Sessions

Transferable skills via progressive PBL

Are you adequately preparing your students for success outside of the language classroom? We asked ourselves this same question. In a one-year elective class aimed at developing professional skills, the educators aspired to facilitate university students’ abilities to excel in all classes and to become better prospective employees. By the end of each semester, students were tasked with creating projects that would require knowledge, research tools, and a number of technical skills. The hurdle was high and intimidating. However, by employing a progressive approach to project based learning (PBL), students learned skills in earlier projects that could transfer not only to the final projects, but also to other courses and employment options. Students themselves remarked on the progress that they were making and their abilities to apply what they had learned earlier to what was to come later. This presentation will share ideas behind the conceptualization of the class, data from what students learned in terms of skills and language, share student reactions and advice for improving the course, and help attendees to conceive of their own progressive PBL courses.