ABSTRACT
Project-based instruction can put instructors into unusual situations. Traditional models of faculty evaluation reinforce the importance of this fundamental core of subject matter expertise by predicating rewards structures of job security and promotion on some constellation of assessments of the faculty member's performance in teaching, research, and service capacities. The role of the faculty member who seeks to provide useful background knowledge—and then advise student projects on such multidisciplinary challenges—must necessarily engage in a serious manner with a variety of methods and subject matter details that may have been as previously unfamiliar to the instructor as any aspect of the course content may be to its students. Project-centered instruction requires creating an environment in which students are given more control and responsibility over what types of knowledge they pursue.
