In this article I present a case study of a project examination trial in one of the upper secondary education programmes in Denmark. I shall give some empirical support to the argument that this ...project examination can be seen as valid not only in relation to modelling but in relation to all mathematical competences.
The EPCoS project (Effective Project work in Computer Science) is working to map the range of project work practices and to generate insights into what characterises the contexts in which particular ...techniques are effective. In assembling a body of authentic examples, EPCoS aims to provide a resource that enables extrapolation and synthesis of new techniques. Structured resources and process models are essential tools for supporting responsiveness in the current climate of continual change: the rapid development of computer technology is demanding new range and flexibility in project work, and EPCoS's mapping of project-based teaching allows practitioners to respond to these changes. Moreover, EPCoS is examining the process by which practices are transferred between institutional contexts, with a view to identifying effective models of that process. In this paper, we describe EPCoS's work-in-progress and describe briefly how technology makes the catalogue easier to use, providing tailored access, fast selection and juxtaposition, and the potential for an extensible, updated, distributed resource.
A Study of Media Environment Senoh, Ken; Shirasu, Motonari; Tsuchiya, Kana
Computer & Education,
2002/11/29, Volume:
13
Journal Article
Open access
The class of "Social Research (Prof. Senoh, in charge)", in Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), Keio University, has been developing a new educational system since 1996, which is research project-based, ...using digital medeia environment such as web-site and e-mail. The eivironment enables many ouside-members such as journalist, business person get involved in students' project as "supporters". This system is called "learning community" based on various digital media. We investigated the actual usage and relationships of the media of the student research projects done in the past six years. In this paper, we show the results of the investigation and discuss the possibility of "media environment" in university's education.
This paper argues that proactive behaviour, caused by high engagement and motivation of the learners, may lead to failure of collaborative learning. By examining empirical data from real-world ...text-only virtual negotiations between dispersed participants engaged in project-based collaborative learning, we discover that volunteering self-initiated activities promotes the participants' individualistic behaviour. Also, the technology made it easy for participants to include their own statements in new contributions and deconstruct the statements of others, permitting few opportunities for others to influence proposals.
Swedish educational policy underlines the importance of independence. In this paper we use socio-cultural theory and Foucault to explain how pupils’ independency is transformed into something else in ...their work. Our results derive from analyses of filmed sessions and entries in the pupils’ logbooks. Our findings demonstrate that the pupils’ definitions of independence differ from those of the course plan in several aspects: i) the use of certain resources is not considered to show lack of independence, ii) doing things yourself is considered being most independent and iii) to follow instructions, even if this means violating your unique personal thought, is considered a prerequisite for passing/getting good grades and as such a necessary adaption to the school context, sooner than a sign of dependency. Consequently we argue that pupil independency should be regarded as a phenomenon chiseled out within a community of practice rather than a personal capacity.
It is accepted world wide; that project-organized problem-based learning (POPBL) is the right method to improve learning and satisfy the customer's being more innovative and creative. Shifting to ...POPBL in universities seems uncomplicated when it comes to changes in materials and procedures, but for the people involved, mentally, it is a very difficult change in behavior and attitudes. Organizations and staff in many universities are skeptical about POPBL concerning student competence measurement and assessments. On the personal level the teacher's major apprehension is the loss of prestige, templates, and traditions. Students need to be more active in the learning process so the concern is more work. It is always difficult to make major changes in an (mature) educational institution, but shifting to POPBL collaborative learning has been proven to be a successful learning method at Aalborg University, Denmark (AAU) for more than 30 years and it has provided great satisfaction for all parties including students and customers. Although, it was difficult in the beginning and after much iteration, AAU is now the leading university in on-campus POPBL, as well as on-line POPBL. However, the ongoing development of information technology (IT), pedagogy and didactic methods requires new demands to all parties in openness, willingness, and readiness in adapting new roles and behavior. This article describes challenges and changes in roles and behavior when going for and maintaining a modern and successful POPBL environment. Based on years of POPBL development and experience - methods and recommendations will be presented to staff and students when working with the courses and projects in an on-campus, as well as on-line POPBL educational environment.
Third year undergraduate students in Computer Science at Reykjavik University complete a practical project in which co-operation between the students and the industry is emphasized. The students form ...small groups and develop software for eighteen weeks at a company's site where they get access to all needed facilities. In this study the students were asked to state the hindrances they experienced. Data was gathered from eleven student groups both with interviews and on-line questionnaires three times during the project period. Furthermore a contact person at each company was interviewed one month after the delivery date and asked to rate the quality of the project work. Based on that rating the groups were divided in three categories, the best, the middle and the worst. The success factors characterizing the best groups were analysed. Also the customers were asked to rate what quality factors of the product they emphasized the most. The students did not experience many hindrances five weeks after the commencement of the project, but after nine weeks 73% of the groups named that understanding the requirements of the project was a hindrance. The methods of Human-Computer Interaction could be of great value for the students in these two periods, understanding the user, their tasks and the context of use. When only 4 weeks were left of the project the biggest hindrances for the groups were technical problems and lack of time. A study of the work of the best groups showed that the main success factors are: being very organized, keeping good co-operation in the group, and getting feedback from the customer and the users.
This article reports an exploratory study of lecturers' perceptions of out-of-class academic collaboration (OCAC) among students at a large Singapore university. Two types of OCAC were investigated: ...collaboration initiated by students, e.g., groups decide on their own to meet to prepare for exams, and collaboration required by teachers, e.g., teachers assign students to do projects in groups. Data were collected via one-on-one interviews with 18 faculty members from four faculties at the university. Findings suggest that OCAC, especially of a teacher-required kind, is fairly common at the university. Faculty members' views on factors affecting the success of OCAC are discussed for the light they might shed on practices to enhance the effectiveness of OCAC.
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