Investigation of Variations in Project-Based Learning Design for Applied Science

<p>Project-based learning (PBL) is an active learning model that has been widely implemented at various educational levels, with its use increasing in tandem with the growing awareness of the importance of twenty-first-century skills. A systematic literature review (SLR) employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) method was conducted to categorize the various implementations of PBL that may confuse practitioners in achieving twenty-first-century skills within the applied sciences. Literature review materials were obtained from Emerald, Science Direct, Sage Journal, Eric, Taylor & Francis, and MDPI using keywords such as “project-based learning,” “project learning,” “vocational education,” and “21st-century skills,” published between 2019 and 2025. This was followed by content relevance analysis using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) framework. This process yielded a total of 555 articles, with fifty-three articles ultimately meeting the selection criteria. This study is not limited to synthesizing the results of PBL implementation but also presents variations in PBL instructional design within the scope of the applied sciences and opportunities for the involvement of keywords related to twenty-first-century skills, which have not been presented in previous literature review studies. The research result identified four variations of the PBL model design with opportunities for involvement of twenty-first-century skills ranging from 63.6% to 77.4%. Implementation challenges include time constraints, student readiness, teacher readiness, collaboration with industry/experts, and the need for adequate resource support. These findings have implications for teachers to consider the balance between design and outcomes, for institutions to provide support through regulations and facility provision, and for researchers to further investigate the identified variations in PBL.</p>