Enacting Project-Based Learning for Higher Education: An Autoethnographic Study of Online Learning During the Pandemic

This study is a reflection on my personal experiences with the higher education online teaching and learning process. It is an autoethnography study in which data were garnered from virtual participant observations, journals, an open-ended questionnaire and interviews about student projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. I leveraged project-based learning as pedagogical device. Thus, the students worked collaboratively on an online training project (webinar) as part of a course on education and training management. I served as both a teacher and a participant in the online training performed by the students. Through virtual participant observation, this project allowed me to learn new insights and skills. I used social capital theory to reflect upon and develop my teaching practice to stimulate students’ creativity, engagement, and collaboration. The project generated student ideas, creativity, knowledge and skills. The power of collaboration is a primary key in fostering students’ ideas, and skills are profoundly needed to accomplish such projects. This study has implications for higher education teachers to rouse students’ creativity and vary their teaching methods in the context of project-based learning (PBL) as a prospective best practice.