Project-based Learning Scenario Research Articles

LearnEval Peer Assessment Platform: Iterative Development Process and Evaluation

Peer assessment is a valuable educational activity, which promotes learner engagement and critical thinking, while also decreasing the time spent by the teachers on evaluating students’ work. Over the past decades, several platforms have been proposed to support the peer assessment process. The current landscape is dominated by special-purpose, context-specific peer evaluation systems, which were designed to support a particular type of learning activity, artifact, or discipline. In this article, we propose an alternative, a generic and comprehensive peer assessment platform, called LearnEval, which is very flexible and able to accommodate a variety of pedagogical scenarios. Distinctive functionalities include: highly configurable peer assessment workflow, several automatic and manual review allocation mechanisms, initial calibration/training options for the students, complex dashboard with statistics, scores and graphical visualizations, as well as an extensive open learner model. The platform was developed in an iterative manner, with several extensions and improvements informed by the findings of the initial pilot studies. The article also reports on a practical application of LearnEval in a project-based learning scenario, with very promising results; multiple perspectives of the peer assessment process are analyzed: student behavior, peer grades validity, and perceived learning experience. Comparative results with an earlier study show increased levels of system usability, grading validity, and student satisfaction.

Fostering Students’ Workplace Communicative Competence and Collaborative Mindset through an Inquiry-Based Learning Design

This paper illustrates the efficiency of implementing an inquiry-based teaching and learning module on the development of workplace communication competence and collaborative mindset in a college-level English as a Foreign Language context. In particular, the study highlights the 5E constructivist approach as the pedagogical foundation and addresses the effects of project-based learning scenario on students’ engagement and their views in terms of “workplace habits of mind”. The 5E model includes five stages: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. In addition, teaching strategies like academia-industry cooperative teaching, industry field trip, reflective writing, and project-based presentation were incorporated into each instructional phase to emphasize the development of students’ social, collaborative, and problem-solving skills. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected including students’ perceived effectiveness of engagement activities, weekly reflective journal writing and focus group interviews. The results of the study indicate that the inquiry-based teaching and learning approach had a favorable effect on the development of students’ engagement and hands-on, mind-on skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

Predicting Academic Performance Based on Learner Traces in a Social Learning Environment

Predictive modeling is an important part of learning analytics, whose main objective is to estimate student success, in terms of performance, knowledge, score, or grade. The data used for the predictive model can be either state-based data (e.g., demographics, psychological traits, and past performance) or event-driven data (i.e., based on student activity). The latter can be derived from students’ interactions with educational systems and resources; learning management systems are a widely analyzed data source, while social media-based learning environments are scarcely explored. In this paper, our objective is to predict students’ performance based on their social media traces. Data is collected from a Web Applications Design course, in which students use wiki, blog, and microblogging tools, for communication and collaboration activities in a project-based learning scenario. A total of 343 students, from six consecutive course installments, are included in the study. In addition to the novel settings and performance indicators, an innovative regression algorithm is used for grade prediction. Very good correlation coefficients are obtained and 85% of predictions are within one point of the actual grade, outperforming classic regression algorithms. From a pedagogical perspective, results indicate that, as a general rule, a higher engagement with social media tools correlates with a higher final grade.

Collaboration Through Role Play Among Graduate Students in Educational Leadership in Distance Learning

This project addresses the challenge of preparing educational leaders for future roles in administration in K–12 schools. Through a project-based learning scenario set in a 3-D virtual world, graduate students in school administration and instructional technology worked together in simulated school teams to develop proposals for integrating technology into a fictitious school. The scenario provided parameters within which each team developed a proposal to a superintendent for the use of iPads, which included developing plans for professional development, collaboration among faculty and staff, infrastructure to support the technology, alignment with curriculum, and budgets. Teams worked independently of classes to develop proposals that were then posted in the virtual world for review by instructors and other students. The simulation offered opportunities to develop shared leadership and skills in collaboration outside the usual comfort zone of graduate school classes. Student perception of the value of participation provided insight into the design of the project, which will inform future such collaborative efforts among faculty. Results of student surveys and written reflections are shared as examples of the types of data collected for this project.