Integration of courses and projects:disrupting a traditional PBL semester structure

Abstract

Universities are showing a new and stronger focus on developing teaching andlearning environments, using digitalized support as well as re-organizing teaching and learning structures. Connected to the research project Future directions for PBL in a Digital Age, we are focusing on the organization of courses and projects within onesemester. The general semester structure at Aalborg University consists of threeparallel courses and one project module. A consequence of that model has been thatinteraction between study activities has become less coordinated, and integrationbetween courses and projects has diminished. This lack of integration is a key focusof this paper, and the main research questions are; do students and teachers find thatcourses and projects need to be more integrated? What are students’ experiencesregarding integration of courses and project work, and how do they see the benefitsand concerns? To answer the questions, we have conducted a survey among studentsat a case semester. The survey opened up for integrating students' experiences indeveloping new teaching and learning strategies.Universities are showing a new and stronger focus on developing teaching and learning environments, using digitalized support as well as re-organizing teaching and learning structures. Connected to the research project Future directions for PBL in a Digital Age, we are focusing on the organization of courses and projects within one semester. The general semester structure at Aalborg University consists of three parallel courses and one project module. A consequence of that model has been that interaction between study activities has become less coordinated, and integration between courses and projects has diminished. This lack of integration is a key focus of this paper, and the main research questions are; do students and teachers find that courses and projects need to be more integrated? What are students’ experiences regarding integration of courses and project work, and how do they see the benefits and concerns? To answer the questions, we have conducted a survey among students at a case semester. The survey opened up for integrating students' experiences in developing new teaching and learning strategies