Improving transnational education in timber construction by the use of Project-Based Learning approach: as evaluated by teachers and students

Abstract

The atmospheric CO2 is now at the highest level seen (400 ppm) and the construction sector is responsible for 36 % of all greenhouse gases. One way to reduce this negative impact is to use more sustainable and environmentally friendly materials such as timber in the construction. To direct the sector towards this goal, the Erasmus+ project HiTimber (“Sustainable High-Rise Buildings Designed and Constructed in Timber”) was initiated in 2017. With the objective of developing an international and trans-disciplinary course in design, construction and management of sustainable high-rise timber buildings, project-based learning (PBL) was applied. The aim of the paper is to examine the effects of the PBL by examples and results from the HiTimber workshops. The presented results are the approbation of scientifically-practical results, derived from surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019 where 29 teachers and 45 students evaluated the PBL-based workshops. In general, all teachers and 85 % of students were satisfied with the PBL approach; the students were more engaged, motivated and successful in their studies. However, the transition from traditional teaching to PBL has its challenges and requires time, effort and strong commitment from both students and teachers to be effective.