show that, with the help of a recursive view, it can shed new light on the problem of knowledge production in project‐based companies.

Knowledge production in project‐based companies is conceptualized with the help of autopoiesis theory and autopoietic epistemology, in that the focus is on the recursivity.

The idea of recursivity seems to represent explanatory potential by bringing new light to relationships between the project‐based company's memory and project implementations.

Current theories about knowledge production in project‐based companies are largely based on the idea of transferability of knowledge between people and across borders. These theories are challenged by the implications of autopoiesis theory and autopoietic epistemology, which suggest transition from these theories to the theory of knowledge production as a creational matter. That is, autopoietic epistemology and the recursive view within it provide a lens through which individuals may advance their understanding of the dynamics of project‐based companies' knowledge production.

Critical thinking is a challenging term to describe but considered necessary for academic achievement, success in the global job market, and essential in developing a life-long learner (Dwyer, Hogan, & Stewart, 2012). Many definitions exist, but some of the components include the ability to analyse, reflect, judge, and strategise in a systematic way, to be able to solve problems (Dwyer et al., 2012). Some of the definitions, taxonomies, models, and theories of critical thinking have been built by Western culture, and the United States contributes information towards this Western approach (Nicholas & Raider-Roth, 2016; Wang, 2017). These definitions, taxonomies, models, and theories make a significant contribution to the pedagogical approaches to the teaching of critical thinking in the United States. This chapter details the structures that support the definitions of critical thinking and the history of the connections between critical thinking and classroom instruction in the United States.

Critical thinking is a necessary construct for twenty-first century learning and discussed in scholarly professional literature and popular media (Dwyer, 2017). The term is a part of the twenty-first century four Cs of learning: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking (Cunningham, 2018). The teaching of critical thinking can be challenging, and this chapter presents an overview of some helpful pedagogical approaches, including project-based learning, project-based design, e-learning, and active learning and descriptions of instructional pedagogy including the general, infusion, immersion, and mixed approaches (Abrami et al., 2008; Dwyer, 2017; Ennis, 1989; Marin & Halpern, 2011; Willingham, 2008). Quality assurance is an essential component in ensuring pedagogical approaches to critical thinking are effective. The contribution of core standards in the teaching of critical thinking in the United States will be discussed.

It is a truism that the vast majority of development takes place while a manager is carrying out the job. Also where any management training and development investment can be seen to affect the bottom‐line business results, then commitment at both an organizational and individual level can be more easily secured. Using work‐based projects for individuals and groups is an approach which can secure both bottom‐line payoff and effective learning transfer, while bringing about significant changes. Reviews the development of and experience in project‐based learning over several years at Sundridge Park. Offers and explores critical success factors together with experiences of project‐based learning with Volvo and ICI. Explains the issue of integrating learning with doing and makes links with action learning and career development. Also highlights the potential of information technology in capturing and retaining learning through projects.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research which has developed a new approach to capturing project‐based learning.

Action research was employed as part of a longitudinal single organization case study.

Project learning processes can be improved by using an event‐based approach to project knowledge integration that propagates duetero‐learning. The approach developed generates outputs that codify lessons learnt and promotes measurement of benefits. The event and the outputs, in effect, take the form of “boundary objects” which act as a bridge or means of translation between the participants, as well as to those who will use the learning to improve their own project practice on other projects.

The approach has only been applied within a single support services organization, but could provide a way of overcoming the considerable difficulties inherent in capturing lessons learned within project‐based environments.

The approach helps to overcome the key issues of obtaining management and staff buy‐in, and dealing with the time pressures that exist in project‐based environments. The outputs can be applied to encourage learning across projects and wider communities resulting in improved practice.

The process uses the concept of boundary objects to explain how some of the problems arising when complex abstract concepts are involved can be overcome, particularly in increasing understanding and buy‐in from the actors involved. Viewing learning events as boundary objects sees them as mediating information across project boundaries, between project practitioners and across business units. The event process can be adapted for a variety of scenarios and used by an organization or group of organizations to improve and apply learning more successfully.

Since the late 1980s, the concepts of organizational learning (OL) and learning organization (LO) has prospered and been advocated as an effective strategy for organizational excellence. However, there was a lack of systematic documentation or cases reported proving the sustaining effect of OL. The purpose of this paper is to present a successful 15-year OL case in China, with which to prove PAL is a sustainable vehicle for OL.

This study documents a 15-year successful journey of a project-based action learning (PAL) driven OL setting in a multinational high-tech manufacturing company in China. The case study has been focusing on the progress of the four pillars in the PAL framework (i.e. policy and strategy; learning facilitation; resources and technology; and performance management) throughout the 15-year journey. Besides secondary data collection, on-site interviews with participants and the management of the company were carried out.

From this longitudinal case study, it can be seen that the four pillars form a very robust infrastructure supporting PAL for driving OL within the company. Each pillar is indispensable and evolves according to the needs of the others. Both management and learning team members perceived that PAL is an effective tool to drive OL within the case company.

This paper presents a unique15-year longitudinal examination of a successful OL story in a high-tech company in China, through the adoption of the PAL driven framework and the evolutionary road of the associated parts. While successful, this paper is considered as a “stage” summary of the long range road of OL adoption, with PAL proven to be a sustainable OL vehicle.

Project management skills are important for today’s engineers, as they get involved in various project-based employment roles. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a learning model to provide project management knowledge through scaffolding and project-based learning (PjBL) methods in the project engineering course.

This paper discusses a generic learning model that includes how scaffolding and project-based methods are integrated to provide project management skills to the students. The paper uses the survey method to collect and analyze data on the applicability of the model.

Statistical analysis of the collected data shows that the respondents positively perceive the value of the learning model to gain project management knowledge and skills. The response shows that the model is useful not only to the current students but also the graduates who use project management skills in their employment.

The learning model can be used by the instructors to provide project management skills to undergraduate and graduate students from all education disciplines.

This paper focuses on the development of a unique learning model, and artifacts used by the students and the instructors for interactive learning and gaining skills on project management.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

By acquiring and growing knowledge, proactively using skills, and improving digital skills via project-based learning, students will be well-prepared for their future careers. In construction 4.0 and other digitally developing industries, it is essential for students that their education consists of digital training and innovation opportunities to foster proactive skills and prepare them effectively for the workforce.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Environmental sustainability and social contexts are becoming increasingly important concepts. The infusion of sustainability and humanitarian engineering (HE) into the academic core curriculum is often challenging. This study aims to provide an understanding of students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the incorporation of active learning of sustainability and humanitarian concepts into engineering education.

A project-based sustainability course was developed and offered to engineering undergraduates. A HE international field experience was also provided to students as an extracurricular activity. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted to assess students’ perceptions and attitudes toward sustainability and HE project learning experience. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the statistical significance of the results and demographic influences on students’ experiences.

Both project-based and international field learning experiences positively influenced the students’ perceptions of sustainable practices, social change and appreciation of the engineering profession. Multidisciplinary learning also helped students become more motivated, engage in sustainability-promoted activities and community work and improve their social interactions. Students gained practical engineering skills that they did not typically receive in traditional classroom settings and recognized the global and social responsibilities that are core to sustainable development education.

The study demonstrates a mixed undergraduate educational model in which students acquired sustainability concepts through a project-based engineering course and practiced social responsibility through international HE projects. The findings help engineering educators understand students’ perceptions toward sustainability and HE, providing insight into effective curriculum design and strategic inclusion of social responsibility in traditional engineering education.

The purpose of this paper is to present a learning transformation framework for analyzing how learning evolves during project-based learning (PBL) process. Here, the authors adopt Lewin’s (1951) change theory as an analytical lens to examine the project-based learning curriculum at a University called UNI-X. This is a major contribution to PBL literature, as little is known about the dynamics of learning during PBL process. In fact, the learning transformation framework can serve as the basis for further research in PBL process. For educators, this paper provides them with useful insights on how to break project members’ escalating commitment to previous failing ideas and accept alternative workable ideas. Educators can use the framework in post-mortem analyses of projects to devise useful actions for facilitating learning transformation during PBL process.

The strategy used in this paper was to undertake in-depth case research of PBL courses developed and taught in UNI-X. Focused group interviews were conducted with 28 students, 12 faculty and 5 industry project sponsors asking specifically their perceptions of PBL’s course design, delivery and its impact on overall student experience.

This paper presents a learning transformation framework for analyzing the change process of how learners experiment new ideas, explore alternative ideas and eventually come to a consensus to accept new ideas during PBL in a collaborative project environment. By drawing upon a case study of UNI-X, the authors argue that unfreezing beliefs of previous ideas is critical if alternative ideas are to be developed. It is clear that the entire process of ‘unfreezing-changing-refreezing’ has occurred in the PBL courses at UNI-X and enacted through unfreezing beliefs in previous ideas, changing previous beliefs and refreezing the new beliefs. Through interviews with students, instructors and project sponsors in the PBL courses, the authors gathered data to examine how project members could give up previous ideas and accept alternative ideas.

The authors adopt Lewin’s (1951) change theory as an analytical lens to examine the project-based learning curriculum at UNI-X. This is a major contribution to PBL literature, as little is known about the dynamics of learning during PBL process. In fact, the learning transformation framework can serve as the basis for further research in PBL process.