1. 陳其芬 國立高雄第一科技大學 應用英語系副教授
如何指導實務專題
How to Work with Students
in Project-Based Learning
陳其芬
國立高雄第一科技大學
應用英語系副教授

2. Questions for teachers:
你認為什麼是實務專題? (What)
你認為為什麼要訓練學生做實務專題? (Why)
你覺得教實務專題的困難是什麼? (How)

3. Outline What is project-based learning? Why project-based learning?
How to work with students to develop their projects
How to evaluate students’ projects
Q and A

4. 1. What is project-based learning?
Project-based learning is
“a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks.”
(Buck Institute for Education, 2007)

5. 1. What is project-based learning?
Project-based learning is
“an individual or group activity that goes on over a period of time, resulting in a product, presentation, or performance. It typically has a time line and milestones, and other aspects of formative evaluation as the project proceeds.”
(Moursund, 2007)

6. 1. What is project-based learning?
Important features:
Systematic design
Driving questions
Constructive investigation
Learner autonomy
Real-world issues
Collaboration
Opportunities for reflection and transfer

7. 2. Why project-based learning?
Promote “learning by doing”
Increase motivation
Enhance inquiry skills
Improve critical thinking & problem solving skills
Develop communication skills
Provide opportunities for collaboration
Develop a sense of accomplishment
Prepare students for the workplace

8. 3. How to work with students?
Challenges for project-based learning:
forms of projects
time management for both teachers and students
class size, grouping of students
topic selection
teacher’s role
teaching methods
project evaluation (formative & summative)
students’ language problems …?

9. 3-1 Forms of Projects a research study a booklet or newspaper
a piece of creative writing
a presentation with powerpoint slides
a drama
a reader’s theater
a video
a website …?

10. 3-2 Time Management
Month 1: Orientation and basic inquiry skills building
- select a topic & develop a project idea
Month 2: Project design and data collection
- develop a workable plan
- collect data
Month 3: Information searching & critical thinking skills building
- search, evaluate, organize, analyze, synthesize information
Month 4: Drafting & revising / Practicing & rehearsing
Month 5: Presentation of the project & final reflection

11. 3.3 Class Size & Grouping Large class: 40 students
Grouping of students
number of students in each group?
group assignment by the teacher or students?
random assignment or purposeful assignment?
basis of group assignment? (language proficiency, students’ interests, learning styles, abilities/talents, peer closeness?)

12. 3.4 Topic Selection 3 Principles: Choose a research topic that
you want to do (interest & enthusiasm)
you can do (ability & doability), and
is worth doing (significance).

13. 3.4 Topic Selection Start with questions: Questions of fact
Questions of definition
Questions of value (strengths & weaknesses)
Questions of causality
Questions of consequence / impact

14. 3.4 Topic Selection From general to specific: Technology and life 
How has Facebook changed the way we communicate?
Do we need surveillance cameras on every corner?
Marketing strategies 
The image of women in TV commercials
Weight loss 
Can diet pills help people lose weight?
Analysis of characters in fairytales 
Gender bias in three popular fairytales

15. 3.5 Teacher’s Role The teacher is a coach, facilitator, guide,
advisor,
mentor…
But the teacher is NOT a
director,
designer,
manager,
producer of the project

16. 3.6 Teaching Methods
Stage 1: Orientation and basic inquiry skills building
- select a topic & develop a project idea
Stage 2: Project design & data collection
- develop a workable plan
- collect data
Stage 3: Information searching & critical thinking skills building
- search, evaluate, organize, analyze, synthesize information
Stage 4: Drafting & revising / Practicing & rehearsing
Stage 5: Presentation of the project & final reflection

17. Stage 1 Basic inquiry skills building
An inquiry is a systematic investigation, consisting of
questions or problems
data
analysis & interpretation of data
“Research is not only about reporting on what others have already said; it is about joining the conversation, discovering, clarifying, refuting, extending, or adding to the body of knowledge in a field.” (p. 2)
Ruszkiewicz, J., Walker, J. R., & Pemberton, M. A. (2003). Bookmarks: A Guide to Research and Writing. Longman.

18. Stage 2 Project design & Data collection
Develop a project design
Non-research Type
a booklet or newspaper
a piece of creative writing
a presentation with ppt slides
a drama or reader’s theater
a video
a website 1, 2
Research Type
case study
survey study
experimental study
ethnographic study
literary analysis
document analysis

19. Stage 2 Project design & Data collection
Write a project proposal including
topic,
purpose,
motivation,
significance,
questions to be answered / problems to be solved,
methods (how the data is collected and analyzed),
schedule for project progress

20. Stage 3 Information Searching & critical thinking Skills
Finding information
Evaluating information
Working with information

21. Stage 3-1 Finding information
Using library sources
Conducting electronic searches
Writing to request information from professional organizations or experts

22. A) Conducting electronic searches
Using more than one search engine
Reading the URL carefully
Refining your search

23. Reading the URL carefully
What kind of information source do you think is more reliable for your topic?
Is the domain extension appropriate for the content?
xxx.com xxx.edu xxx.gov xxx.org xxx.net
What agency/institution "published" the page?
台灣光華雜誌 Sinorama 英文版
行政院新聞局英文網站(Government Information Office)
The Purdue Online Writing Lab
Wikipedia (English version)

24. Refining your research (1)
Using advanced search functions

25. Refining your research (2)
Broaden or narrow your search by combing words or phrases using the Boolean operators:
AND, OR, and NOT.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a word stem provides for all variants on the word stem.
Example: educat* will retrieve educate, educating, education, educational, educator, educators, etc.
Use parentheses to clarify relationships between search terms.
Example: (television or mass media) and women
This search looks for both "television and women" and "mass media and women."
Use quotation marks (“xxx xxx”) around a phrase to find an exact match. It means all the words in the phrase
cannot be separated.

26. B) Writing emails to request information
Writing s to request information from professional organizations or experts
formal address term
self-introduction
purpose / request
reasons
thanking
signature

27. Stage 3-2 Evaluating Information
Relevancy: How relevant is the source to your topic?
Currency: Is the source up-to-date?
Authority: Is the source reliable? What are the author’s credentials?
Purpose: Why is this information published?
Validity: How valid is the information? What evidence does the information provide?
Objectivity: Does the source give a balanced or a one-sided biased view?
Comprehensiveness: Does the source provide an adequate, comprehensive information?

28. Stage 3-3 Working with Information
Classify the information you find (importance, types of sources, key information, etc.).
Distinguish facts from opinions.
Take careful notes (date, author, key points, quotations, citations).
Select direct quotations strategically.
Avoid plagiarism. Always give credit to the originator of the idea for quotations and paraphrases (This shows you’ve done your research and tells readers where to find further information).
Whenever possible, use primary sources.
Summarize sources to highlight key concepts.
Consider whether you need to revise your purpose or refine your claim.

29. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
內容架構：
- Abstract（摘要）
- Table of Contents（目錄）
1) Introduction（前言）
2) Methods（研究方法）
3) Findings/Discussion（結果／討論）
4) Conclusion（結論）
- References（參考書目）

30. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Introduction
background of the topic
motivation for the study
research questions/purpose of the study
significance of the study
Q: Do we need literature review in a research paper?

31. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Methods
(research design, context, data collection, data analysis)
From what sources did you find the information to answer your research questions?
(e.g., online and library references, interview, and responses to the questionnaire)
How did you conduct the interview and who were your interviewees?
How did you design and administer the questionnaire?
Who filled out the questionnaire?
How did you analyze all the data sources?

32. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Findings/Discussion
What did you find by doing this research?
How do you interpret your findings? What do you learn from your findings?
Conclusion
Summary of your findings
Contributions of this research
Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research

33. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
How to write more effectively:
Choose a pattern of organization.
cause and effect
problem and solution
strengths and weaknesses
Comparison and contrast
Make connections and use transitions.

34. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Write a strong introduction.
Begin with a question or a series of question.
Begin by quoting a key source.
Begin by showing that your topic has long been neglected, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
Begin with a story.
Begin with your thesis/purpose.
Write a strong conclusion.
Summarize the main points you have made.
Make recommendations or suggestions.
Link the end to the beginning.
Place your argument in a larger context.
Avoid adding new points

35. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Write persuasively and professionally.
Find language that addresses readers intelligently.
Give specific details.
State ideas positively.
Write concisely and avoid redundancy.
Show and don’t tell. Avoid vague evaluative terms (e.g., adjectives and adverbs).
Avoid vague qualifiers (e.g., quite, pretty, very, sort of, kind of, so, such…).
Use words/phrases showing possibility and tentativeness (e.g., probably, likely, possibly, tend to, seem, appear…). Avoid absolute terms (e.g., always, never, everything, every time…).

36. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Revise your draft from a reader’s perspective.
Review your purpose.
Check the focus.
Evaluate the organization of your paper.
Eliminate unnecessary material.
Check the logic.
Clarify meaning.
Test your conclusion against your introduction.

37. Stage 4 (A) Drafting & Revising
Producing the final paper with a right format.
Spelling
punctuation
cover page
Margins
Spacing
page numbers
fonts and point size
tables and graphs
documentation style (APA/MLA)

38. Stage 4 (B) Practicing & Rehearsing
Pronunciation & script reading practice
Preparation for stage production
Making ppt slides, videos, or webpages
Blocking Rehearsal
Technical Rehearsal
Dress Rehearsal

39. Stage 5 Presentation of the project & final reflection
Videotape students’ presentation.
Ask students to write their personal reflection and analysis of what they have learned by doing this project.
Give awards to students.
Collect students’ projects and “publish” them.

40. 4. How to evaluate students’ projects
Formative evaluation
Evaluation can be done by teachers, peers, or oneself.
Students write weekly learning journals: reflecting on work, checking progress, and identifying areas of strength and weakness.
Students sharing their progress and difficulties in class.
Use portfolio evaluation.

41. 4. How to evaluate students’ projects
Summative evaluation
論文類
內容 40%
創意 20%
語文表達 30%
格式及標點符號 10%
簡報類
內容 30%
簡報設計 20%
表演類
創意 30%
整體表現 10%
* 摘自99年高職外語群專題製作競賽參賽辦法

42. Conclusion
Project-based work involves careful planning and flexibility on the part of the teacher.
Due to the dynamic nature of project-based learning, not all problems can be anticipated.
Project work is organic and unique to each student. This makes the work challenging, but exciting and meaningful to students.

43. Your questions and comments are welcome.
Q & A
Your questions and comments are welcome.
陳其芬 Dr. Chi-Fen Emily Chen 國立高雄第一科技大學 應用英語系副教授 Website: 43