Page 58 - Pedagoška vizija / A Pedagogical Vision

Melita Lemut Bajec

motivated.’ A minority were opposed because ‘I like to approach the task in
my way,’ because ‘I don’t want to adjust’ and because ‘I concentrate more
when I work on my own and am therefore more effective.’
Next, many pointed out benefits such as ‘each person gains because we
complement each other,’ ‘we build on each other’s strengths, ideas, and
knowledge,’ ‘we help each other,’ ‘we divide the work’ and ‘we connect.’ Also,
‘each member works less,’ ‘we finish in less time,’ ‘we do it better’ and the
overall process is ‘more relaxing.’ Also, ‘you get to know other people’s points
of view,’ and ‘become more knowledgeable.’
The drawbacks referred to potential conflicts resulting from factors such
as ‘the work may not be evenly divided,’ ‘some do not agree with the assign-
ment of roles and responsibilities,’ ‘some do not find themselves in the as-
signed roles,’ ‘some get overworked, others duck their obligations’ and ‘some
are easily satisfied with the results.’ Occasional answers pointed out ‘char-
acter incompatibility’ and ‘exclusion of certain team members.’ Also, project
work ‘requires a great deal of negotiation and adjustment.’
Secondly, we wanted to know how the students react when project work
confronts them with a challenging task that does not provide them with an
immediate answer. The answers were equally divided. One set emphasized
proactive thoughts that urge them to ‘take time to reflect,’ ‘think carefully,’
‘analyse the task by breaking it into parts’ and ‘try to make sense of the task,’
also by ‘consulting with others.’ Some described more demanding tasks as
stimulating: ‘I like it. The more challenging it is, the more personal satisfac-
tion I draw from it afterward.’ The other set of answers pointed out that they
‘getfrustrated,’‘becomerestless,’‘impatient,’‘bitemynails,’‘feelinsecure,’‘dis-
appointed with myself for not knowing the answer,’ ‘worried what will hap-
pen,’ ‘angry with myself for being incapable,’ ‘powerless,’ ‘uncomfortable’ and
‘stressed out.’

Evaluators’ Responses to the Assignment
In their evaluation of the final product, the evaluators were asked to reflect
upon the thought processes that the students underwent to manage the
project work assignment.
All of them emphasized higher-order thinking processes. They stressed
that ‘the students needed to be able to differentiate, organize, classify, dis-
tinguish between what is more and what is less important, what is relevant
and what not to complete the assignment meaningfully.’ All in all, they were
unanimous that the whole process required high levels of creativity, orga-
nization, autonomy, collaboration, negotiation, and decision-making. They

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