Abstract This study investigates perceptions of 29 prospective teachers about a course based on Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach. The course, ‘Authoring Languages in PC Environment (B-320)’ lasted in 14 weeks in fall semester of 2004–2005. In this course each prospective teacher carried out a project that requires designing and developing courseware individually. This study is qualitative in nature and data were collected through an open ended questionnaire composed of seven items and analyzed by content analysis technique. The results show that prospective teachers found PBL as an effective way of learning. It also suggests that when efficient guidance about technical issues and time management is provided, PBL approach can be successfully implemented in computer related courses such as programming language and web designing. Keywords Project Based Learning Æ Teacher Education Æ Teaching Authoring Languages Æ Teaching computer courses Introduction Recent recommendations about education reform reflect new conception of teaching and learning that assign primary importance to the way students’ attempt to make sense of what they are learning rather than to how teachers should deliver infor- mation. This current view, referred as constructivism in literature, depicts student as S. Karaman Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Atatu ¨ rk University, Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty, Erzurum 25240, Turkey e-mail: skaraman@atauni.edu.tr S. Celik (&) Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Atatu ¨ rk University, Kazım Karabekir Education Faculty, Erzurum 25240, Turkey e-mail: celiks@atauni.edu.tr 123 Int J Technol Des Educ (2008) 18:203–215 DOI 10.1007/s10798-006-9021-1 ORIGINAL PAPER An exploratory study on the perspectives of prospective computer teachers following project-based learning Selcuk Karaman Æ Suat Celik Received: 20 June 2006 / Accepted: 15 December 2006 / Published online: 16 January 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007