Online Project-Based Learning and Formative Assessment

Abstract

Project-based learning (PBL) involves a highly complex and learner-centered approach. It relies on formative assessment (FA) with ongoing feedback to help learners move through the PBL process to the eventual co-construction of a shared artefact. Conversation and discussion are central to the process. However, in a face-to-face context of learning, they are difficult to capture for later review or reflection as part of FA. This study investigates the role that technology might play in addressing this limitation using online PBL and FA in a media-creation course in a Thai university. Participants were undergraduate, pre-service teachers preparing to teach English as a foreign language. Objectives included the local design and implementation of online PBL and FA; identification of pre-service teachers’ (n = 28) post-implementation perceptions of the convenience, benefits and barriers of this form of learning; perceptions of their PBL skills and; post-implementation measures of PBL knowledge and skills compared with learners participating in a face-to-face section of the course (n = 30). Results revealed that the technology provided a foundational scaffold to support both the learners’ and the instructor’s activity and interaction. The design of a simple learning management system with communication and file-sharing tools supported not only the learners, but the instructor, not only the assessment, but the learning. Learners’ perceptions were positive and post-implementation measures of PBL knowledge and skill were significantly higher for the online section.