In Finland, ammattikorkeakoulu (AMK) or higher vocational education institutions or polytechnics are professionally and practically oriented; their teaching and learning methods reflect approaches different from those of universities. Training and learning methods focus on learning by doing. Project work used in polytechnic programs offers students meaningful forms of learning in collaboration with other students, teachers, and representatives of working life. Use of project-based learning varies in different fields of polytechnic programs. Two phenomenographic case studies at three AMK institutions: Kajaani Polytechnic, Jyvaskyla Polytechnic and Helsinki Polytechnic, reveal ways of integrating theory into practice and school- and work-based learning. Results of the case studies indicate that the students' learning goals can be organized into the following four main categories: style of learning; social orientation; professional orientation; and locus of control. Project-based learning develops students' self-regulation, communication, and collaboration skills. (Contains 73 references.) (YLB)