دانلود رایگان مقاله یادگیری مشارکتی سریع در محیط های آنلاین

ABSTRACT

Unsatisfactory prior experiences in collaborative learning influence students’ predisposition towards team-based learning activities. Incorporating strategies for helping teams to effectively regulate group work and enhance planning processes may result in an increase in students’ engagement with learning activities and collaborative processes. Taking into account the benefits of the agile method for teamwork organisation, this study sought to analyse the usefulness of agile strategies for team regulation and project management in online higher education. An iterative process of course redesign was conducted in the context of an undergraduate project-based learning course during two consecutive semesters. The new design was piloted and evaluated based on the students’ and teacher’s views and the learning outcomes. A total of 114 students were surveyed about their satisfaction with the course and their perception of the usefulness of the method. Two interviews were conducted to collect the teacher’s opinions. The results of the study indicate that agile strategies are useful for improving students’ online project management and collaboration. Nevertheless, no significant impact has been observed in students’ satisfaction nor in the overall learning outcomes.

7. Conclusion, limitations and future research

This study attempted to propose an approach for implementing the agile method into the online higher education context. The results obtained from students’ surveys and the teacher’s interviews reveal that the agile strategies incorporated into project-based learning facilitated team regulation and project management, although students’ satisfaction and overall learning outcomes did not increase. Our work showed fruitful results in incorporating the agile principles into an educational context that differs from face-to-face secondary education. Nevertheless, the design requires some adjustments to deal with the encountered issues. This will involve redefining the role of Project Manager, incorporating new strategies for diminishing the impact of drop outs, introducing new instruments for group reporting, and enforcing the teacher’s role in transmitting the agile method and helping to distribute efforts. These findings have several implications for practitioners for the design and support of collaborative projects. The methodology presented in this paper offers a basis to transform collaborative projects into agile processes; however, it requires that teachers invest time and effort to select and accommodate the agile strategies into their particular contexts. Once the first design is developed, a cyclical process of testing and refinement is indispensable to improve the teaching method. Teachers need time to learn how to manage such processes and to find their place in this new scenario while students must learn to self-organise and to be autonomous when working in teams. In consequence, three main challenges arise for teachers: 1) to assume that self-regulated learners cannot be continuously monitored, 2) to help students find the balance between autonomous and collaborative learning, and 3) to support teams to maintain group stability, commitment and frequent communication.