PBL group assessment and evaluation for Irish and international students

The context for this project is the Institute of Technology (IoT) sector and the aim is to research and investigate a new marking model that could be used for group work, together with alternative formative assessment and feedback. The strategy for learning and teaching is based around problem and project based learning. The research project is set in the framework of a third year development project in Electronic Engineering and a third year design brief in Architectural Technology and utilises action research methods. The Electronic Engineering project runs continuously over the whole academic year while the Architectural Technology studio projects are divided into three, with two (projects) before Christmas and one (thesis) after.The poster will present the authors’ strategies used to start, run and assess a development project making use of the problem based learning (PBL) approach. The PBL approach has been tailored to suit both the Electronic Engineering and Architectural Technology programmes. In addition to increasing the student’s attendance rate and facilitating achievement of intended learning outcomes that is ‘greater than the sum of the parts’, the conclusions of this research clearly indicate that an appropriately assessed PBL approach will enhance learner’s skills in self-evaluation, reflective thinking and critical analysis, key skills that are crucial for a knowledge-based economy.