Team working in foreign language learning through a challenge-based virtual higher education environment

Abstract

The article focuses on the concept definition and criteria establishment for optimizing of team working project activity of students in the process of foreign language learning in non-linguistic specialties through a Challenge-Based virtual higher education environment. Under modern global labor market demand the graduate’s ability to team project activity is seen as an indispensable employability skill resulting from formative interdisciplinary training of a competitive professional via higher educational practice courses. Due to theoretical and empirical analysis of the methodological provisions of A Challenge-Based Learning the following optimizing criteria were systematized: 1) personality-oriented, including psychological and competence levels of readiness of teachers and students to shift from traditional lecturer-instructor to facilitator interaction, on the one hand, and improving the quality of the regulatory mechanism of student’s reflection, on the other hand, due to productive changes in the motivation sphere, cognitive development, communicative competence formation, group dynamics and team cohesion modifiers; 2) content-operational, that is a holistic methodological complex for defining the project proposal, research planning, time management, implementation and peer-to-peer assessment, collaborative resolution of conflicts of interest, progress monitoring, qualitative evaluation and reflection; 3) formative-diagnostic, embodied not only in a final product presentation, implementation and sharing, but in reflexive axiological diagnostics of team interaction progress. The author’s views on the competence approach to team project working as potentially optimizing the development of cognitive, axiological, linguistic and communicative activities of students are presented. A Challenge-Based Learning is exemplified as a collaborative team learning experience to reinforce brainstorming, research skills and intellectual communication in the process of foreign language learning in non-linguistic specialties via virtual higher education environment.