Place-Based Education: Does it Improve 21st Century Skills?

The present study aimed at investigating the possible significant effects of project-based instruction on the improvement of Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ awareness of 21st century skills. To this end, the sample population was selected from Iranian intermediate learners studying at Zabansara Language School, Mashhad, Iran. Therefore, 50 male and female students were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups, 25 in each. For collecting the quantitative data for the study, a 21st century awareness inventory was employed to function as the pre and post-tests during the study with the aim of eliciting the learners’ awareness of the aforementioned skills. Besides, a structured interview was applied within the participants of the experimental group to gather the required qualitative data by the time the treatment and the post-test were done. Regarding the treatment, a more real life class project was employed by the researchers containing some of the aims and principles of Place-Based Education, the model of the present study. Results showed that students in the experimental group could perform much better than learners in the control group after the treatment on the post-test.