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Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Analysis of institutional authors

Ferrero MCorresponding AuthorVadillo MaCorresponding Author

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May 5, 2021
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Review

Is project-based learning effective among kindergarten and elementary students? A systematic review

Publicated to:PLoS ONE. 16 (4 ): e0249627-e0249627 - 2021-04-02 16(4 ), DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249627

Authors: Ferrero, Marta; Vadillo, Miguel A; Leon, Samuel P

Affiliations

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Author
Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Author
UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN - Author
‎ Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Psicol Bas, Madrid, Spain - Author
‎ Univ Complutense Madrid, Dept Invest & Psicol Educ, Madrid, Spain - Author
‎ Univ Jaen, Dept Pedag, Jaen, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Project-based learning (PjBL) is becoming widespread in many schools. However, the evidence of its effectiveness in the classroom is still limited, especially in basic education. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review of the empirical evidence assessing the impact of PjBL on academic achievement of kindergarten and elementary students. We also examined the quality of studies, their compliance with basic prerequisites for a successful result, and their fidelity towards the key elements of PBL intervention. For this objective, we conducted a literature search in January 2020. The inclusion criteria for the review required that studies followed a pre-post design with control group and measured quantitatively the impact of PBL on content knowledge of students. The final sample included eleven articles comprising data from 722 students. The studies yielded inconclusive results, had important methodological flaws, and reported insufficient or no information about important aspects of the materials, procedure and key requirements from students and instructors to guarantee the success of PjBL. Educational implications of these results are discussed.

Keywords

Administração pública e de empresas, ciências contábeis e turismoAdministração, ciências contábeis e turismoAgricultural and biological sciences (miscellaneous)AnthropologyAntropologia / arqueologiaArchaeologyArquitetura, urbanismo e designAstronomia / físicaBiochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (miscellaneous)BiodiversidadeBiologyBiotecnologíaCiência da computaçãoCiência de alimentosCiência política e relações internacionaisCiências agrárias iCiências ambientaisCiências biológicas iCiências biológicas iiCiências biológicas iiiCiências sociais aplicadas iComunicação e informaçãoDemographyDireitoEconomiaEducaçãoEducação físicaEnfermagemEngenharias iEngenharias iiEngenharias iiiEngenharias ivEnsinoEnvironmental studiesFarmaciaGeneral agricultural and biological sciencesGeneral biochemistry,genetics and molecular biologyGeneral medicineGeociênciasGeografíaHistoriaHistory & philosophy of scienceHuman geography and urban studiesInterdisciplinarInterdisciplinary research in the social sciencesLetras / linguísticaLinguística e literaturaMatemática / probabilidade e estatísticaMateriaisMedicina iMedicina iiMedicina iiiMedicina veterinariaMedicine (miscellaneous)MultidisciplinaryMultidisciplinary sciencesNutriçãoOdontologíaPlanejamento urbano e regional / demografiaPsicologíaPsychologyQuímicaSaúde coletivaServiço socialSociologíaSociologyZootecnia / recursos pesqueiros

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal PLoS ONE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.16. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.56 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 15.51 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-03, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 16
  • Scopus: 21
  • Europe PMC: 2
  • Open Alex: 34

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-03:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 399.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 399 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 134.15.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 147 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://repositorio.uam.es/handle/10486/703759
Continuing with the social impact of the work, it is important to emphasize that, due to its content, it can be assigned to the area of interest of ODS 4 - Quality Education, with a probability of 87% according to the mBERT algorithm developed by Aurora University.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (FERRERO GONZALEZ, MARTA) .

the authors responsible for correspondence tasks have been FERRERO GONZALEZ, MARTA and VADILLO NISTAL, MIGUEL ANGEL.