Designing Problem-Based Projects to Meet Course Learning Outcomes
Clearly enumerating learning outcomes in the course syllabus along with the project objectives is extremely important. Today’s discerning students want to understand how course projects, which many initially do not look forward to doing, fit into their overall course grade and learning goals. Also, the more relevant the project is to a student’s career choice, the more motivated the student will be about the project.
To illustrate the importance of relating project objectives to course outcomes, compare the sets of outcomes for the course entitled Fluency with Information Technology to project objectives by first considering the following four course learning outcomes:
Language Development Concepts. Learn information technology terminology to articulate the significance of computing concepts in society and their future careers.
Computer Competency. Use a variety of computer applications so students can apply their knowledge and practice to learning other computer programs.
Systems Design/Development. Learn about hardware specifications, program requirements, and systems design so students can make intelligent decisions when buying or upgrading their own or in redesigning their employers’ computer systems and software.
Critical Thinking Skills/Learning Strategy. Apply self-assessment and analysis to improving critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and lifelong learning strategies for becoming a self-grower in information technology.
The five IT-related project choices complement the formal knowledge of the course with tacit knowledge gained from problem-based learning (Miller, 2005). These broad, self-directed projects require students to use self-assessment as a tool for researching, learning, organizing, and writing reports on their chosen project. The objectives of each IT project summarized below support at least three of the course’s learning outcomes.
Computer Application Learning Project. This project is an analysis of how and what a student learns from performing specific skills to learn two new computer applications not taught in lab class. Transferring of prior knowledge in learning new computer competencies, producing tangible results from the newly learned applications, and writing a technical report on project development and skills assessment are key learning objectives of this project.
Information Technology Futuristic Research Project. In this project a student selects three information technologies and reports on the history, current status and forecasts for these concepts. The significant project objectives are using information processing skills for generating, retrieving and organizing data, plus using critical thinking to forecast advances.
Information Technology Problem-Solving Project. The primary task of this project is to use the six-phase information systems design process, taught in lecture, for constructing a solution to an information processing problem of an organization or for creating solutions for a home business system. The major learning objectives of this project are the development of problem-solving skills in analyzing the problem, creating alternative solutions, designing the solution, and writing a systems report.
Information Technology Skills Growth Project. For this project, a student concentrates on developing IT-related skills that can be promoted to potential employers in the student’s chosen career field. The tangible product of this project is a slide program promoting the talents and value of the student’s improved IT skills to employers. This project places major emphasis on using the Learning Process Methodology, applying the Personal Development Methodology and creating lifelong learning strategies through self-assessment (2.3.8 Learning Process Methodology and 4.2.3 Personal Development Methodology).
Systems Design and Analysis Project. The intent of this project is for a student to design a “Dream Computer System” for handling specific information processing and communication needs according to computer buying and upgrading guidelines. The project results include budgeting and detailing specifications and reasons for hardware components and software based upon the intended uses of the computer system. Using information processing and problem-solving methodologies and critical thinking skills are primary learning objectives of this project.
The students’ first problem is to decide what project to choose. Their second decision is to determine the scope of the project, including what applications, research concepts, systems problems, systems design, or IT skills to develop. Many students find making these choices very difficult; probing questions or suggestions made during office hours about choosing IT topics related to student career choices often will stimulate their decision process.
The requirements of each project portfolio include a project report with project topic and self-assessment sections, weekly self-assessment journals containing instructor feedback, actual computer-generated results, research illustrations and a bibliography. The length of the reports is limited to reduce redundancy.
Another element that impacts student performance is the Project Report Evaluation Criteria Rubric, which includes grade ratings for project criteria, self-analysis criteria and self-assessment journal criteria. The rubric features descriptions of what achievement is considered “excellent,” “very good,” “good,” “fair,” and “poor” quality for each grading level (1.4.2 Fundamentals of Rubrics). Students can take advantage of this information in assessing their own projects before submitting the reports for evaluation because they know exactly what is expected to achieve each grading level for each criteria category.
General Adaptation: It is absolutely necessary to create a visible, direct topic relationship between the course learning outcomes and the purposes/objectives of the problem-based learning projects to enhance student motivation. Even though some students have difficulty deciding what direction to take with the course projects, most students favor the flexibility of making their own selection. The majority of students gradually take pride in their project and skills progress, and progressively understand and accept the purpose of making weekly insights analyses and action plans in self-assessment process.
Linking Problem-Based, Self-Assessment Learning to Lifelong Learning Strategies
The main advantage of including problem-based self-assessment projects in a course is that students learn to plan, organize, investigate, analyze, and manage preparation of an assignment over an eight-week-long period. When students formulate short-term plans on a weekly basis for reaching long-term goals with weekly feedback, they procrastinate much less and produce better project results.
From these project experiences, students gain practice and background in all aspects of the Personal Development Methodology: assessing likes and dislikes, establishing values, determining objectives, selecting mentors, developing plans, collecting data, adjusting plans, reflecting on growth, and achieving growth for future rewards. In this way, students create their own lifelong learning strategies for keeping up-to-date in IT as well as other areas.
Students learn the basics of self-assessment from lecture discussions and readings in the Information Technology Self-Assessment Learning Journal (2004). Self-assessment becomes more relevant to the IT project assignment as students learn about specific methodologies directly related to IT: information processing, learning a new tool, and problem-solving. The flowchart (Figure 1) for “Becoming A Self-Grower in Information Technology” links all of the IT self-learning concepts together, leading up to the SII method of self-assessment, the Personal Development Methodology and lifelong learning strategies.
Students accomplish project and skills growth by conscientiously completing “weekly self-assessment” journals in sequence (Figure 1 in 3.4.8 Practical Implementation of Self-Assessment Journals). Students who judiciously work on their projects for short intervals during the week and regularly note their work on “weekly assessment notes collection point” forms before recording their strengths and action plans on the “self-assessment” journals can take full advantage of their insights analysis for planning the coming week’s activities.
After selecting a project and four IT skills they anticipate using, students begin the self-assessment part of the project by benchmarking the initial status of their strengths and planning their areas of improvement on a “start-up self-assessment” journal. Each week thereafter students use the insights section of the self-assessment journals to analyze their progress, activity results, and attitudes of the previous week. Using this assessment, they reference their suitable strengths, propose their areas of improvement, and outline their short- and long-term plans for the next week.
Much of the success of the self-assessment process depends on the weekly review of completed self-assessment journals by lab instructors. This project self-assessment process takes extra time to implement, especially for large classes (for example, an IT course of 1,000 students); however, providing self-assessment feedback is facilitated through lab sections of 30 or fewer students. Graduate student lab instructors trained in self-assessment practices become quite effective in providing feedback and counseling to students about project development and skills improvement.
The instructor’s weekly review of the journals features ink-written feedback, both compliments and suggestions, to each student. The reviewers pay special attention to activity results and supporting skills improvement related to project progress in providing feedback. The journals are signed and dated weekly by the instructors. No grades are written on the journals, although the lab instructor notes a tentative score. Students who do not reference weekly project activities on their journals are asked to meet with the lab or lecture instructor to discuss project progress and assessment feedback. A graded evaluation during the fourth week of the project documents students’ progress by verifying the content of the self-assessment journals to actual project developments presented by the students.
General Adaptation: Regardless of the course topic and corresponding outcome-related projects or activities, self-assessment is a viable alternative for encouraging student responsibility for learning. In most cases, focusing the analysis of self-assessment journal process on a specific discipline will improve student acceptance of using self-assessment in conjunction with project-based learning. In the IT course, for example, students improved such specific skills as using computers, information processing, problem-solving, and critical thinking through the problem-based self-assessment project development. Finally, self-assessment practices similar to those described above will motivate student performance and stimulate the development of lifelong learning strategies utilizing the Personal Development Methodology skills.
Student Observations of Problem-Based, Self-Assessment Projects
Giving students a choice of five varied IT-related projects, each with many options, actually initiates the project problem-solving process. It also tends to motivate students and raise their interest in the project. So, what do students think and feel about using self-assessment for problem-based project learning?
One male student with prior computer background, reflecting on the success of his advanced computer system design project, reports, “During this project I developed systematic thinking and planning skills, sharpened my eye for precision and self-reflection skills. My nature is to tackle a project all at once. It was difficult to review [journals] each week and critically analyze my program for the week. Ultimately, I felt that the structure of the project was essential and allowed me to make good use of a semester project!”
A female student, who used the problem-solving project to modify a family print shop database system, recalls, “Self-assessment was the most difficult skill to improve, as my attitude toward the beginning was predominately negative. But as my self-assessment improved, the other skills improved as well. My abilities to self-assess critical thinking, decision-making and problem-solving have improved. Not only can one qualitatively analyze by comparing different actions, moods and value of content, but one can also quantitatively analyze such factors as time spent, data input, and output.”
A male student combined the learning of a computer application project with designing a “dream” computer system. He sums up his project self-assessment journal experience this way: “The whole process was a cumulative learning experience. My main learning came from following through with the action plans I laid out in my self-assessments and through trial and error. The process of writing down the direction you need to go was a good experience and a valuable learning tool. It was a learn-as-you-go experience because I would discover more about the program as I worked with it, or I would formulate new ideas of what I wanted my dream computer to be like.”
Concluding Thoughts
Problem-based projects must be designed to correlate very closely with the stated objectives of a course to maximize learning outcomes. Moreover, integrating the self-assessment journal process into project development will increase student learning even further because it places the responsibility of performance on the student. The improved project experience, as noted from student quotes, is well worth the extra effort, even though self-assessment journals require additional management procedures, especially with large classes. Best of all, combining problem-based learning with self-assessment presents students with a full set of methodologies for developing self-grower lifelong learning strategies.
References
Krumsieg, K. & Miller, R. (2004). Information technology self-assessment learning journal. Lisle, IL: Pacific Crest.
Miller, R. (2005). Humanities and social science sections course manual for introduction to computers. (Course Pack). Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University.