Implementing IBL in Teaching Project Courses: Experiences and Advice

Abstract

Information and communication technology have produced changes in the demands of modern-day society and have negated the effects on students in classrooms. Encouraging students to be active, team leaders, and responsible is one of the challenges of higher education. The inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach is one of the techniques recently used to make students take the initiative and be active. However, little research has been done on the experiences of using IBL in teaching project courses in higher education, particularly for diploma students. This study aims to discuss applying inquiry-based learning in teaching project courses and the implications of employing PBL in teaching diploma students. The novelty of this study lies in applying this strategy to associate degree students. There are inadequate studies for this degree. Most researchers and studies that have applied inquiry-based learning approaches focus on bachelor's and higher-level degrees. These studies are needed to improve the outcomes of project courses at community colleges and technical colleges. This article will discuss the impact of the implementation of inquiry-based learning in the teaching capstone project course in detail. The application of this approach shows better academic results than traditional lecture-based teaching. In addition, students’ soft skills were improved successfully. Finally, the students' responses were positive and motivating.

Keywords: inquiry-based learning, teaching, project course.