94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1522694
This article is part of the Research Topic Science of Science: A Complex Network Perspective View all 5 articles
Mapping the Global Research on Project-Based Learning: A Bibliometric and Network Analysis (2014-2024)
Provisionally accepted- 1 Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2 Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Background: Project-based learning (PjBL) is a widely adopted educational approach known for fostering critical skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and self-regulated learning. Despite its global implementation across various educational levels and disciplines, there has been limited comprehensive analysis of global research trends in PjBL.Objective: This study maps the global research on PjBL. Methods: We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, bibliometrics, and network analyses to analyze 2,273 peer-reviewed articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and published between January 2014 and August 2024.Results: Our findings show a significant increase in PjBL research over time, with an 800% growth in publications since 2014. The most frequent keywords are engineering education, higher education, and STEM, and the main research areas are Education & Educational Research, Engineering, and Computer Science. The United States of America, Spain, and China are the leading countries in publications. Additionally, the network analysis shows strong collaborations, particularly between organizations in the USA and Asia.
Keywords: project-based learning, scientific publications, PRISMA, Bibliometrics, Network analysis
Received: 04 Nov 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mota, Cabral, Braga and Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Fabio Batista Mota, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.