Influence of Project-Based Learning in Subject Information and Communication Technology on Subjective Perception of Academic Achievement of High School Students

Abstract

The paper describes a research conducted on the Faculty of Education of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen in 2011. The research aims to map the influence of project-based learning on the subjective perception of the academic achievement of students in the subject Information and communication technology (ICT). Target group was composed of high school students. Described research is a part of a broader research conception that focuses on a potential of project-based learning in educational area Information and communication technology. This conception of a project-based learning application in an educational area of ICT was determined problematic by an initial survey. Within the scope of this broader conception we already focused on adolescent student experience during project-based learning in ICT that included possibilities of emotional disorder reduction, published in (Mainz, Lovasov?, Magdin, 2012). This time, we focused on a potential of project-based learning in an area of perception of the academic achievement. Student?s performance in a subject is not determined only by his skills, but also by a manner in which he is aware of his skills. Self-perception is a major factor that influences learning, work motivation and determines a level of anxiety experienced by student in a task situations (Balcar, 1983). The research design consists of a preparatory part and a research and implementation part. In the preparatory phase, projects have been implemented in high school lessons of ICT. The projects were drawn according to the methodology of the Buck Institute for Education that allows very clear definition of boundaries among project-based learning, theme-based learning and problem-based learning. In the research and implementation part, the self-concept of student?s academic achievement was observed in these categories: evaluation of common intellectual skills, evaluation of specific skills for informatics and self-confidence in a performance in a context of a social group. For the purposes of the observation, a modified standardized psychometric tool - SPAS "Self-concept of the Academic Achievement of Children" (Matějček, V?gnerov?, 1992) was used. This tool was successfully used many times for evaluation of newly implemented educational methods. The results were processed according to the manual for the standardized psychometric tool and were compared to the results of control groups, in which project-based method was not implemented. The research was conducted in cooperation with the Department of Computer Science and Educational Technology and the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Education of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.