Date of Conferral

12-1-2025

Date of Award

December 2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Naffziger Loren

Abstract

Elementary schools play an essential role in equipping students with 21st-century skills. Project-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered instructional approach that is associated with the development of these skills, yet PBL implementation in elementary schools is not well understood in Saipan, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The research problem addressed in this study was a lack of understanding of elementary teachers’ practices in implementing PBL in Saipan. Guided by constructivist theory, the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine elementary school teachers’ perspectives on the benefits of PBL, the ease or difficulty when implementing PBL, the success of PBL implementation, and the professional support needed to implement in Saipan. For this basic qualitative design, I conducted semistructured interviews with 11 elementary teachers in Saipan who were recruited through email invitations. Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis method was used to manually code the transcripts, which led to the development of the following themes: (a) PBL enhances group work and collaboration; (b) PBL requires extensive preparation; (c) PBL requires resources and professional development; and (d) teachers need collaboration and flexibility for effective PBL implementation. These findings suggest the importance of providing teachers with continued professional learning, adequate planning time, and working technology. The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by offering educational stakeholders' insights into the kinds of support teachers believe they need to strengthen instructional PBL practices in elementary classrooms and, in turn, to encourage active student learning.

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