Exploring PBL and e-PBL: implications for 21st-century skills in EFL education

Competencies essential for thriving and competing globally in the 21st century include creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, and communication (often referred to as the 4Cs). This study explores the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning (PBL), Electronic Project-Based Learning (E-PBL), and traditional learning methods on enhancing students’ 4Cs. A total of 90 Iranian EFL intermediate learners were selected based on their performance on the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and assigned to different research groups. The development of skills in the PBL and E-PBL groups was assessed using a 21st-century skills questionnaire. This research employed a quantitative methodology with a pre-test and post-test design across three groups. The results indicate that there was no significant difference in the improvement of critical thinking and creativity skills between the PBL and E-PBL groups. However, students in the traditional pedagogy group exhibited significantly lower performance compared to their counterparts in the PBL and E-PBL groups. In terms of collaboration and communication skills, all three groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements, with the PBL group showing the most progress, followed by E-PBL, and lastly, traditional pedagogy. Thus, this study confirms that PBL and E-PBL have distinctively effective potential for enhancing EFL students’ 21st-century skills and their components related to the 4Cs.