Investigation of the effect of project-based teaching on the distance education process

eTwinning projects, which have been implemented in Europe since 2005 and in Turkey since 2009, are considered as a project-based teaching practice where cooperation, communication and teamwork are prioritized. In eTwinning Projects initiated with founding partners from Europe, teachers share their activities with domestic and international partners via the Twinspace portal. The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of project-based teaching on the distance education process. The effects of the contributions of eTwinning projects, which are project-based teaching practices, before and during the distance education studies that were compulsorily carried out online during the Covid-19 Pandemic, were examined. The study employs a qualitative descriptive research design. The study group was determined using criterion sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods, and consists of 32 high school teachers from various disciplines working in Gaziantep during the 2020-2021 academic year. These teachers were selected based on specific criteria, including having implemented at least two eTwinning projects and having received at least one European Quality Label certificate. The research data were collected through a semi-structured interview form. The interview questions were developed by the researcher and refined with feedback from experts. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Based on the research findings, the impact of project-based teaching on the distance education process was examined. The findings indicate that eTwinning projects, as a form of project-based teaching, contributed to teachers’ professional development in the areas of lesson planning, content creation, and assessment and evaluation stages during the distance education process.