English abstract
In an attempt to standardise Foundation Programmes for Oman higher education providers, the Oman Academic Standards for General Foundation Programmes stipulated that higher education providers should offer programmes that ensure androgogic effectiveness. In the light of that, this paper presents attempts by a University College in Oman to introduce project based learning through a 'Project' component offered at Foundation level. However, in establishing the androgogical learning theory it became necessary to consider the seemingly inflated false dichotomy between pedagogy and androgogy by way of highlighting learning theories that underpin project based learning. Furthermore, the paper shows how skills that are thought to be transferable from 'Project' to other components fall short due to 'Project' being a subject on its own rather than an approach which compromises the envisaged androgogic effectiveness. Nonetheless, benefits of 'Project' as a subject component are presented in the form of soft skills which are mainly the expected learning outcomes. Therefore, the paper proposes the implementation of project based learning in ensuring pedagogical relevance and androgogic effectiveness among higher education providers and further demonstrates the extent at which this is realised in the university college where the study was conducted followed by recommendations based on the findings of this study.
