Cooperative Project-Based Learning and Students' Learning Styles on Web Page Development

Abstract

Project-based learning (PBL) theorists advocate that learning is promoted when students pursue individual interests, when they build on prior knowledge, and when they engage in hands-on and authentic activities. Although a great deal of literature exists describing ideals such as these, research studies examining implementation strategies such as cooperation for PBL in classrooms are scarce. Research studies investigating the relationship between cooperative strategies and students' learning styles, in particular the learning styles known as field dependency and field independency in the PBL environment, are even scarcer. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of cooperative PBL and students' field dependency/independency on developing Web pages. Research data was collected and analyzed via qualitative approaches including project evaluation, interviews, and classroom observation. Interesting results were found.