Abstract:

Zayed University's Academic Bridge Program reviewed their curriculum in order to reflect upon and meet the requirements placed on university students regarding English for Academic Skills (EAP) and 21st century skills. The revised curriculum focuses on the four main English language skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening for academic purposes as well as 21st century skills such as critical thinking, self-management and information literacy. As a result of the curriculum renovation, it became apparent that much of the EAP content could be addressed through the use of already published materials, however the program needed a component where 21st Century skills are further developed alongside students' EAP skills. To meet this need, a new component called Integrated Skills Projects (ISPs) was developed and implemented. ISPs are projects where language skills such as reading, writing, listening, speaking, accuracy and vocabulary are combined with 21st C skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. Through ISPs, these skills are practiced and developed with the aim of creating authentic end products. The Project Based Learning approach is the basic principle ISPs are based on.

In this talk, the speaker intends to:
* describe the overall framework of the projects
* discuss how the projects aim to help students develop their English language as well as academic and information literacy skills associated with their future academic studies
* explain the teacher research study the speaker has conducted in her own classroom through keeping a critical reflective diary of her observations (focusing on areas based on personal experience and literature review)
* talk about the current classroom research she is undertaking on 'critical thinking skills' developed through the ISPs
* conclude by recommending areas for further development to improve project work in order to increase the potential benefits for the students.

Keywords:

Project Based Learning, 21st century skills, integration of technology, 1:1 iPad school, iBooks, information literacy skills, critical thinking skills.