Online Project-Based Learning for Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic - A Systematic Review

Oct 15, 2026

Online project-based learning (PjBL) has become a widely used higher-education approach, particularly in teacher education. This systematic review examines how PjBL is implemented, its effectiveness, and the challenges arising when shifting to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a systematic review methodology and PRISMA guidelines, research from five databases is screened with inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in 26 included articles. Findings indicate positive impacts on pre-service teachers’ knowledge, professional skills, and learning attitudes, while highlighting educator and student capability requirements and technology constraints, with pandemic conditions potentially boosting motivation and supporting adoption.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

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Abstract

Introduction

OPEN ACCESS Review Article Contemporary Educational Technology, 2023, 15(3), ep433 ISSN: 1309-517X (Online) Online project-based learning for teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review Bui Phuong Uyen 1 0000-0002-8098-3398 Duong Huu Tong 1* 0000-0002-4522-9760 Lu Kim Ngan 1 0000-0002-0737-8095 1 School of Education, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, VIETNAM * Corresponding author: [dhtong@ctu.edu.vn](dhtong@ctu.edu.vn) Citation: Uyen, B. P., Tong, D. H., & Ngan, L. K. (2023) . Online project-based learning for teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(1), epXXX. [https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13238](https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/13238) ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT | Received: 28 Feb 2023
Accepted: 22 Apr 2023 | Online project-based learning (PjBL) is an increasingly popular teaching approach in higher education, especially in teacher education. Implementing online PjBL differs across subjects, bringing many benefits while posing challenges for educators and pre-service teachers. This systematic review aims to investigate the implementation, effectiveness and challenges of adopting PjBL in teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The review provided a thorough overview of research on PjBL in teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was carried out using the systematic review methodology and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Several relevant articles from five different databases (Google Scholar, Mendeley, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Taylor & Francis Online) were collected using the keywords “project-based learning” and “teacher education”along with their synonyms. A final list of 26 included articles to be reviewed in this study is produced after the titles and abstracts screening and full texts evaluation using inclusion and exclusion criteria. This systematic review reveals that PjBL has been applied in teaching various subjects in teacher education with different types of projects and assessment methods. More importantly, integrating PjBL in teaching has been proven to positively impact the development of pre-service teachers’ knowledge, professional skills and learning attitudes. In addition, applying PjBL poses certain challenges for educators due to the requirements on teachers’ and students’ knowledge and skills as well as equipment and technology facilities. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic, if viewed positively, contributes to boosting educators’ motivation and facilitating the implementation of online PjBL. The study findings can be used as a reference for future PjBL research and contribute to the literature on PjBL in the context of teacher education.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, online project-based learning, teacher education, systematic review | | --- | --- | | INTRODUCTION | | The outstanding development of science and technology and the demand for online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed society’s requirements for teachers’ professional knowledge and skills. Therefore, higher education–with a decisive role in training responsible citizenship (HernándezBarco et al., 2021)–has adopted modern teaching approaches that can connect the learning of teachersstudents with real-life problems and their future work (Al-Busaidi & Al-Seyabi, 2021; Martinez, 2022; Poonpon, 2021; Tsybulsky & Muchnik-Rozanov, 2023) . A particular example of a promising approach that improves student learning in higher education is the project-based learning (PjBL) approach (Guo et al., 2020) . As a student-centered, inquiry-based instructional approach allows learners to participate in the knowledge formation process by how discovering and providing solutions to real-world problems (Chanpet et al., 2018; Hunter-Doniger, 2018), this is an expected instructional strategy that can promote digital citizensh

FAQs

What is the focus of this systematic review?

The review investigates how online project-based learning is implemented in teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effectiveness and challenges.

How were studies selected for the review?

Studies were gathered from five databases and screened using systematic review methodology with PRISMA guidelines, applying inclusion and exclusion criteria to produce a final set of 26 articles.

What outcomes does the review report for pre-service teachers?

Integrating PjBL in teacher education is reported to positively affect pre-service teachers’ knowledge, professional skills, and learning attitudes.

What challenges are associated with online PjBL in teacher education?

Challenges arise from the knowledge and skills required of educators and students, along with equipment and technology facility requirements.

Oct 15, 2026

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