HỌC TẬP QUA ĐỀ ÁN: CON ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN HIỆN ĐẠI HÓA GIÁO DỤC

Specifically, these course objectives are (1) to promote students’ business English language skills and educational technology skills; (2) to give an opportunity for motivated[r]

PROJECT BASED LEARNING:

THE PATH TO EDUCATION MODERNISATION

Le Thi Minh Que * , Can Thuy Lien

Faculty of Foreign Languages – Banking Academy of Vietnam

ABSTRACT

As the year 2020 rapidly approaches a new trend is emerging in ESP educational reform whereby authentic materials are becoming more widely accepted and acknowleged Project-based learning [PBL] is being adopted by educators, parents, policy makers, the business community and many others in a new modernised approach to ESP educational reform It is no surprise that modern technology integration is capturing the imagination of everyone PBL is already making a significant contribution to the creation of workable and meaningful outcomes For those who access this new approach to educational learning it is pivotal to them achieving the highest possible level of academic success This paper discusses the main features of PBL and offers practical ideas on how best to engage the students at the Banking Academy of Vietnam so that their graduation goals are achieved to outstanding levels Business issues are among the featured topics where students and instructors openly discuss the encounters both sides have experienced while implementing various projects Among those taking part are students who are working towards attaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in English language, with Business as their specific major achievement The results reveal that there were numerous obstacles that confronted the students These included project design, language teaching, administrative procedures and an infrastructure that was backward in its approach & implementation All of these were major concerns of PBL inventors

Keywords: PBL; education modernization; technology integration; practical ideas

INTRODUCTION*

Nowadays, many global countries especially

those described as developing nations, have

vastly improved their ESP education by

implementing project-based learning (PBL)

This phenomenon belies the fact that the

broader context of global education has

moved to a real world context Many of these

developed and transitional countries have

joined the momentum PBL has been

especially proactive and has contributed to the

learning process forum in favour of national

education and manpower development

A recent Google search produced 23,300,000

results for ‘Project-Based Learning’ and

12,500,000 hits for ‘technology integration’

The key features of using technology for PBL

are active participation of learners in

evaluation of their own performance and the

development of critical thinking, creativity,

and collaboration

*

Tel: 0987 610000; Email: queltm@hvnh.edu.vn

Within that scenario, many scholars feel that overall Vietnam's future looks promising and the PBL has gradually affirmed its crucial role in the education system [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]; Numerous universities have recently recognized the value of keeping up with professional trends and practices in PBL Take Banking Academy of Vietnam (BA) among them for example, this institution has been using different methods as a strategy option to enhance PBL effectiveness through various types of bachelor projects

Many researchers endeavor to understand and report the implementation of PBL from different perspectives but little research has been done on using technology for PBL in Vietnam

This paper, therefore, focuses on an issue that has seen little literature It seeks to discuss the features of PBL, to understand the challenges and suggest solutions for PBL involvers For the objectives to be achieved, the following questions were addressed in this study

• What are the advantages of PBL and

technology integration?

• What are the practical PBL activities for

students?

• What are challenges and solutions for PBL

implementation?

A qualitative methodology was used and

frequently rehearsed PBL interviews were

conducted to attain a deeper understanding of

the research participants

THE ADVANTAGES OF PBL AND

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION

PBL is a model that organizes learning

around projects According to the definitions

found in PBL handbooks for teachers,

projects are complex tasks, based on

challenging questions or problems

They involve students in design,

problem-solving, decision making, or investigative

activities; they give students the opportunity

to work relatively autonomously over

extended periods of time; and culminate in

realistic products or presentations [5]

Other defining features found in the literature

include authentic content, authentic

assessment, teacher facilitation but not

direction, explicit educational goals, [6],

cooperative learning, reflection, and

incorporation of adult skills [7]

Several research studies [8]; [9]; [10] state

that using technology for PBL

implementation has positive contributions to

ESP education

In general, the most significant benefits to

PBL are defined as:

• Increasing student engagement and

motivation

• Enhancing students’ higher order thinking skills

• These include (creative, reflective and

critical thinking)

• Promoting learner independence and

collaboration

• Offering mobility It can be a time saver

for teachers and students

• Facilitating teaching and learning performance

• Providing students access to target culture

• Teaching students valuable tools for the future

• Increasing effectiveness, efficiency, pace and reduce the costs

Today many ESP or Business English students are frequent flyers, and/or independent travelers They are in search of adventure All the resources of modern technology are readily available to them daily for no extra cost All of them are well versed

in how to manage & use a variety of technological tools common to them in their professional lives These include modernised mobile or smartphones, iPods, tablet PCs, and iPads the provide them with easy access to the interenet They need almost zero training in how to use these 21st Century items of modern technology

Such technology allows for flexibility in location and proves even more successful in terms of human contact and interaction; and they provide tools to encourage autonomous learning

Most importantly, this essential modernisation helps simulate real life work situations and allows teachers to track the ongoing progress of their students regularly Using technology tools for PBL makes lessons more engaging and appealing Some

of these tools include film and video, apps, digital field trips, Podcasts, Pen Pals, Web Quests, online games, blogging, Skype and other resources

PBL ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS Recently, various undergraduate courses at universities in Vietnam in general and at BA

in particular have introduced and implemented different types of projects such

as: The Groups Video Project for speaking course, the Workshop Summary Project for listening course, the Newspaper Project for reading course, and The Group Portfolio

Project for writing course Despite the

different levels, specific objectives,

operational procedures and assessment, these

projects are quite similar in terms of lengths

and overall goals; therefore, within the scope

of this paper, the overview of group projects

is referred to via the following details

The program is generally a 3-credit required

ESP course for English-majored senior

students at upper-intermediate level Each

class consists of 6-7 groups arranging from

35-40 members For the first week (3 of total

24 hours), students worked in groups coached

by an ESP instructor Then the students

received approximately 18 hours of English

instruction over the total 2 month period The

remaining time is for other group activities

such as mini lectures, discussions, technology

training, and communicative teamwork

activities in class, off class and via

www.nicenet.org

Once a project is under way, teachers' roles

shifted to advisers, coaches, and evaluators,

scaffolding students' success with ongoing and

diverse assessments and giving benchmark

grades as key stages of the project were

completed Most importantly, instructors

adjusted the project in response to student input

The group projects focus gives insight into the

key business issues from different perspectives

related to various topics such as Startup,

e-commerce, management, sales and marketing,

advertising, etc The program's goals are

outlined All need to be completed and

achieved during the limited time of the course

Specifically, these course objectives are (1) to

promote students’ business English language

skills and educational technology skills; (2) to

give an opportunity for motivated ESP

students to engage in team work, real business

context; and (3) to prepare students for what

they need to improve in order to meet their

professional English learning goals

Student-produced video has always been an

excellent ESP language learning activity that

requires not only learner participation but also

clear instruction First, the instructors gave a

brief introduction to the computer-editing software that students would be using later (iVideo, Camtasia, Windows Movie Maker, Movavi, Pinnacle Studio, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas) Then they chose partners and brainstormed ideas on business issues that call the attention or controversial opinion is the heart of the project One of the main assignments for their ESP was to write the script for the video When the final scripts were in hand, students assigned roles amongst themselves and determined the detailed group schedule This had to be organized very carefully as each group only had approximately 4 weeks to conduct videotape authentic scenes and edit their project CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR PBL IMPLEMENTATION

Although students encountered some technical challenges, a total of 5-6 group videos per class were finally produced and submitted through Google drive or uploaded

on www.youtube.com (samples available at

v=loqPREkHOfc&app=desktop;

• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders

/0B-GIR8nw2fk7SEFqYWFWay1QNzg?usp=sh aring)

Students were motivated and engaged throughout the project, excited to show their finished video to the other groups and ready

to a a multimedia presentation of their work

to the class

A total of 219 students of 6 classes were involved The results have shown that students recognized PBL as more effective and interesting learning method than traditional lectures Most of the students were highly satisfied with self-directed learning of their own group, and course contents

They were able to use campus background and facilities The project also maintained student focus on English, and it has enriched student-student and student-teacher relationships

Clearly, within the ESP programs, PBL has

taken a central role and this flexible

methodology has allowed for English skills

and business communication skills to be

developed in an integrated way, enabling both

instructors and learners to move beyond the

limitations of the traditional intensive English

curriculum Despite all PBL benefits, these

involvers faced multiple challenges when

integrating technology into their PBL

4.1 One of the hardest aspects of PBL is

designing the project that could match the

curriculum and the requirement output of

MOET In fact, choosing a practical business

project for ESP students is challenging and it

takes time for results when adopting a new

way of teaching and learning to be seen; and

while implementation takes place, it might

not happen as smoothly as one would

anticipate

Often instructors have difficulty scaffolding

students' activities, sometimes giving them

too much independence or too little modeling

and feedback The students often had

difficulty in generating meaningful projects,

managing complexity and time, extending

inquiry activities, team cooperation, and

accessing the technology

This is often a problem within language

teaching because the process can be costly in

terms of time, effort, equipment, materials,

resources, facilities, or funds needed to create

technology-integrated courses Thus, it is

necessary to provide a method of coaching

that allows students to retain control over

their project work and to reach mutual

insights among the instructor and students by

discussing the implications of the move and

making additional suggestions

4.2 Varying levels of tech-savviness of

teachers and learners are another problem

Despite the fact that we are living in the era of

information technology, many teachers still

remain uncomfortable with the idea of

integration into classrooms

One reasoning could be because they do not want to change Even those teachers who are totally committed to integration whether online or offline are often uncomfortable with doing it effectively

This is due to several factors, including lack

of preparation and or effective tools, negative perceptions about technology in general, a lack of buy-in regarding the effectiveness of classroom technologies, or very limited time and personal busy schedules

Conversely students now have more varied and very specific needs This often requires a teacher to choose only appropriate technology tools for PBL implementation for those learners with different learning styles, maturity levels, and other characteristics that could affect language performance

4.3 Another resulting problem is concerned

with the assistive technology challenges of accessibility, the availability and reliability of the technology PBL is an instructional approach that requires teachers and students

to work collaboratively to solve authentic problems guided by a driving question and often making use of technology for research and the presentation of findings

Although schools are increasing budgets for technology and teacher professional development, equipment and personnel, the educational arena still lags behind other sectors in the quality and frequency in which technology is merged into day-to-day operations

Technology tools for ESP education have been provided but lack of library resources, outdated computers, limited internet access and interrupted maintenance for the instruments are the main problems Therefore, schools needs to ensure high-quality resources by investing in more resources (e.g financial, human, technical) and publish guidance available to support instructors do

an effective job

4.4 It is the challenge for the critical attitudes

towards the technology used for PBL

assessments since they are not quite

universally acceptable for its reliability and

validity of the results

The practitioners argue that using technology

for these assessments are too general and do

not fulfill the standard and criteria established

by MOET or educational experts The costs of

shifting to project-based instruction and

assessment are not only hard to quantify, but

also they primarily involve time and resources

for professional development Therefore, if

teachers are new to performance assessment,

they may need to learn how to write rubrics

and help students understand what

high-quality project work looks like

In addition, technology often bemuses teaches

because it changes so fast It is ‘constantly

evolving’ (British Council, 2013-171) and it

is nearly impossible for teaching and learning

to keep up with these changes So, a newly

designed and updated assessment system

must accurately measure and promote the

complex thinking and learning goals that are

known to be critical to students' academic

success and to their eventual sustained

achievement and contribution to their

communities

4.5 Explaining PBL to the policymakers and

community is challenging because PBL may

be very different from the traditional method

of instruction Although PBL processes offer a

chance for the development of better student-

student and student-teacher relationship,

conservative education policies and

administrative issues mainly involving in

electronic paper work, technical support,

student discipline, observations and

evaluations, time management and school

finance still prevent instructors from including

additional guidelines and make them a part of

the classroom policy allowing to deliver the

lessons in the way they choose

Another keenly reported barrier to technology

we can incorporate into PBL implementation is that it can be misunderstood, misused and misinterpreted Therefore, its essential to actively encourage administrators, policymakers, and community members to be involved in PBL Nominate or select them as guest speakers with highly skilled expertise on the problem topics or issues Invite them to be key members of a panel to which students can present their solutions to stimulate and enhance community understanding and support

CONCLUSION

In summary For PBL involvers, its effectiveness is unquestionable for many positive effects, and PBL is believed to be a powerful technique that all instructors should have in their repertoire for the 21st century This study also reaffirms the previous research findings that learning in a PBL environment is exciting for students and rewarding for teachers It shows that students are satisfied with the PBL classes and they recognized them as equally effective when compared to traditional instructor-led classes However, obstacles in project design, language teaching, administrative procedures, and the backward infrastructure would be the most challenging when implementing PBL The findings also suggest that community involvement and professional development may help alleviate some of the perceived challenges PBL involvers face when putting PBL into practice

REFERENCE

1 Danh Duc Nguyen (2009), A Study of the Implementation of a Problem-Based Learning Approach in University Classes in Vietnam.

https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:6757/ Nguyen.pdf

2 Nguyen Van Khanh (2015), “Towards Improving ESP Teaching/Learning in Vietnam’s Higher Education Institutions: Integrating

Project-Based Learning into ESP Courses”, International

Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics,

Vol 1, No 4, December 2015

3 Nguyen Thi Van Lam (2011), “Project-based

learning in teaching English as a foreign

language”, VNU Journal of Science, Foreign

Languages,27, pp 140-146

4 Felipe, A et al (2016), “Vietnamese Students

Awareness towards a Project Based Learning

Environment”, Proceedings of the 8th

International Symposium on Project Approaches

in Engineering Education and 14th Active

Learning in Engineering Education

Workshop, Guimares, Portugal, 6-8 July 2016,

p.324

5 Jones, B F., Rasmussen, C M., & Moffitt, M

C (1997), Real-life problem solving: A

collaborative approach to interdisciplinary

learning, Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association

6 Moursund, D (1999), Project-based learning using information technology, Eugene, OR:

International Society for Technology in Education

7 Diehl, W., Grobe, T., Lopez, H., & Cabral, C

(1999), Project-based learning: A strategy for teaching and learning, Boston, MA: Center for

Youth Development and Education, Corporation for Business, Work, and Learning

8 British Council (2013) ‘Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching’, ISBN 978-0-86355-713-2, 20, 171

9 Fatemeh Ghanavati Nasab (2015), “Tên bài

báo”, Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, Volume 2, Issue 6, 2015,

Available online at www.jallr.ir ISSN: 2376-760X 10, pp.171-175

10 Kelliel Woodson (2017), How to Use Technology Effectively to Transform Your ESL Classroom, Available online at

http://www.fluentu.com/english/educator/blog/esl-technology-resources-for-students/

TÓM TẮT

HỌC TẬP QUA ĐỀ ÁN:

CON ĐƯỜNG ĐẾN HIỆN ĐẠI HÓA GIÁO DỤC

Lê Thị Minh Quế * , Cấn Thúy Liên

Khoa Ngoại ngữ - Học viện Ngân hàng

Trong bối cảnh toàn cầu hóa giáo dục với xu hướng ứng dụng công nghệ trong học tập thông qua

đề án (PBL), giáo dục đại học Việt nam đã có nhiều chuyển biến đáng kể, góp phần thúc đẩy phát triển PBL như là một cách tiếp cận mới cho cải cách giáo dục Bài viết này đề cập đến các đặc tính của PBL và các ý tưởng thực tiễn mà Học viện Ngân hàng Việt Nam đã thu hút người học đối với các vấn đề trong kinh doanh cũng như những trở ngại của sinh viên và giảng viên trong quá trình thực hiện đề án Phương pháp phân tích định tính đã được áp dụng và các cuộc phỏng vấn đã được tiến hành để đạt được sự hiểu biết sâu sắc hơn về PBL Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy việc thiết kế

đề án, ngôn ngữ giảng dạy, thủ tục hành chính và cơ sở hạ tầng bất cập là những trở ngại chính của những người tham gia PBL

Từ khóa: PBL; hiện đại hóa giáo dục; tích hợp công nghệ; ý tưởng thực tiễn; Học viện Ngân hàng

Ngày nhận bài: 21/12/2017; Ngày hoàn thiện: 06/01/2018; Ngày duyệt đăng: 28/12/2018

*

Tel: 0987 610000; Email: queltm@hvnh.edu.vn