PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION AS A PROPOSAL TO FORCED REMOTE LEARNING

Abstract

The year 2020, with the pandemic caused by the emergence of Coronavirus, was challenging in many areas, including education; schools, institutes, universities started offering their courses and educational programs in fully electronic modes for the first time in their history. This scenario brings a need for mandatory adaptation to a new methodology, mitigating existing difficulties for the migration of methodologies different from the traditional ones. Active learning methodologies, in which knowledge acquisition is the result of an interaction between individuals and their surrounding environment, with students building and organizing their knowledge, have been researched and encouraged, being potential solutions to forced remote learning. In this context, this work presents the migration of three technical disciplines of secondary education from the traditional face-to-face methodology to Project-Based Learning in forced remote education. The contents were transformed into projects, developed in closely oriented groups, with very detailed feedbacks, freedom of organization and presentation, with group and individual based on rubrics and planning with activities and functions of the members. The general perception was of initial difficulties, adaptation, but the development of skills such as group work, presentation of ideas, decision making, planning, organization, and socialization. The development of critical and creative thinking, with a commitment to learning itself, from selecting the level and amount of information to explore, developing skills and maturity to deal with projects and problems was achieved at a still micro level, but which shows a path to move forward.