Consumer Studies is a valuable and multifaceted subject in South African schools, requiring that teachers in the subject are well prepared. Pre-service Consumer Studies teachers need to be prepared to become lifelong learners to cope with the dynamic nature of the subject, as well as to develop various 21st century skills to be able to deal with the demands of these times. Structured guidance, however, could not be uncovered for the preparation of pre-service Consumer Studies teachers to empower them with the requirements for Consumer Studies education. Sett-directed learning is a process that supports the developn1ent of various 21st century skills, including lifelong learning, and could thus contribute to the development of preservice Consumer Studies teachers, if included in their preparation. A suitable teaching-leaming strategy that could be utilised in the preparation module for Consumer Studies teachers, as well as a vehicle to promote self-directed learning as part of such preparation, was identified in the form of project-based learning. A qualitative case study was employed to investigate how project-based learning as a teaching-learning strategy could promote self-directed learning in a pre-service Consumer Studies teacher preparation module. Project-based learning was found to foster the development of various skills as part of the process, including planning and collaboration skills. Subject content, consistent with what is required to be taught in Consumer Studies education on high school level, was developed and self-directed learning was promoted in participants using project-based learning. Recommendations were suggested for the preparation of pre-service Consumer Studies teachers, as well as for the effective structuring of projects and project-based learning in Consumer Studies. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This diploma thesis deals with the inclusion of project days in Natural history lessons at elementary schools in Most and nearby villages. The diploma thesis is divided into three parts. The theoretical part is devoted to origin and history of project-based learning in the world and in czech schools, theoretical concepts that are directly related to project-based learning, and also the incusion of project-based learning into present educational proces, advantages and disadvantages of project-based learning. The research part of the thesis and the main research problem focuses on using the project-based learning at primary school. The research part is the result of a questionnaire survey that I realized at selected elementary schools. In the process of researching was used a questionnaire method, which i sone of the most common tools for data collection. Teachers from these schools took care of completing the statistical data. The questionnaire was created and distributed electronically. In the practical part I present the project day "Tree Day" which I realized at lower secondery school Obránců míru in Most. KEY WORDS Project-based learning, project day, science teaching

São muitas as pesquisas nos dias de hoje que buscam por métodos e ferramentas para aumentar a autonomia do aluno na condução dos processos de aprendizagem, uma vez que os métodos tradicionais de ensino nem sempre se mostram eficazes na formação de estudantes com capacidade crítica, coerente com as necessidades do mundo atual. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar de que modo uma atividade de Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos (ABPr), apoiada por um ambiente tecnológico desenvolvido para este fim, pode contribuir no desenvolvimento de projetos por meio de recursos de recomendação de conteúdo e ferramentas de colaboração entre pares. Para isto é utilizado uma abordagem ativa de aprendizagem, a ABPr, definida como um método de aprendizagem centrado no aluno e que enfatiza atividades para o desenvolvimento de projetos. Durante este processo os alunos podem tomar suas próprias decisões e agir sozinhos ou em grupos. Para a aplicação do método proposto foi estruturada uma atividade educacional, que consiste no desenvolvimento de um projeto a partir das investigações dos alunos em relação a um tema proposto pelo professor. O desenvolvimento deste projeto se inicia e termina em sala de aula, entretanto as fases intermediárias podem ocorrer em outros locais. Para a execução da atividade foi desenvolvida uma ferramenta que incentiva a colaboração entre os alunos. Isto permite uma maior interação entre os participantes e também a possibilidade dos alunos colaborarem nos projetos uns dos outros. Durante o desenvolvimento de seus projetos, a ferramenta sugere materiais complementares relacionados ao assunto tratado, como forma auxiliar os alunos em seus processos investigativos. Para a avaliação do trabalho proposto foi estruturada uma pesquisa quali-quantitativa, na modalidade estudo de caso, com coleta de dados por meio da análise de projetos, registro de atividades, questionários e entrevistas. Os resultados obtidos através dos experimentos realizados demonstraram que a atividade educacional proposta por este trabalho contribuiu de forma significativa para o desenvolvimento de projetos e para uma maior interação entre os alunos. / Many research works focus on the development of methods and tools to increase student autonomy in the conduct of learning processes, as traditional teaching methods are not always effective in training students with critical skills, in accordance with the needs of today's world. This study aims to investigate how a Project-based Learning (PBL) activity, supported by a technological environment developed for this purpose, can contribute to the development of projects by means of content recommendation resources and collaboration tools among peers. For this reason, an active learning approach is used, PBL, defined as a student-centered learning method that emphasizes activities for project development. During this process students can make their own decisions and act alone or in groups. For the application of the proposed method an educational activity was structured consisting in the development of a project based on students' investigations related to a topic proposed by the teacher. The development of this project starts and ends in the classroom, but the intermediate stages can occur in other places. For the execution of the activity, a tool was developed for fostering collaboration between students. This allows a higher interaction between participants and the possibility of students to collaborate on each other's projects. During the development of their projects, the tool suggests additional materials related to the subject at hand, as a way to assist students in their research processes. For the evaluation of the proposed work a quali-quantitative study was structured, with data collection performed from project analysis, activity logging, questionnaires and interviews. Results from the experiments performed showed that the educational activity proposed by this work contributed significantly to the development of projects and for a higher interaction among students.

A utilização de métodos ativos na educação é um dos grandes desafios atuais. A Aprendizagem baseada em Projetos - ABPr é uma das abordagens que guiam os alunos em uma investigação ativa através de uma questão central, resolvendo um problema do mundo real e que, geralmente, requer um resultado final prático. Apesar da existência de novas abordagens pedagógicas, nem sempre é simples a tarefa de envolver os alunos nas atividades propostas pelos professores. Uma perspectiva que promove o engajamento dos alunos é a Gamificação, definida resumidamente como a utilização de elementos de jogos em ambientes não jogos. Ela vem sendo empregada em diversas pesquisas no campo educacional, porém, existe a necessidade de desenvolvimento de estudos mais aprofundados buscando investigar como as mecânicas de jogos podem ser relacionadas com a educação. Esta pesquisa tem objetivo de investigar de que modo um Ambiente Gamificado, para apoio a ABPr, pode contribuir com os processos colaborativos no desenvolvimento dos projetos dos alunos. Na pesquisa elaborou-se um modelo de atividade de ABPr, que serviu de base para concepção do Ambiente Gamificado. A estrutura deste ambiente é composta por mecânicas de jogos como desafios, pontos, níveis, ranking e o quadro de experiência colaborativa dentro do Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem MOODLE. Foi realizado um experimento com duas turmas no curso superior de Administração da Universidade Federal do Maranhão. A pesquisa foi estruturada com abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa. Como análise realizou-se os cruzamentos dos dados a partir dos registros no ambiente, questionário aplicado aos alunos, entrevistas com os professores e análise dos projetos desenvolvidos. Como resultados é possível afirmar que a Gamificação na atividade de ABPr promoveu a colaboração entre os alunos no Ambiente Gamificado e as suas colaborações contribuíram para o desenvolvimento dos projetos dos alunos. / The use of active methods in education is one of the major current challenges. The Project-based Learning - PjBL is one of the approaches that guide students in active inquiry through a central question, solving a real world problem and it generally requires a practical outcome. Despite the existence of new pedagogical approaches, it is not always simple task to engage students in activities proposed by the teachers. A perspective that promotes student engagement is the Gamification, briefly defined as the use of game elements in non-gaming environments. It has been used in several studies in the educational field, however, there is a need to develop further studies seeking to investigate how game mechanics can be related to education. This research aims to investigate why a Gamified Environment, to support PjBL, can contribute with collaborative processes in the development of student projects. In the research elaborated a PjBL activity model, which served as the basis for creation of Gamified Environment. The structure of this environment consists of game mechanics as challenges, points, levels, rankings and collaborative experience board in the MOODLE Learning Management System. An experiment was conducted with two groups in the higher education course in Business Administration at Federal University of Maranhão. The research was structured with quantitative and qualitative approach. As analysis was realized the crossing data from the logs in the environment, questionnaire deployed to the students, interviews with teachers and analysis of projects developed. As a result we can say that the Gamification in PjBL activity promoted the collaboration among students in Gamified Environment and his collaborations contributed to the development of student projects.

Novas metodologias de ensino com enfoque na participação ativa dos alunos vêm sendo experimentadas na Educação Básica com a finalidade melhorar a aprendizagem dos conteúdos programáticos. Dessa forma, neste trabalho investigamos os efeitos motivacionais que uma sequência didática baseada na Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos promoveu em alunos do primeiro ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola pública do interior do estado do Rio de Janeiro. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida com um desenho misto. Qualitativa em primeiro momento para analisar a receptividade e a motivação dos alunos a um novo método de ensino. Em segundo momento, na etapa quantitativa, a amostra foi composta por 72 alunos com delineamento de pesquisa quase experimental com aplicação de pré e pós-teste utilizando grupos de controle e experimental com contrabalanceamento. Para tanto foram desenvolvidas duas propostas de sequências didáticas utilizando a Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos como método de ensino concomitante ao ensino tradicional de Matemática. A primeira sequência didática propôs que os alunos divididos em equipes sugerissem melhorias na infraestrutura predial da escola para tanto dever iam confeccionar a planta baixa e orçamento de custos das modificações sugeridas. Ao final, apresentaram os resultados a comunidade escolar. A segunda sequência didática propôs que os alunos, também divididos em equipes, sugerissem a comunidade escolar medidas de uso consciente de energia elétrica a partir das atividades investigativas em suas casas. Para tanto efetuaram o cálculo consumo diário em kWh dos aparelhos elétricos de suas casas, em seguida estimaram o consumo mensal por meio do conceito de proporcionalidade de uma função polinomial de 1º grau e por fim analisaram os dados coletados. Os resultados qualitativos indicam que os alunos gostaram de trabalhar cooperativamente, saber como aplicar a Matemática em seu cotidiano, além de sentirem mais motivados e participativos. Os resultados quantitativos indicam que não foram observadas alterações significativas entre a Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos e o método de ensino tradicional nos aspectos motivação para aprender e atitudes em relação à Matemática, por outro lado no aspecto desempenho acadêmico, em uma das turmas onde foi utilizada a Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos apresentou melhor desempenho que a outra turma onde se utilizou o método tradicional de ensino. Dado o exposto conclui-se que os alunos se mostram mais entusiasmados quando participam de atividades escolares colaborativas que envolvam atividades reais e concretas. Assim, a utilização da Aprendizagem Baseada em Projetos em concomitância com o método de ensino tradicional pode contribuir para melhoria no desempenho acadêmico e motivação para aprender. / New teaching methodologies with the approach in active students participation are being tried in basic education to improve learning of programmatic content. Thus, in this work, we investigate the motivational effects that a didactic sequence based on Project-Based Learning promoted in first-year students of the High School of a public school in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The research was developed with a mixed design. Qualitative in the first moment to analyze the receptivity and the motivation of the students to a new method of teaching. In the second moment, the quantitative stage, the sample consisted of 72 students with a quasi-experimental design with an application of pretestposttest using control groups and experimental with counterbalance. For this, was developed two proposals of didactic sequences using Project-Based Learning as a method of teaching concomitant with the traditional teaching of Mathematics. The first didactic sequence proposed that the students divided into teams suggested improvements in the school\'s building infrastructure so they should make the floor plan and cost budget of the suggested modifications. At the end, they presented the results to the school community. The second didactic sequence proposed that the students, also divided into teams, suggested to the school community measures of conscious use of electrical energy from the investigative activities in their houses. In order to do so, they calculated the daily consumption in kWh of the electric appliances of their homes, then they estimated the monthly consumption through the concept of proportionality of a polynomial function of 1st degree and finally analyzed the data collected. The qualitative results indicate that the students liked to work cooperatively, to know how to apply Mathematics in their daily life, in addition to feeling more motivated and participative. The quantitative results indicate that there were no significant differences between the Project-Based Learning and the traditional teaching method in the aspects motivation to learn and attitudes towards Mathematics, on the other hand in the academic performance aspect, in one of the classes where the Project-Based Learning was used presented better performance than the other class where the traditional method of teaching was used. Given the above, concludes that students are more enthusiastic when they participate in collaborative school activities that involve real and concrete activities. Thus, the use of Project-Based Learning in concomitance with the traditional teaching method can contribute to improvement in academic performance and motivation to learn.

Dans la formation du baccalauréat STD2A, il n’est pas question d’enseigner à des élèves la profession de designer, contrairement aux formations supérieures, mais de les préparer à intégrer ces formations. Son objectif est de donner plus des éléments de compréhension des démarches de conception qu’une compétence professionnelle de designer. La finalité de ce travail est de regarder comment l’activité de conception est enseignée au lycée. Le cadre théorique interroge les articulations entre activité, instrument, milieu, tâche et compétences et activité de conception. Le cadre de l’étude a été circonscrit à l’épreuve certificative « Projet en Design et AA » . La méthodologie s’appuie (1) sur une analyse a priori de la tâche prescrite par l’institution et redéfinie par des enseignants travaillant dans trois lycées différents, et (2) sur une analyse de l’activité d’un échantillon de leurs élèves. Les activités sont regardées à travers des entretiens menés avec les enseignants sur le dispositif qu’ils conçoivent, à travers des entretiens menés avec les élèves sur les tâches qu’ils ont réellement effectuées, et à travers les signes produits par les uns et les autres. Les résultats montrent d’une part, que l’activité d’apprentissage est instrumentée plus par les représentations différentes que les enseignants ont de la situation de référence prescrite que par leur représentation d’un état prescrit de compétence de conception. D’autre part, bien que l’activité de l’élève soit motivée par l’obtention du baccalauréat et non par la conception d’artefacts, il élabore des instruments sémiotiques et matériels propres à l’activité des étudiants qui apprennent à devenir designers. / The secondary school leaving certificate in Science and Technology: Design and Applied Arts prepares pupils to integrate postsecondary design programmes.The purpose of this study was to investigate how design activity is taught in secondary school. In an attempt to highlight the impact of the environment on the learning activity, the theoretical framework questions the relationship between activity, instrument, environment, task and skills, design activity.The study favoured an exploratory analysis based on the observation of real situations in an unambiguous and operational way. The scope of the study was limited to the certification exam “Project in D and AA”. The research design was empirical and based on (1) a priori analysis of the task prescribed by the institution and redefined by teachers belonging to three different high schools, and (2) an analysis of the activity of a sample of their pupils. Observation tools were based on the abstention from direct observation. The activities were viewed: through interviews conducted with teachers; through interviews conducted with pupils on the tasks they have actually accomplished; through the signs produced by teachers and pupils. The results show that the learning activity is instrumented to a greater extent by the different representations teachers have of the prescribed reference situation than by their representation of a prescribed state of design skills. In addition, although the pupil’s activity was motivated by the obtention of a school leaving certificate and not by the design of artefacts, the pupil develops semiotic and material instruments specific to the activity of students who train to become designers.

This research explores the link between team leadership and team performance. Firstly, it is argued here that leadership performance is positively related to team performance. Secondly, it is hypothesized that leaders' personality profiles have an impact on their leadership performance. Thirdly, it is postulated that team role balance is also associated with team performance. Results show that the leadership performance of 4th-year student leaders is significantly related to the performance of the IDP teams that they lead; that is to say, the better the leadership performance the better the team performance. Results also demonstrate that the leader students' personality profile may impact on their leadership performance. The results showed no association between team role balance and the performance of the IDP teams. / Esta investigación explora la relación entre el liderazgo del equipo y el rendimiento del equipo. En primer lugar, se sostiene que el desempeño del liderazgo se correlaciona positivamente con el rendimiento del equipo. En segundo lugar, se formula la hipótesis de que los perfiles de personalidad de los líderes tienen un impacto en su desempeño como líderes. En tercer lugar, se postula que el equilibrio de los roles de los diferentes miembros del equipo también afecta el rendimiento del equipo.Los resultados demuestran que el desempeño del liderazgo está significativamente relacionado con el desempeño de los equipos, es decir, cuanto mejor es el rendimiento de liderazgo, mayor es el rendimiento del equipo. Los resultados también manifiestan que los perfiles de personalidad de los líderes pueden tener un impacto sobre su liderazgo. Los resultados no mostraron ninguna relación entre el equilibrio de los roles del equipo y el desempeño de los equipos.

The purposes of this study was to develop a teaching program about International project-based learning through WebQuest and explore the effectiveness of the teaching program on students' English learning motivation and intercultural awareness. The participants were second-year junior high school students¡]14 boys and 12 girls included¡^, The experiment lasted 5 months (25 classes included). The teaching effects were analyzed both with qualative and quantative methods. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1. Applying WebQuest in teaching can help students' finish their tasks and know more about the world. 2. The results showed that the teaching program was effective on improving participants' intrinsic learning motivation. 3. The results showed that the teaching program was not effective on improving participants' intercultural awareness. However, their culture acceptance is promoted and they are more involved in world issues. 4. The participants reported high percentage of satisfaction with the WebQuest in English learning. They became more interested in learning English with technology and hope to continue this curriculum.

WebQuest is one of the popular technology integration strategies in school environment. This study is conducted to overcome existing problems for both teachers and students in higher education by bringing dynamism to existing approach. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to design, develop, implement the new approach of the WebQuest, and assess the experiences of the participants that they encounter in the dynamic WebQuest environment. The participants of this study were the students of two undergraduate courses offered by the Secondary Science and Math Education Department (SSME) and Computer Education and Instructional Technology Department (CEIT) of a private university. Seventy undergraduate students participated in this study. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative measures in order to develop explanatory thoughts about the WebQuest site, projects and perceptions towards the process and the project. The findings of this study showed that participants favored the WebQuest site and the project, which is dynamically created. Furthermore, they offered valuable suggestions to improve the effectiveness of the system.

Through the widespread use of the Internet, WebQuest has become one of the popular techniques in a variety of fields of science and arts for teaching different age groups and levels. This study is conducted to research the effectiveness of this approach in English language learning and to determine possible problems in its implementation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to design, develop, and implement this new approach and to evaluate the learners&rsquo / experiences with it. The participants of this study were the students of a preparatory school at a state university. Twenty-five learners participated in this study. In line with the scope of the research, a WebQuest site was designed which require learners to complete a task related to the curriculum and learning objectives of their English courses. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to assess the learner perceptions about the WebQuest site design, the steps of the process, group work, and the contribution of the application to language learning. According to the findings of this study, participants appreciated the WebQuest approach and they provided important suggestions for future applications.