[zakm]

It's worth considering that in the networking example given you discover the skills you need via a project and then argue that the skills could be learned more effectively through deliberate practice.

I think this post largely argues against a strawman (which I'm sure some people actually believe).

Seems fairly clear to me that you should (1) do projects that resemble the work you're trying to improve to: a. Build up the basics across all the skills you need b. Uncover gaps

And (2) then practice the skills you actually care to improve outside of the project.

If you really want to try-hard you can spend time actively thinking about how to improve what you're doing and observe other people to learn from them.

People who advocate project-based learning have generally experienced spending a ton of time learning things in theory and then being unprepared for actual work. Maybe address that concern instead of bypassing it with "I don’t want to debate the current way universities do things." To have a nuanced take you have to understand the arguments in favor and against the main options, no?

I don't think people who advocate for project-based learning are advocating for exclusively project-based learning (mostly).

[ghaff]

It's definitely a mix. I have clear memories of some of my project-based courses/labs from school and would have had a poorer education for them not being part of the curriculum. But I also think it wouldn't be a very good curriculum (and presumably not an accredited one) if I mostly didn't do much beyond hacking around in machine shops and labs.