Project-based learning and teaching Environment: How do learners cooperate and which factors affect cooperation?

Author(s):

Andreas Sebe-Opfermann(presenting)Andreas Sebe-Opfermann(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 11 A, Designing Competence Development Environments: Practical Simulations, Project-Based Learning, Hybrid Learning Environments

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-15

16:45-18:15

Room:

K 23/21,1 FL., 36

Chair:

Michael Gessler

Contribution

Project management looks back upon a history up to the beginning of the 20th century. Today it can be considered as an established form of organization of projects in the world of economy. Project management is used in particular then, when it comes to innovations. For the future it is expected that project work will keep on gaining importance, when in the same time routine activities will decrease.

On this background the necessity for introducing project management as a topic in vocational education rises. First approaches in Germany are already been developed for example in different curricular frameworks for vocational schools.

Vocational education in Germany has targeted the development professionals skills and of the personality as well as the ability to actively shape the working context structures. The introduction of the “Lernfelder” in the middle of the 1990s marked the shift to a new instruction structure that is based on authentic professional situations and problems. On the basis of complex and exemplary settings and tasks the development of cooperation and problem-solving skill, systemic thinking are supposed to be supported.

As a didactic counterpart of the “Lernfeld” concept can be considered action-oriented instruction approaches, in particular project lessons. The “Lernfeld” concept offers new, advantageous conditions for project lessons. Nevertheless project lessons still represent in the vocational education only a minority. Missing systematic project didactics as well as lacking teaching and learning-materials are regarded to be some of the reasons for that.

The assumptions of the effects on learning of project lessons was up to now only examined in few studies. Unfortunately the studies had different underlying project lessons conception, for example with regard to the starting conditions, the leeway for Autonomy and to the amount of systematic planning tools offered to the learners. In addition, none of these previous research studies incorporate important aims of vocational education for instance the development of cooperation skills.

In a research project at the Bremen University based upon the analysis of different current project-based instruction concepts a draft concept of project didactics was developed. On this basis a project-based teaching-learning environment for project management was developed.

In this case too, the question regarding the effects of the developed environment on learning arises. Focusing cooperation, the research question addresses is: In which manner are learners cooperating in the developed project-based teaching-learning environment and which factors in which manner influence cooperation.

Method

Based on the research results of social psychology, group dynamics and cooperation research as well as cooperative and self organized learning a model of the concept cooperation was developed, taking both aspects learning and teaching and the project structure of the environment in consideration. On this background the teaching-learning environment was evaluated. The data was collected in six classes of three different vocational schools in Bremen with standardized questionnaires. The data was quantitatively processed (descriptive analysis, average comparisons as well as factor analysis). The research design occurred according to a pre-post-design.

Expected Outcomes

The cooperation model developed for the project-based teaching-learning environment integrates four categories of ascendancies for individual cooperative behaviour: pre-existing experiences and skills (regarding cooperation, autonomous working and taking responsibility), adequacy of the project goal, perceived leeway (for cooperation and autonomous working) and importance of the project goal in the group. The data analysis shows evidence that the theoretical factors are of importance in project-based teaching-learning environments regarding to cooperation. The calculated model fit has overall acceptable results. The findings show that the developed project-based teaching-learning environment is adequate to help develop cooperative behaviour. In addition, the findings underline the importance of the adequacy of the project goal and of the perceived leeways as possibilities to improve the conditions for experiencing and learning how to cooperate in projects.

References

Apel, Hans Jürgen; Knoll, Michael; Pfitzner, Michael (2001): Aus Projekten lernen. Grundlegung und Anregungen. München: Oldenbourg. Frey, Karl (2007): Die Projektmethode. Der Weg zum bildenden Tun. Weinheim: Beltz. Gudjons, Herbert (2008): Handlungsorientiert lehren und lernen. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt. Hänsel, Dagmar (Hg.) (1999): Handbuch Projektunterricht. Weinheim: Beltz Verlag. Hoppe, Manfred (Hg.) (2003): Lernen im und am Kundenauftrag - Konzeption, Voraussetzungen, Beispiele. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann. Howe, Falk; Berben, Th (2005): Lern- und Arbeitsaufgaben. In: Rauner, Felix (Hg.): Handbuch Berufsbildungsforschung. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann, S. 383–390. Howe, Falk; Knutzen, Sönke (2007): Die Kompetenzwerkst@tt. Ein berufswissenschaftliches E-Learning-Konzept. Göttingen: Cuvillier. KMK (2007): Rahmenlehrplan für den Ausbildungsberuf Mathematisch-technischer Softwareentwickler/ Mathematisch-technische Softwareentwicklerin. (18.01.2007). Piepenburg, Ulrich (1991): Ein Konzept von Kooperation und die technische Unterstützung kooperativer Prozesse. In: Oberquelle, Horst (Hg.): Kooperative Arbeit und Computerunterstützung: Stand und Perspektiven. Göttingen: Verl. für Angewandte Psychologie, S. 79–98. Schümer, G. (1996): Projektunterricht in der Regelschule. Anmerkungen zu der pädagogischen Freiheit des Lehrers. In: Zeitschrift für Pädagogik : 34. Beiheft, S. 141–158. Spieß, Erika (Hg.) (1998): Formen der Kooperation. Bedingungen und Perspektiven. Göttingen: Verl. für Angewandte Psychologie. van Lange, Paul A. M.; Dreu, Carsten K. W. de (2003): Soziale Interaktion: Kooperation und Wettbewerb. In: Stroebe, Wolfgang; Jonas, Klaus; Hewstone, Miles R. (Hg.): Sozialpsychologie. Berlin: Springer, S. 381–414. Wasmann-Frahm, Astrid (2008): Lernwirksamkeit von Projektunterricht. Eine empirische Studie zur Wirkung des Projektunterrichts in einer sechsten Jahrgangsstufe am Beispiel des Themenfeldes Boden. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider-Verlag. Wehner, Theo; Dick, Michael; Clases, Christoph (2004): Wissen orientiert Kooperation - Transformationsprozesse im Wissensmanagement. In: Reinmann, Gabi; Mandl, Heinz (Hg.): Psychologie des Wissensmanagements. Perspektiven, Theorien und Methoden. Göttingen: Hogrefe, S. 161–175.

Author Information

Andreas Sebe-Opfermann (presenting)

Universität Bremen

Berufliche Bildung und berufliche Weiterbildung, Abteilung Lernen, Lehren und Organisation

Bremen

Andreas Sebe-Opfermann (presenting / submitting)

Universität Bremen, Germany

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