Assessment of performance in project examinations

In project-based learning, which is founded on project management, pupils work and learn not on a topic-based basis, as in traditional forms of teaching, but on a task- or problem-based basis. The starting point for a project is not a (lesson) topic, but always a problem relevant to those involved or to an (internal or external) client, for which a solution is sought. This is often formulated as part of an assignment, for which a specific timeframe – and often a budget – is allocated. The advantage of this combined working and learning process lies in the opportunity to acquire not only the specialist knowledge required to solve the problem, but also personal and social skills.

Project work can be very effectively linked to the ‘learning field’ concept introduced in vocational schools, as it is oriented towards areas of activity and problem situations encountered in workplace practice. Sufficiently complex learning situations can therefore also be addressed in the form of projects. 

Project work based on project management generates a wide range of opportunities for feedback and assessment, thereby making the process of skills acquisition transparent and amenable to evaluation. Assessment thus extends not only to the result, product or output, but also to the process itself.