Project Method

The project method is a mode of instruction introduced in the eighteenth century into European schools of architecture and engineering, where graduating students applied the skills and knowledge from their studies to real problems of their trade, such as designing a monument or building a steam engine. In the early twentieth century, William Heard Kilpatrick expanded the project method into a broader, child-centered philosophy of education rooted in progressive education, in which the student is meant to solve problems with as little teacher direction as possible and the teacher acts more as a facilitator than as a deliverer of knowledge. Kilpatrick divided projects into four classes, construction, such as writing a play, enjoyment, such as experiencing a concert, problem, such as discussing a complex social issue like poverty, and specific learning, such as acquiring a skill like swimming, with the method emphasizing experiential learning and collaborative, purposeful problem solving over rote memorization. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/