A GUIDE TO

PROJECT- BASED LEARNING

Pham Hung Thuyen

1
TABLE OF CONTENT

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4
Definition .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Advantages................................................................................................................................................ 5
Project-Based Learning and 21st century skills (TCS) in Vietnam .............................................................. 6
Words of learner ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Principles ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Teaching notes ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Learning notes......................................................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 2 SFL Projects ............................................................................................................................ 13
Chapter 3 Sample project timeline ...................................................................................................... 14
Chapter 4 Working effectively ................................................................................................................ 17
Project leadership ................................................................................................................................... 17
Project membership................................................................................................................................ 19
Organizing “cycle” ................................................................................................................................... 20
Communication skill ................................................................................................................................ 21
Organizing discussion .............................................................................................................................. 22
Searching and organizing information .................................................................................................... 23
Solving conflicts ...................................................................................................................................... 25
Presentation skills ................................................................................................................................... 26
Creativity ................................................................................................................................................. 27
Development of global citizenship.......................................................................................................... 28
Critical thinking ....................................................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 5 Learning materials and assessment explanation .................................................................. 31
On-going assessment .............................................................................................................................. 31
Student’s assessment.......................................................................................................................... 31
Final product assessments ...................................................................................................................... 34
Project report ...................................................................................................................................... 34
EDR_Drama script ............................................................................................................................... 37
ETV_Filming script ............................................................................................................................... 40

2
 Video ................................................................................................................................................... 42
Brochure.............................................................................................................................................. 44
Project cycle ............................................................................................................................................ 52
Literature cycle ................................................................................................................................... 52
Culture cycle........................................................................................................................................ 55
TV show cycle ...................................................................................................................................... 56
Tour cycle ............................................................................................................................................ 57
Magazine cycle .................................................................................................................................... 58
Chapter 6 Questions and Answers.......................................................................................................... 60
Chapter 7 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 66
Appendix 1: Action plan .......................................................................................................................... 66
Appendix 2: Weekly report ..................................................................................................................... 68
Appendix 3: Creating SMART goal .......................................................................................................... 69
Appendix 4: Sample project report ......................................................................................................... 70
Appendix 5: User’s guide for Canva.com for designing brochure ..................................................... 72
Appendix 6: User’s guide for Wix.com website to publish PBL product ............................................. 73
Appendix 7: Preparing for career development ..................................................................................... 74
Appendix 8: Conducting a virtual tour in a location ............................................................................... 77
Appendix 9: Online student’s assessment form ..................................................................................... 78
Appendix 10: Guidelines for video editing program ............................................................................... 79
Appendix 11: Common typing mistakes ................................................................................................. 79
Appendix 12: Presentation skill .............................................................................................................. 80
Appendix 13: Filming genres ................................................................................................................... 83
References .................................................................................................................................................. 84

3
Chapter 1 Introduction

This is a guidebook on Project Based Learning (PBL) for both teachers and students
at Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages. The idea for the book was inspired by
the writer’s concern about the practice of this learning method at his workplace.

PBL is a student-centered learning course. In this course, students are given

freedom to choose and decide their project under the supervision, or guidance, of
teachers. Teacher plays the role of instructor, which means to instruct the process,
needs, demands and notices. Teacher works closely to students in the way that he
will explain what is necessary for students to complete the projects. Students do not
have to follow teacher’s advice. Most students find that they learn a lot when
reflecting to their project process in the end.

At Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, there are 5 PBL courses available to
students. Each touches one matter of their possible working experiences. The
courses generally aim at generating students’ awareness of what might involve in
their future working environment, training soft skills and working skills, and
enhance language skills through practice.

At Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages, PBL principles and teaching

methodologies are agreed, but still offer some grounds for teachers to adapt and
change the approach so as to match their strengths and updating requirements of
the time.

Abbreviations Color-coded reference

PBL: Project Based Learning

EXS: English Excursion Project

ECU: English Culture Project

EMA: English Magazine Project

EDR: English Drama Project

ETV: English Television Project

4
Definition

Project-Based Learning (PBL) has been defined by many authors and researchers
since its introduction in the last century.

a) Thomas Markham (2011) suggested that in PBL student integrates knowing

and doing. It means they learn knowledge and elements of the whole program
or a course, but also apply what they know to solve authentic problems and
produce results that matter.

b) Project Based Learning is a teaching method which helps students gain

knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate
and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or
challenge. (www.bie.org)

c) Based on our understanding and practices, we are more into the concept posed
in the second definition.

Advantages

Project-Based Learning helps to improve both student’s knowledge and skills. By

conducting the projects, students are engaged in extensive and intensive reading
activities in which they need to understand principles and theories behind the
projects. In language projects, students raise their knowledge of culture, social
issues and skills which are necessary for them to live in connected world. The skills
promoted in language projects are listed in the following table.

Language and
Job skills Thinking skills Personal qualities
study skills
Reading Tour guide Creativity Responsibility
Listening News reporter Problem solving Self-esteem
Speaking Journalist Decision-making Social skills
Writing Time management Being a team member
Linguistic control Finding information Leadership
Note taking Global citizenship
Test taking

5
However, these skills and qualities can only be established when students are aware
of the clear goals, teacher’s ongoing supports and samples. The development of
these matters is presented in the next chapters.

Project-Based Learning and 21st century skills (TCS) in Vietnam

The ultimate goal of education is to train students who can work well in the real
workplace which means school should prepare adequate skills and knowledge for
learners. In this high-speed digital era, it is crutial that such skills as information
technology, collaboration, communication and creativity are to be planted into
students’ competence storage (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009).

In global context, a set of skills has been defined to identify the goal for teaching and
learning and grouped under the term TCS. These skills which are devided into three
main groups of learning and innovation skills, life and career skills, media and
technology skills, have become the center of many education programs worldwide
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).

According to Trilling, Fadel and Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009), “learning
and innovation skills” includes critical thinking, communication, collaboration and
creativity, known as 4Cs, reflecting the critical skills that 21st century students need
to be successful at shool. “Life and career skills” refers to the abilities to work
effectively under the constrant demands and react positively to the social and global
issues, known as global citizenship. The other category, also defined as “digital
literacy skills” by Trilling et al. (2009), comprises of the abilities to search, evaluate
and create information.

The following diagram adapted the summary of TCS from P21

Learning and Innovation skills Life and career skills Digital literacy skills
Critical thinking Flexibility and Adaptability Information literacy
Collaboration Initiative and self-direction Media literacy
Communication Social and Cross-cultural ICT
Creativity skills (Information,
Productivity and Communications and
accountability Technology)
Leadership and
responsibility

In Vietnam, there was an document from Ministry of Education and Training (2014)
proposing the education innovation toward the goal of TCS claming that education

6
innovation should involve (1) teaching methodology changes toward developing
learner's capacities, (2) introduction of active teaching and learning, (3) improving
learning autonomy and (4) community based activities. It becomes clear that
Vietnam government now is aware of the needs to form a goal-oriented definition
for students across the country. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find an
appropriate teaching method which can empower both skill development and
knowledge acquisition.

The impact of PBL on learning and innovation skills

As stated by Rotherham and Willingham (2009), PBL creates environment for

students to work in a team collaboratively so that they will learn more from other
sourses than teacher like peers, internet and books. This action is one first step to
lay the foundation for student’s professional development in the future (Maida,
2011). According to Boss and Krauss (2007), the 21st century business context
requires employees with information analyzing ability, teamwork readiness, and
creativity which can be taught by PBL. They explained that PBL allows learning to
act as part of the real world; therefore, freely promotes students' news ideas and
questions. Through the project completion progress, students will learn how to
work effectively with the existing technology.

In a statewide study conducted by Schwalm and Tylek (2012) in Philadelphia, they

directly concluded that PBL developed 21st century skills including critical thinking,
collaboration and communication. In the project process, students will have to work
in teams, communicate with each other on rising problems and use alternatives
approach to solve them; therefore, their skills are upgraded gradually (Mioduser &
Betzer, 2008) and unaware to students themselves. The critical skills are built up
when students face difficulties or peer’s views and question these before accepting
them. The Philadelphia is an exellent model which allows subjects to be based on
mainly project-based method.

The impact of PBL on life and career skills

In their study regarding the opinions of alumni, students, staffs and parents on the
importance of life skills in comparison with academic skills, Wurdinger and Rudolph
(2009) noted that the majority of research participants responses are in favor of
PBL as a tool to develop life skills. Although term life skills used in this study
actually refers to those listed in learning and innovation skills by P21, it is still
appropriate to keep their argument in this category owing to their explanatory

7
arguments. Most researchers agreed that PBL can easily enable students to emerge
into the real world and put their hands on practical issues (Rotherham &
Willingham, 2009; Ravitz, Hixson, English & Mergendoller, 2012). It is suggested
from their study that by improving students’ knowledge of the field through hand-
on projects, they learn how to react to different situations at work. The sense of
cutural diversity is inspired in the beginning of the project when students have to
increase the input of the project through an intensive period of reading and note
taking. Langhout, Rappaport and Simmons (2002) studied a PBL teaching context
when students were brought into the garden and do a project in the garden with the
participation of local people as "community members" who sometimes acted as
assisstants or instructors. In this way, student can be aware of the sense of
community and environment as well as are self-motivated to take part in learning
process. It can be clearly seen that the role of community people changes the
traditional classroom settings, involves students to act and to reflect to their own
learning and their life. One more benefit that can be extracted from this study is that
the leadership role now is more practical when it can shift out of the safe
environment of school.

The impact of PBL on digital literacy skills

Although there are not many studies showing the contribution of PBL on technology
and information skills, the skill improvement can still be recognized. Boss and
Krauss (2007) agrees that when PBL is part of the curriculum, learner’s digital skills,
specifically technology skills, are empowered. Examining student’s learning process,
Mioduser and Betzer (2008) finalized that PBL was a typical model which could
assiss students in gaining both high-level academic success and generating solutions
for technological problems. While working on the project, student encountered
problems relating to their interest that required them to overcome by one way or
another. By solving the problems, they learned the necesssary skills. Agreed by
Blumenfeld, Soloway, Marx, Krajcik, Guzdial, and Palincsar (1991), students deal
with technological matters when they meet challenging tasks that require problem-
solving skills. At that time, if well motivated, they can proceed to find the solutions
and learn vital technological skills while still acquire others. In most research
studied, digital skills such as information literacy skill and ICT are part of the
selected project tool for students. Computer and internet are paired to help students
find information, and then it is they who evaluate them.

8
Words of learner

Nguyen Thi Thanh: I have learned Drama Project when I was first-year student.
I had chance to practice pronunciation and became more
confident in speaking. My drama was corrected by my
teachers so we improve our grammar accuracy too.

Tran Duc Duy: I think that it is very important to have a clear goal and
plan right in the beginning and make sure that we complete
the tasks we propose for each week. It is OK to change parts
of the plan in the middle of the project.

Bui Thi Mo: Every time I read my Magazine, I often feel so excited about
that time. Although it looked too ugly for me now, we
actually spent a lot of time for it. I learned a lot of computer
skills like designing, organizing, using word processor.

9
Principles

There are a wide set of teaching and learning principles for practices of this learning
approach. However, the following adapted from www.bie.org stands out as the most
suitable and concise for SFL projects.

01 Key Knowledge, Understanding, and Success Skills - The project is focused

on student learning goals, including standards-based content and skills such
as critical thinking/problem solving, communication, collaboration, and self-
management.

02 Challenging Problem or Question - The project is framed by a meaningful

problem to solve or a question to answer, at the appropriate level of
challenge.

03 Sustained Inquiry - Students engage in a rigorous, extended process of

asking questions, finding resources, and applying information.

04 Authenticity - The project features real-world context, tasks and tools,

quality standards, or impact – or speaks to students’ personal concerns,
interests, and issues in their lives.

05 Student Voice & Choice - Students make some decisions about the project,
including how they work and what they create.

06 Reflection - Students and teachers reflect on learning, the effectiveness of

their inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, obstacles and
how to overcome them.

07 Critique & Revision - Students give, receive, and use feedback to improve
their process and products.

08 Public Product - Students make their project work public by explaining,

displaying and/or presenting it to people beyond the classroom.

See the following tables for comparing how SFL projects matches the principles
above

10
Principle SFL projects

Projects offer chances for students to a) work out their own learning
goals (their vision of the final product), b) introduce basic and
standard knowledge of various matters (tour organization and
01 management_EXS, writing culture introduction_ECU, ect) that
closely link to their life and c) involve in meaningful teamwork
activities to form and develop their 4Cs
(http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/4csposter.pdf)

Students are encouraged to participate in a situation that is

02 meaningful for their future job such as creating and managing a TV
show (ETV) or playing a drama (EDR)

While working on their project, students continuously ask their

03 tutors related matters and look for their own information in the
internet. There is a tutorial day each week for students’ Q&A.

All projects are based on their real-life learning and working

04 purposes and built on matters of their interests such as tourist
attraction, news or drama.

Students have their choice of project scale as well as their own plan
05 for conducting and finalizing the project but some agreement to the
common schedule of the course

Students write a composition (project narrative/repport)

06 describing the projects, the difficulties they overcome and the
lessons they learn.

All projects involve writing and/or giving speech on the project

progress or product. The oral/written work will be handed
07
over/delivered to tutors and/or other groups for checking and
feedback

Their final products are presented to the public in different forms

08
such as internet website, video recordings or public show.

11
Teaching notes

a. Student needs to understand how project might help them with their
language skills and future career
b. Student needs to see sample products, action plan and all other assessment
tools with clear explanations
c. Instructor should equip substantial knowledge on the field of project such as
organization or kind of drama, tools and language use for a tour guide,
understanding of main cultural spaces.
d. Weekly reports must be submitted and double checked at all weeks
e. Don’t answer all questions if they can be answered by reading a book or a
material. Address where they can find the answer and let them explore
f. Always encourage mutual support and understanding
g. Punishments agreed in the beginning should be strictly followed.
h. Plagiarism of any kinds is not accepted

Learning notes

a. PBL is a student-centered learning method. If you do not plan and prepare at

home. You have nothing to do in class and your class time is no less than a
burden.
b. The role of teachers is to provide explanations regarding the project
importance, aims, samples and answer questions as well as provide helps
during the project. Do not expect them to tell you what to do.
c. It is easy to be confused in the beginning as you are new to it or there are too
many tasks you have to do. Don’t worry. Think about what you will do if you
have to perform a drama, lead a group of tourist, demonstrate a cultural
ritual, host a TV program or present a magazine introduction. Make a list of
big tasks and small tasks and set time for each.
d. Focusing on score will limit your creativity and motivation to explor

12
Chapter 2 SFL Projects

EDR ECU ETV EXS EMA

- reinforce oral and - reinforce oral and - reinforce oral and - reinforce oral and
- Reinforce grammar 1 and
written ability written ability written ability written ability
pronunciation drill
Target - L2 at intermediate and - L2 at intermediate and - L2 at intermediate and - L2 at intermediate and
- L2 at pre-intermediate
higher higher higher higher
- conversation competence
- Culture understanding - Produce a TV program - Operate a tour - Design a magazine

Drama script (20) Brochure (20) Filming script (20) Brochure (20) Magazine (20)
Literature cycle (15) Culture cycle (15) TV show cycle (15) Tour cycle (15) Magazine cycle (15)
Project report (10) Project report (10) Project report (10) Project report (10) Project report (10)
Assessment
1
Student’s assessment (5) Student’s assessment (5) Student’s assessment (5) Student’s assessment (5) Student’s assessment (5)

Final show 2 Final show (50)3 Video (50%)4 Virtual tour (50)5 Magazine introducti (50)6
End-of-term test (50%) Instructor’s marking Instructors’ marking Instructors’ marking Instructors’ marking

Formal examination
Evaluated by groups of Evaluated by groups of Evaluated by groups of Evaluated by groups of
Assessor according to testing
instructors instructors instructors instructors
schedule
Video recorded TV
Product Drama Culture brochure Guided tour Magazine
program

Year taken 1 2-3 2-3 3 -4 3-4

Participant
4-5 students
Per group

1 see Chapter 5 for detailed assessments

2 act a drama
3 model cultural point such as festival, lifestyle, ritual or religion
4 act and record a TV show
5 guide a tour and record or organize a virtual tour in class
6 Introduce the magazine through presentation

The school often requires students to take up to three projects. It is highly recommended that students should choose EDR, EXS and the other among the rest as EMA,
ECU and ETV somehow have similar content.
13
Chapter 3 Sample project timeline
Each project lasts 15 weeks, the length of an academic term. The sample project timeline here are for both students and
teachers to be aware of what they are expected to do.

Timeline Activities [What to do] Who do it Expected outcomes

Communicate to form teams.
Team with strangers is recommended. All students are in teams, contacts are exchanged.
Students exchange contact, discuss time and place All students in Understand how a previous team completed a
Week 1
for project meeting. Name of the group or class. similar project. Action plan is discussed and can be
company (EXS) should be finalized. completed at home.
Write the action plan.
Cycle of all projects. Students understand the first novel (EDR); the
Members of the
Students perform their role in the cycle cultural characteristics of the first country/regions
Week 2 group
Reports are written after discussion and exchange (ECU); the first TV show (ETV); the first tour (EXS)
All students in class
in class or the first magazine (EMA)

Cycle of all projects. Students understand the 2nd novel (EDR); the
Members of the
Students perform their role in the cycle cultural characteristics of the 2nd country/regions
Week 3 group
Reports are written after discussion and exchange (ECU); the 2nd TV show (ETV); the 2nd tour (EXS) or
All students in class
in class. the 2nd magazine (EMA)

Cycle of all projects. Students understand the 3rd novel (EDR); the
Members of the
Students perform their role in the cycle cultural characteristics of the 3rd country/regions
Week 4 group
Reports are written after discussion and exchange (ECU); the 3rd TV show (ETV); the 3rd tour (EXS) or
All students in class
in class the 3rd magazine (EMA)

14
 Decide the content of their project; divide the
Members of the
projects into parts (scenes_EDR; sections_for Main content of project is finalized; group
Week 5 group
other projects). Discuss company or group name, identities are finalized. Websites are created
All students in class
logo, introduction, slogan, visions.7
Members of the
Collect/organize information and write the first
Week 6 group Writings are edited and posted on group’s website
part (one or few writings) of the project8
All students in class
Members of the
Collect/organize information and write the second
Week 7 group Writings are edited and posted on group’s website
part (one or few writings) of the project
All students in class
Members of the
Collect/organize information and write the third
Week 8 group Writings are edited and posted on group’s website
part (one or few writings) of the project
All students in class
Members of the
Collect/organize information and write the fourth
Week 9 group Writings are edited and posted on group’s website
part (one or few writings) of the project
All students in class
Members of the
Collect/organize information and write the fifth
Week 10 group Writings are edited and posted on group’s website
part (one or few writings) of the project
All students in class
Members of the
Put all parts to create content of brochure/ script.
Week 11 group Students understand model brochure/ script
Design the brochure/ script 9
All students in class

7 After week 4, students should understand the organizations of a drama, a tour, a magazine, ect and they should form their interests of a topic they want to explore.
Then they can decide to make a drama, a magazine or other project products based on one of the things they work on during the previous weeks. At this week, more
group identities, namely group name, logo, introduction, slogan, visions, can be established. Students must read about creating a SMART goal before deciding the scale of
the project.
8 Writings are to provide detailed information on a specific parts of the project products. There is no need to post all words in the writings on website or brochure.

Information on brochure should be brief and eye-catching. Each writing week, members sit down and write together at home and ask teacher to edit in class. All writings
should be carefully store in students’ computer so as to provide basis for brochure and website.
9 Brochure design and preparation for project show can start at week 6

15
 Design the brochure / script
Prepare project show
 Practice drama scenes (EDR)
Members of the
Week 12-  Prepare to model a cultural point (ECU) Brochure/ script is completed.
group
14  Record parts of a TV show (ETV) Project products are practiced and ready for show
All students in class
 Record parts of a tour or prepare to model it in
class (EXS)
 Present a magazine introduction
Submit project products to teacher, including a brochure (either soft or hard copy) or a script and a website address
Week 15 Submit project report to teachers.
Submit students’ assessment to teachers.

Depending on each term and teacher, changes might be made to the proposed plan above in order to match new
requirements or teachers’ and students’ teaching needs/ beliefs. Some projects might be longer than other and
action plans can be different from the one above.

The initial phase of the course requires huge amount of teacher’s time investment in introducing the projects as well
as preparing lesson plans. However, the weeks after can be used more for guiding students through the process and
providing personal help.

For more detailed EXS course introduction and its benefits, see my article in the appendix.

16
Chapter 4 Working effectively
Project leadership

A leader needs to respect all other members and he must keep in mind that he
should always take the responsibilities of the success and failure of each activity. We
live a “flat” world where everyone can be your teacher. There will always be
something your friends can teach you now or later. Show that you care for other’s
difficulties and are ready to provide help.

A leader doesn’t need to have the best English skills but he should be the one who is
ready to learn more. When I was a student, my English language skills were not the
best; but I was the leader of two English clubs. Then, I had to lead a lot of club
activities and do administration tasks and my English was improved by reading,
writing, listening and speaking frequently. A leader must read all things relating to
the subject.

A leader will plan and divide the work among members. He will think of possible
plan for all 15 weeks and then bring it out to the group discussion. Members can
contribute to the project planning by providing correction or addition. A leader is
the first one to think of working schedule, but he might not be the one who can do
each task best. He knows member’s strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize
member’s contribution by assigning the suitable task.

A leader will divide the work equally to members and set deadlines for member
activities. He must check the completion of each task and provide help or ask other
members to help weaker members. He must publish all corrected and completed
work to all members to ensure every member knows what they have or don’t have

A leader should be open to all different ideas and keep all members united. A regular
meeting, accompanied by a small party, is good to develop friendship and belief. It is
great if a leader understands their friends’ problems, strengths and weaknesses.

In order to choose the best leader, the group can discuss and vote for one. Besides,
they can also take the short quiz adapted from psychologytoday.com below in order
to spot the most potential leader. It’s fun and useful too.

In the quiz, choose the number that presents your most suitable answer for each
question.
17
 LEADER QUIZ

1 = strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = neutral 4 = agree 5= strongly agree

1. Before giving feedback to someone

else, I would try to see things from his or 1 2 3 4 5
her point of view.

2. I break big tasks down into smaller

1 2 3 4 5
and easier steps.

3. If I am in a leader, I state clearly the

1 2 3 4 5
goals that others should focus on.

4. When members have worked hard, I

think leader should provide some kind of 1 2 3 4 5
reward or encouragement.

5. People often ask me to help when

1 2 3 4 5
things go wrong.

6. I maintain a positive attitude even

1 2 3 4 5
when things look bad.

7. I can calm myself down when I'm

1 2 3 4 5
under stress.

8. When things go wrong, I do not

immediately blame myself or others, but 1 2 3 4 5
seek the sources of trouble first.

9. I feel comfortable when sharing ideas

1 2 3 4 5
with my classmates

10. I think I am responsible for what I do 1 2 3 4 5

18
Project membership

A member will be a leader of himself. A member will actively contribute to the group
discussion and he will follow the rule of the group and complete the group work on
time. A member will be one member leader of a group. He should give his opinions,
discuss the group work, make himself well-known and affect others.

A member must understand what is going on each week. Never come to the class if
you don’t know what you are expected to do. Never come to your group discussion if
you haven’t finished your work. Respect your friends by completing assigned work
and give opinions in every group discussion.

A member must work collaboratively with other members. No bias should be placed
in groups. No discrimination should be drawn. There are always arguments during
the project process, but members should put aside their own opinion for the sake of
the project. In the end, nothing is more important than the project and incorporate
members can seriously affect the outcome.

A member is suggested to make close friends with all other members. This is very
practical because you always need a friend to learn with and to work with. A good
friend tells you that you need to work harder to overcome them. A bad friend tells
you the negatives you should avoid. All friends are beneficial.

Tick the duties members are expected to perform

 Contact leaders to ask for new tasks

 Keep in touch and remain good relationship with other members
 Buy other members present on their special days
 Be careful when giving negative comments on other’s work
 Do other member’s work when he/she is sick
 Make notes of ideas before going to group’s discussion
 Agree on everything leader says
 Respect other members’ opinion
 Only help the one you like in your group
 Be on time and be present at all group meeting
 Answer group’s email or announcements in social network
 Always try to give your ideas and opinions in group meeting
 Cook for other members so they can work for you

19
Organizing “cycle”

In order to understand what the final products of their project are, students need to
conduct reviews of previous works which are project works of previous group or
real brochure/ show by professionals.

When creating action plan, team makes a list of tasks or works for each cycle week.
Tasks should be discussed and given to each individual. Members receive different
tasks / roles after every cycle week.

Before going to class, members explore the given tasks according to cycle’s
requirements and team action plan. Group leader check the progress of member’s
completion of cycle. If someone hasn’t finished their role’s tasks before class, other
members have no chance to understand that part of the topic and might lack
significant insights into the issues. While conducting their review of the work

In class, members bring what they find out at home to the discussion. They might
tell others the information or surprises they discover. After receiving feedback from
other members, they will fill in the form for their role and submit to teacher.

It is likely that teacher will check if member understands the topic in their cycle by
asking them to briefly answer a specific question.

Rearrange the following steps to show the most effective cycle process

A. Read the requirements and assessment of project cycle

B. Choose the project sample work to review
C. Divide work and assign roles among members
D. Study the work and write report and any suggestions to develop the
previous work
E. Exchange the report among members for review
F. Submit the report to teachers
G. Receive feedback from teachers and make changes if necessary

20
Communication skill

It is so important to keep everyone connected and project information accessible to

every member.

In order to connect everyone in the team, parties can be held with equal financial
contributions from all members. During this party and any other more formal
meetings, keep talking to everyone. Ask about their week, study and other things
you hear about them. Show that you are part of a big family and you will know what
to say to each other.

Meetings of any kinds must be organized at least once a week and all contents and
discussions must be recorded or summarized in a document. Absent members can
read the summary later through email. It is leader who needs to check why his
members are absent from a meeting or class lesson and provides help if necessary.

As social networks are very popular now, all students must connect via these
websites as well. Members join groups there and chat with each other regularly.
Here, it is leader who takes the responsibility to start conversation by simply asking
somebody’s task completion or any other conversation starter. When people start to
chat, direct them to the project.

In my PBL class, there are always teams which can’t complete the tasks planned in
the action plan because their members are absent or sick or forget to do those. If the
team members communicate well with each other, they will know the troubles a few
days before the deadline and can take measures to solve them.

Discuss with your team/friend and find out your most convenient communication
tools and their purposes

Tools Purposes (what you use these tools for)

Email _________________________________________________________________________

Mobile phone _________________________________________________________________________

Social network _________________________________________________________________________

Note: Remember to include subject and greeting in your email. Also, it is ideal not to
give negative comments on social network.

21
Organizing discussion

Every discussion must have a goal. The goals of the meeting are planned in the
action plan and also decided by the team before the meeting. When having a target
in mind, all members will understand the progress of the meeting and are driven to
focus on their work. It is better to set one or two big goals in a meeting so that it will
not take too long and too stressful.

Meetings should be held in a quiet and study-oriented place. Avoid rooms with noisy
neighbors as they can cause big distraction. Also, turn off smart devices and
computers during the meeting if not necessary. A phone call or message can drive
people away from their attention. The best discussion room is the one on the second
floor of Thai Nguyen Learning Resources Center. Entrance is free for you.

Meetings should be held in the most appropriate time for everyone. Members
should agree on a fixed weekly meeting time and show respect and responsibility by
arriving on time and being present, except for health problems. When absent,
members are not able to catch up with the progress and tend to neglect their work.
Present members will grow envious of absent ones.

Discussion agreements must be summarized in a note. One of the members will be

the secretary of the meeting and is responsible for taking note on all main speakers’
discussions. This document can then be published online on group’s site or sent to
every member’s mail.

Before the discussion, leaders tell each member what to prepare (reading, writing,
finding information, summarizing and so on). In the meeting, each member should
have chance to talk and then leader asks other members to give comments and
feedbacks on his work/ opinions. It is impossible to reach a meeting goal if members
do not prepare their part in advance. Other members will be disappointed and lose
the faith in each other if sitting a long and ineffective meeting.

There are always arguments over an issue before a wise decision can be reached. It
is the responsibility of all members to review the issues/ opinions carefully by
looking at their both sides and considering the gains and losses if taking each. The
one with more advantages should be chosen. If still impossible to decide, leader will
jot down the situation, the advantages and disadvantages of each solution and allow
members to consider it more at home before deciding in the next meeting. If the
next meeting does not help tackle the issue, teacher can provide help.
22
Discussion note sample

Topic of discussion: Designing brochure and costumes

Group: Viet culture Date: 24 June 2018
Issue #1: Tasks, divide tasks and deadline for designing brochure
- Double-check the content and cut it short Mai; Nhung 30th
- Find illustrations Ngoc 28th
- Read and watch instructions for using Canva Trung 28th
Issue #2: designing costumes
- Watch videos of cultural dances and shows of ethnic groups and take notes or
photos on all possible and easy-to-make costumes
All members 30th
- Make a list of necessary items to design the clothes together with its cost
All members 30th

Searching and organizing information

All teams will look at the internet for information and it is very important to read
critically. Don’t choose any information just because you fancy it or you are lazy
searching for more. Read more than one site and compare the information posted in
them to extract the most correct information. For example, if you are searching for
information related to a festival in Vietnam, government websites ending in .gov
might offer the most trustworthy information. Any comments and articles on social
networks are not reliable.

Do not copy the whole text from the internet. Teachers are able to sense the
originality of your writing based on the vocabulary range and grammar accuracy. It
is wise to take note on the most important information in the text from different
sources and then produce your own writings. Visual aids are important, so choose a
picture that matches what you write in advance. The best site to download photo is
flickr.com

23
Do not paste every word you write on brochure and website. You write all the
details because you need to understand about the place, the drama, the culture to
complete your project. However, in your brochure and website, only choose the
most important information and write them as concisely as possible. Treat teacher
like your company readers. Brochure and website need to be brief and eye-catching.

Many students design brochure by Microsoft Power Point but it is too easy to make
a boring brochure with it. Try canva.com and ask your instructor for a short tutorial.
There are plenty of ready-to-use templates and you just need to edit and download
them.

Website to publish project product is wix.com. Team must register for a new
account and start editing a website template. Just choose a template of your interest
and add content that you build up previously. Read the instructions on how to use
Canva.com and wix.com in the Appendix.

Read the following statements about this skill, and your own idea to decide if they
are TRUE or FALSE

1. I always ask myself if the information you are reading is from a

trustworthy sources.
2. I can always use the first information I find.
3. I can read people’s opinions on internet and use it as mine
4. I can copy a text from the internet without quoting as long as teacher
doesn’t know.
5. I can not copy a sentence from internet because it is plagiarism.
6. I and my team needs to invest time to design brochure because it is actual
a very important step in Project-Based Learning
7. I can use Canva.com to design my brochure but I also can explore the
internet for another better tool
8. Our brochure pages and website need to follow the same format (such as
the inclusion of logo or color)
9. I think about what I like when choosing information to present
10. I can use flickr.com photos without giving credit to the owners
11. I can see the wix websites of previous teams to shape the ideas for our
website.

24
Solving conflicts

There are always conflicts in every PBL team resulting from member’s differences in
personalities. It is better to avoid it by focusing on group’s benefits. Members should
keep in mind that the group will not be able to achieve the good result if not
working collaboratively.

If there are arguments over a decision regarding project content, think of both sides
of the arguments and measure them. Consider each opinion carefully and ask for
help from teacher before deciding. Think positively because in fact opposing views
sometimes generate care and brilliant ideas.

If arguments are about personal issues and managements like meeting time
difficulties, team can sit down and discuss another suitable time for each week. Also,
there are ones who live far away from others and getting to the meeting on time is
sometimes harder. Thinking of others’ situations will make it easier to accept other’s
mistakes. Never shout at or show disappointment to others.

There will always someone who works more than others. Don’t envy their
contribution. The more you work the more language skills you gain and this is the
purpose of PBL.

Some informal parties might reduce the stress among members and tighten the
relationship. Any unsolvable conflicts should be addressed and reported to
instructors as soon as possible.

Tick the tips you should apply when addressing a conflict

 Get angry with others because they do not agree with the rest
 Try to understand why they can’t agree and find ways to resolve it
 Keep in mind that arguments might be beneficial
 Refuse to work with people who disagree with you
 Report the serious conflicts that you cannot handle to your teacher as
soon as possible
 Apologize if you make mistakes

25
Presentation skills

Team must deliver a presentation on their project at times during the process. It is
important to equip some basic presentation skills if teams are freshmen.

Prepare for it carefully at home. Think of the time you have for the presentation and
take note on what you want to say within that time limit. Practice giving the talk at
least 5 times. Design slides which are simple but eye-catching (can try canva.com or
see sample slides at slideshare.net). It is suggested that you not write the whole
paragraph and read it to the class.

Prepare your equipment and devices carefully a few minutes prior to the
presentation. Think of whether the computer can connect projectors or recognize
your USB. If you use an USB to copy visual aid to another computer, think of whether
the audio or video you insert in Power Point work best in other computer? Is there
anything wrong with the fonts and photos after copying? Audiences are angry when
waiting for you solving technical troubles.

Look at the audience while speaking. It is wise to present with other members as it
will reduce the burden and stress. Team can invite questions or ask audience
questions during their talk.

Always start the presentation with short team introduction. Always show the
organization of your presentation in the beginning and mark the changes between
parts clearly by saying “Now, let’s move to [the first major content]”. People expect
presentation to be clear, straight and amusing. Add your example or real-life
situations to attract listeners.

Read the appendix 12 to have more details about your preparation for presentation.
Do the multiple choice questions below to consolidate your understanding of
presentation skills

Before presentation

1. How many words should you include for a slide?

A. less than 3 B. about 6 C. more than 10

2. What kind of clothes should you prepare for the presentation?

A. formal B. informal C. depends on the audiences

26
3. How many fonts should I include in a slide?

A. just 1 B. 1-2 C. maybe more than 3

While presentation

4. Where should I look at when presenting?

A. audience only B. slides only C. both audience and slide

5. What is not acceptable in presentation?

A. reading from notes B. standing still C. pictures with poor quality

Creativity

Creativity refers to the ability to generate ideas or create a new product out of
ordinary. Project-Based Learning encourages students to break the norms and think
independently by offering grounds for student’s decisions.

Creativity does not mean that students need to be as smart as Thomas Edison to
have interesting and practical ideas. Some PBL teams in the past had brilliant ideas
such as adding some two-folded leaflets into travelling brochure in order to increase
the engagement of readers or using online software to cut photos and create logo. In
2015, one of our PBL excursion teams led a real tour to Thai Nguyen museum and
had a practical idea of using a small flag to mark the tour guide. In Drama Project,
students often opt for creating costumes rather than renting to reduce the cost.

This competence can be developed by using approach as followed. Firstly, always

ask yourself if there is another way to complete a specific task by seeking references
from instructors or internet. People prefer looking on the internet for real drama
script or watching a recorded tour to see the demands of a tour guide. Secondly,
consider all ideas by looking at both positive and negative sides. Sometimes an
unreasonable idea from teammate can help solve part of a problem or generate
better solution. Thirdly, be focused. Think about the problem or task whenever you
can and try to connect your life with it. Sometimes, idea pops out when we are
cooking. Finally, be critical even with your instructor’s word. This will create the
urge of self-exploration and motivation to produce better outcome.

27
Tick the all creativity generating methods

 Write on a piece of paper all the possible ideas from different perspectives.
For example, when thinking about content of a tour, I make a list of all
kinds of tour such as Safari Kid, tour for young kids exploring the nature,
Ocean discovery for the disable, trekking tour, eco-holiday tour. All these
tours target at different groups of people.

 Choose something you love to work on. For example, think of a novel you
enjoy and start writing drama script for it. Maybe you will want to develop
the story in the way you like

 Ask for advice from your classmates, friends or teachers or read similar
works to see the patterns. For example, when you have too much
information and you don’t know what should be included, read the
brochure or articles of companies and see what can be applied to your
own.

Development of global citizenship

Globalization with the advancement of technology connects people from all over the
world. Now people need to be aware of problems that arise elsewhere in the planet
rather than only thinking of their own family, school or country simply because of
the fact that the economic downturn or environment problem of one area might
cause either direct or indirect effects on other country.

In PBL, global citizenship can be raised in different ways. Take ECU for example,
when exploring culture of one destination, instructors might require each team to
give a short presentation of their findings and then ask the presentation audiences
to compare the cultures as well as associated problems such as culture loss or
language disappearance, custom differences. In EXS, students also need to find out
the negative effects of tourism on a specific site in spite of the fact that they might
not want to include them in their brochure. In EMA, there should be columns dealing
with the rising issues of multinational businesses, world fashion trend, gender,
crime or education.

28
Critical thinking

Critical thinking includes a number of skills and competences but can be defined as
“the ability to interpret, analyze and evaluate ideas and arguments” (Fisher, 2011).
Read the following examples to see how critical thinking is formed during the
project.

In an ECU project a group needs to write an article about the Dao people cultural
belief of woman’s role in the society. They discuss and decide that they want to
include opinions and attitudes about their belief and what deserves conservation.
Interpreting ideas can be formed by reading the input of a project (samples, text,
videos and other resources) extensively and intensively. These ECU students
might need to start with finding out opinions of local and international tourist,
government, non-profit organization, culture researchers and of themselves
toward woman’s role (cultural belief) in Dao minority group. Students can be
asked to present all collected data with examples in a broad sheet presentation to
show how they understand the issues. Then, students must be able to explain why
these studied groups have different views of the matter based on their education
background, religion, belief, education, ect. This is analyzing the sources of
information by giving reasons. Finally, students based on their findings
(opinions) and analysis (reasons for the opinions) to come up with the best
definition of the Dao people cultural belief of woman’s role. By comparing with
the current global and national policies, economic situation and movements,
students can suggest how important it is to protect this culture.

In ETV project, a team is planning to make a news show and decides to focus
mainly on students’ news. They don’t know what piece of news should be
included so they start by watching 20 news programs on TV and take note on the
title and main content of each piece of news in a program. The data is huge but
they find out that a news program always start with some political news and then
main formal social events. Entertainment events and less formal news always
come later. However, they discuss and decide that this format is not suitable to
their current targeted program which is about students’ news. The good thing is
that they also believe that it is not a bad idea to start with some serious news
which can hook the audiences.

In EDR project, a team is having some topics to choose but having a hard time
making final decision. As suggested by their instructor, they go on the internet
29
 and watch dramas of senior students and some real dramas. While watching, they
take note on the positives and negatives of the drama in terms of language use
(pronunciation, loudness, ect), body language, facial expressions, background
music. Besides, they also try to relate the drama they are watching to their own
drama and see if there are any expressions, behaviors, languages or acting skills
they can adapt. The group pauses the video time after time to discuss any new
ideas.

Tick the questions you can ask yourself to help you think more critical in Project-
Based Learning

I can ask myself …

 whether a piece of previous work is well-written and well-developed

 what change the authors can do to make their work better.
 Whether the information in the previous work or in the internet is correct
or reliable
 whether I should include a specific kind of information
 what happen if I insert someone’s work (photo, quote, words) without
referring to it in my references
 if all information/scenes/dialogues are in good order
 Why members in my team seem not to be cooperative
 What the advantages and disadvantages of a specific action or paragraph

Career development
Read about how to develop student’s career through EXS in the appendix.

30
Chapter 5 Learning materials and assessment explanation
On-going assessment

Student’s assessment

At the end of project, students mark their friends’ performance and contribution to
the final products. The rubric followed is used for all 5 projects.

This is to promote student’s responsibility in the project as well as assessing their

assigned work within the group; students' motivation. Students are encouraged to
reflect to their project progress and provide the most reliable information on their
peer contribution by reminding their gained competence (responsibility) and final
score value of this assessment (only 5%).

One student will mark all other members in the group, each with a form below. He
will carry out the assessment at home and submit the forms when instructor
announces, normally within week 15. Students’ assessment can also be completed
through Google Form (see sample of online student’s assessment form can be found
in the appendix)

Seldom or Never Sometimes Frequently Always

Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Demonstrates Score
1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8 9-10
Responsibilities
Does not
Fulfill
perform any Performs all
Team Performs some Performs all
duties of duties & helps
Role & duties duties
assigned team others
Duties
role
Completes
Late or misses Turns all work in
Sometimes late most tasks
deadlines for on time and does
turning in and is a
Be turning in not depend on
assignments productive
reliable assigned work. others to do or
and misses member of the
Frequently complete work.
deadlines group.
misses class.
Does not fulfill
Share responsibilities Fulfills Fulfills
Fulfills some
Responsi & relies on responsibilitie responsibilities &
responsibilities
bilities others to do their s helps others
work
31
Contributions

Collects
Collects some
Researc information that Collects very Collects a lot of
basic
h& does not relate to little useful
information
Gather the topic or does information information that
which mostly
Informat not collect any which relates relates to the
relates to the
ion information to the topic topic
topic
assigned

Plans
Uphold Follows the Follows the team
Doesn't follow Follows the
Team team action action plan &
the team action team action
Action plan some of helps others stay
plan plan
Plan the time on track
Interactions with Teammates
Usually does
most of the Listens to Listens to others'
Always talks &
Listen to talking & other's ideas, ideas & speaks
does not listen to
Others listens to some but sometimes when
other's ideas
teammates talks too much appropriate
ideas
Cooperates Cooperates
Does not
Cooperat sometimes & with
cooperate & Cooperates well
e with argues with teammates &
argues with with others
Others some sometimes
teammates
teammates argues
Respects Usually does not Usually sides Usually
Respects
Others' respect opinions with someone respects
opinions of
Opinions or decisions of who has a opinions of
teammates &
or others & wants similar opinion teammates &
supports their
Decision things his/her or decision as supports their
decisions
s way his/her own decisions
Asks &
Discusse Asks &
Does not ask or
s Asks questions discusses Asks & discusses
discuss
Question to some questions questions with all
questions with
s with teammates with some teammates
teammates
Team teammates
Members

Candidate: ______________________________ Total score: ______________________

32
Advantages

 The assessment will be more accurate when the process is taken into account
 Students are aware of and develop their responsibilities and teamwork skills
 Instructors will be able to keep track of issues occurring at each team and
provide help if necessary

Disadvantages

 There are possibilities of students having inaccurate marking due to

misunderstanding of the criteria
 Teachers might be overloaded with collecting scores of all members

Suggestions

 Teachers should give full explanation together with modeling in order to help
students understand the descriptions in each criterion.
 Teachers emphasize the importance and values of self-assessment and their
gains when doing so.
 Students should be required to provide explanation to their given scores in
class orally.
 Teachers should keep their own records of students’ performance and
behaviors in class so that she can compare with students’ scores.
 The scoring percentage of this assessment method should be equal to 10% of
the total score of the subject.

33
Final product assessments

Project report

The 2000-word project report should be written in the form of an essay and should
include the following information. The project report guide is used for all 5 projects.

a. Explain why you choose the subject for your project

Any reasons, objective or subjective regarding the choice of a place, a story, a

religious center, a type of TV show or a kind of magazine, can be chosen to
add here. People can say they choose to develop a tour project to Ha Long
because they are interested in discovering more about the destination as they
dream to be a tour guide there after graduation (subjective) or are part of the
teacher’s requirement (objective).

b. State how the group worked with each other

You can state the time, place and frequency of your meeting, either online or
face-to-face, how you organize your discussion and how members provide
support to each other. Any forms of party or ways to connect members can be
described here.

c. State what students learned from the course

You might want to talk about two major gains, namely language skills and soft
skills. For language skills, talk about how your speaking, listening, reading
and writing have been improved. Give examples of any structures or
vocabulary you acquire together with methods you use to learn them if
possible. For soft skills, think of, for instance, how better you communicate
(communication skills) with other; indicate whether you learn ways to
organize your study and life, to make timetable, to be aware of punctuality, to
become a better listener and so on.

d. State what difficulties they had to deal with and how they overcame the
difficulties.

Many of my previous students focus on the following categories for this

section: the technology difficulties (you do not know how to use software to
do a specific task, ect.); member’s differences (arguments or even conflicts);

34
financial difficulties (lack of money to do something); subject matters (all
issues regarding understanding the lessons and requirements)

Just simply state what troubles you meet and how you get over them. It is
better to write one trouble-one solution in one paragraph and continue with
another trouble-another solution in another paragraph.

In order to write this section, team should take note their troubles and
solutions by write them in the weekly report.

e. State surprises, lessons or unforgettable memory you drew in the process

of doing the project (100 words)

Students can include any interesting memories such as a funny party with
members after project discussions, a surprising discovery like a new website
to design, a new way to create brochure or the values of friendship and
leadership.

f. State students’ comment on the project and the suggestions to make it

better and better (150-200 words)

Nothing is perfect. So is your project. Think about what you can do to improve
the quality of your project (the process, the product) if you have chance to do
it all over again.

g. Give sources from which you cite the information if you have

Most projects will involve the partial use of a written drama or story (EDR),
information on internet articles (EXS, ECU, EMA, ETV). All these materials
need to be cited according to APA citation regulations.

Sample citations of books with one author.

First name of author, first letter of author’s last name. (publishing

year). Name of the book. Publisher, location of publishing house.

Griffee, D. T. (2012). An introduction to second language research

methods: design and data. TESL-EJ Publications, Berkeley.

For more sample citations of books with more than one author, of journal, of
internet sources and others, read this website
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/
35
The project report is assessed based on the following criteria

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Criteria
(10-9) (8-7) (6-5-4) (3-2-1)
The content is about the project; Unrelated to the project,
The content is about the The content is about the project;
little abundant information little information about
Content project; specific information some information about group’s
included, most of information group’s activities in the
with clear example provided activities in the project
focuses on the project project

Various vocabulary used;

Various words and phrases used; There is a variation of vocabulary
few mistakes spotted Limited vocabulary with a lot
a few mistakes found (spelling, but still limited; some mistakes
(spelling, collocations, etc.). of basic vocabulary mistakes.
collocations, etc.). A few grammar found (spelling, collocations, etc.).
The writing is grammatically A lot of grammar mistake
Language mistakes found, mostly on Some grammar mistakes found but
accurate, few mistakes found; even basic
advanced grammar most of the writing is accurate.
found. grammatical mistakes such
Or equivalent to B1+-B2 (*) Or equivalent to B1 (*)
Or equivalent to B2+ (*) as verb tenses, etc.
Or equivalent to A2+-B1 (**) Or equivalent to A2 (**)
Or equivalent to B1+(**)
Opinion Very creative and valuable
A lot of opinions and suggestions, Some opinions and suggestions but
and opinions and suggestions
most of them are reasonable or most of them are not reasonable or No opinion and suggestion
Suggestio that can be used to improve
applicable applicable
n the course
Under the following conditions, the submission of project report will be refused or the mark might be lowered depending on the
instructors.
1. Lack of references if any (citing the materials used in the project)
2. Late submission with no prior accepted permission from instructor, normally no later than week 15.
3. Reproduction of any prior project report of part of it (plagiarism)
(*) for EXS, ECU, EMA, ETV
(**) for EDR

36
EDR_Drama script

Drama script is used as the plan for actor and actress in a drama. The drama script
for EDR should contain the following information.

a. Cover page Name of the drama and group information

b. Content page Table of content
c. Drama summary Summary of drama plot within 100 words
d. Characters List of actors/ actresses and characters
e. Script Should be divided into different scenes (5 or 6)
There are list of characters, name of scene, italic
narrator’s words, italic action and feeling in each scene.
Sample summary

In a far away, long ago kingdom, Cinderella is living happily with her mother
and father until her mother dies. Cinderella's father remarries a cold, cruel woman
who has two daughters, Drizella and Anastasia. When the father dies, Cinderella's
wicked stepmother turns her into a virtual servant in her own house. Meanwhile,
across town in the castle, the King determines that his son the Prince should find a
suitable bride and provide him with a required number of grandchildren. So the
King invites every eligible maiden in the kingdom to a fancy dress ball, where his
son will be able to choose his bride. Cinderella has no suitable party dress for a
ball, but her friends the mice, Jackie and Gosh, and the birds lend a hand in making
her one, a dress the evil stepsisters immediately tear apart on the evening of the
ball. At this point, the Fairy Godmother and the pumpkin carriage appear. At
midnight, Cinderella returns home in a hurry leaving the Prince and a glass slipper.
The Prince falls in love with Cinderella but they have to go through a lot of
difficulties before union.
(Adapted from http://www.imdb.com)

Steps to write a story plot and summary

Step 1: Read the story at least three times. While reading, take notes on main
characters, their personality and related background information.
Step 2: Note down the settings or the places where event takes place. Only
focus on the frequently mentioned sites. For example: the main action
takes place at Hogwarts, so you could write down something like the
magical school Hogwarts in the United Kingdoms. Then, note the
conflicts or the problems that the characters need to overcome and the
main events and the ending.
Step 3: Organize the notes into a summary in the order of main characters,
events and ending.
37
Characters

Sample of the character page of EDR drama script is followed

List of characters
Name Characters Scenes

1. Pham Hung Thuyen The King All scenes

2. Pham Minh Ngoc The Queen 1; 2; 3; 4
3. Nguyen Thi Luyen The Godmother 2;4
4. Nguyen Thi Luyen The Queen of forest 5

Sample script

Narrator: Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl named
Cinderella. She had two ugly stepsisters who were very cruel to
her.
Stepsister 2: Did you polish my shoes?
Cinderella: Yes, I did.
Stepsister 1: Did you iron my clothes?
Cinderella: Yes, I did.
Stepsister 2: And...Did you make breakfast?
Cinderella: Yes, breakfast is ready.
Narrator: The evil stepsisters made Cinderella do all the hard work.
Cinderella: (calling out) Stepsisters! A letter from the royal palace has
arrived for you.
Stepsister 1: (fighting) Give it to me! I want to open it.
Stepsister 2: (fighting) No! I want to open it.
Stepsister 1 & 2: (looking at the invitation card) Look! We are invited to the
Prince’s ball at the royal palace.
38
The marking of drama script and TV filming script is based on these criteria.

Below average Average Good Excellent

Criteria
(1- 5) (5 - 7) (8-9) (9-10)

Very poor ideas, The ideas are little Many good Many good and
the story is too poor, there are not ideas, interesting and
simple and details many interesting reasonable creative details
Content
are unreasonable details but the details
details are quite
reasonable

Appropriate
Inappropriate Inappropriate
writing style Appropriate
Style and writing style; a lot writing style; correct
correct grammar writing style;
grammar of grammatical grammar with some
with a few correct grammar.
mistakes mistakes
mistakes

Various and
Repetitive and Accurate vocabulary, accurate
Various and
limited a lot of mistake when vocabulary,
Vocabulary accurate
vocabulary with a it comes to difficult some mistake
vocabulary
lot of mistakes terms when it comes to
difficult terms

A lot of A lot of
Some improvement improvement in improvement in
No improvement
during the semester; writing during writing during the
at all during the
make a lot of the semester; semester; no
Improvement semester,
mistakes but make some mistake or some
repetitive
improve some of mistakes but mistake but
mistakes
them improve most of improve all of
them them

It is not accepted to copy the dialogues on the internet, movie or book for the drama
script. Members must work and write their own conversations or at least make
changes to the original works and cite it very carefully in the list of references of
project report.

Typing and word processing mistakes are very common among students studying
Drama Project. So, it is ideal that all students need to follow the sample script on the
previous page strictly and also read common typing mistakes in Appendix 11.

39
ETV_Filming script

A filming script is a written plan of the content of several pieces of news in a news
program or a series of news into a particular topic that is developed over time. A
filming script might contain several shooting scripts, each of which covers one area
or part of the program.

A good filming script should include the parts as example below

Cover page should include the following information

 Name of Thai Nguyen University and the school

 Logo of Thai Nguyen School of Foreign Languages
 The word “FILMING SCRIPT”
 Name of the program
 Date of project completion

Content page should briefly introduce the group, slogan, interesting facts, name of
each member, and table of content

Table of content should be organized as sample followed

Script
Page Name
No
Local people’s concerns over changes in environment in Ngoc
1 3
Khanh Town

2 7 Local schools help with the environment

Shooting script page should include the following information

 Film name Should be as short and focused as possible

 Genre See the list of news genres in Appendix 13
 Content Describe the content in less than 50 words
 Host’s/ Presenter’s Name
 Cameraman Name
 The length In minutes
 Location Location
 Time Time

40
And then the shooting script pages present all content of the shooting scenario as
example below which is taken and edited from a student’s shooting script.

Camera
Content Time
Scenario movement
(Commentary) (s)
(Note)

1 Soft background music Film name: The Film

Voluntary Club Name(5s)
of Thai Nguyen
(blur)
University - 4 5
year
establishment
and growth.

2 Nowadays, students are not only Students study Long shot

studying in the class but also joining in the class
Zoom in,
the other activities when they have
zoom out.
free time. Each person has a choice
of their own. Someone will find the Students do (30s)
part time job; others join voluntary part-time job
organization. After studying in the
class, volunteers meet. They discuss 60
about the plan to help unfortunate Students
and poor people. volunteer.
So, how can they unite to build a
strong team? We will find out how
they started it and will continue to
do so in the future.

Content: specifies the words that presents and others will speak during shooting. Be
careful when breaking the content in many sections.

Scenario: describe the activities shown in that scene. It even can include present’s
activities.

Time: The assigned time for that part

Camera movement: details how the pictures will appear on the scene.

41
Video

An ETV video should include one of the following topics

 Student’s interests regarding study, leisure activities and future plan rather
than social trends or fashion.
 Social issues that might affect students and their future such as environment,
job availability and chances.
 Reporting life of students who had big achievements in life and study

A good ETV video should include the following parts and characteristics

 Welcoming audiences
 Introduction to the program
 Main contents
 Concluding the program

An ETV video is assessed based on the following criteria

Excellent Good Average Poor Points

(9-10) (7-8) (5-6) (0-4)

Movements Made Very little No movements

seemed fluid movements or movement or or descriptive
Body
and helped the gestures that descriptive gestures.
language audience enhanced gestures.
visualize. articulation.
Holds attention Consistent use Displayed No eye contact
of entire of direct eye minimal eye with audience
Eye contact audience with contact with contact with
the use of direct audience. audience.
eye contact.

Good use of Delivery is Delivery is in Delivery is

drama and patterned, but bursts and does either too
students meets does not meet not meet quick or too
Pacing apportioned apportioned apportioned slow to meet
time interval. time interval. time interval. apportioned
time interval.

42
 Student displays Makes minor Displays mild Tension and
relaxed, self- mistakes, but tension; has nervousness is
confident nature quickly recovers trouble obvious; has
Poise about self, with from them; recovering from trouble
no mistakes. displays little or mistakes. recovering
no tension from mistakes.

Use of fluid Satisfactory use Displays some Consistently

speech and of inflection but level of uses a
Voice inflection does not inflection monotone
maintains the consistently use throughout voice.
interest of the fluid speech. delivery.
audience.

Student presents Student presents Audience has Audience

information in information in difficulty cannot
logical, logical sequence following understand
Organizati interesting which audience presentation presentation
on sequence which can follow. because student because there
audience can jumps around. is no sequence
follow. of information

Student Student is at Student is Student does

demonstrates ease with uncomfortable not have grasp
Content
full knowledge content, but fails with information of information;
knowledge (more than to elaborate. and is able to student cannot
required) with answer only answer
explanations and rudimentary questions
elaboration. questions. about subject
Student used a Student’s voice Student Student
clear voice and is clear. Student incorrectly mumbles,
correct, precise pronounces pronounces incorrectly
Elocution pronunciation of most words terms. Audience pronounces
terms so that all correctly. Most has difficulty terms, and
audience audience hearing speaks too
members can members can presentation. quietly for
hear hear audience to
presentation presentation hear.

A sample ETV video can be found here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfggI5TwVoU

43
Brochure

EXS Brochure

Brochure of EXS project is one of team’s products. The brochure should include
plentiful, short and interesting information with eye-catching design. Normally, there
is no limit to the number of pages, but most teams should arrange a 15-20 page
brochure. A page does not need to be filled with words. Most important articles
should be no more than 150 words long while less important ones should last only
50 words. The whole brochure should have the length of 2000 words. The following
presents the structure and possible contents which students can choose to include
in an EXS brochure.

a. A description of the travel destination in your tour

b. Table of content (optional)
c. Transportation: schedule and prices (if not included in the tour package) to
destination as well as traveling
d. Customs regulations/travel tips (language use, clothes, foods, habits, lifestyle)
e. Hotel: reservations, location, name, and price (if not included in the tour package)
f. Recreational activities: sightseeing places and activities, currency exchange rate,
typical meals where to access all above
g. Attractions: architecture, art, geography, environment, tourist sites, night life,
religious, ect.
h. Health: immunizations in case of illness guidelines, travel/health risks
i. Weather forecasts and clothing suggestions
j. Itinerary for each day (for example 3 nights and 4 days, do not include flight time).
k. Contact for information and booking (email address, phone number, Skype,
Facebook, Tweeter)
l. Staff and services (tourist guide, support line, emergency line)

While many former students believed that a brochure is a book that covers all
information of the tour so it needs to be very detailed, it is actually not necessarily
true as the matter of fact that a wordy brochure might be too long and less
attractive. In addition, many students learned by heart and presented all the words
in the brochure during tour presentation. In fact, students should avoid it because
the purpose of the tour presentation is for you to really show how you guide
tourists, what you say and how you say it.

Read more about the rule of simplicity in the appendices, which can be applied to
designing brochure, presentation slides, banners or taking photographs.

A sample EXS cover page can be found on the following page.

44
45
A sample content page with tour itinerary

46
A sample page of EXS article

47
Magazine/ Culture brochure

Brochure of EMA/ECU includes newspaper articles written around a specific theme.

The theme for EMA/ECU should be educational, informative or beneficial to
students. Read chapter 6: question 26, 27 for more guidance about theme, topics
and how to start these two projects. Most articles should be within or less than one
page long together with one or two photos. The whole magazine should be between
15-20 pages with formal writing styles. The magazine should be divided into many
columns/corners (5-7) while a culture brochure can focus on one theme such as
foods in Vietnam in all articles.

A sample cover page of the culture brochure on cuisine can be found on the next
page. Here are some comments for that page in terms of design and content.

In general, a content page needs to include the following parts

 Name of the magazine/ brochure theme

 Company/ group logo and slogan
 Main topics of the magazine/ brochure
 Publishing date (optional)
 Contact (optional)
 Illustrations (photograph, picture, icon)
 Any biting sentences or phrases (things that hook the readers)

Positives

 The overall design is very eye-catching and invites people to read more
 There is a clear topic providing the theme of the brochure
 The contents are given to direct and attract the reader
 Pictures are of high quality and colorful
 Fonts are professional and very easy to read.
 Information about publisher is included

Negatives

 The pictures have too many details which allow very little zero space for
writing.
 The content words and email address harder to read as they have similar
color with the background photograph.
 The phrase “for those who love to eat” is not attractive and should be made
bigger.

Recommendations

48
 Should use another background pictures that allow more space for writing
 The date of the magazine should be placed at the bottom
 Bullet points or other markers should be used to mark main topics

49
A sample page of EMA article/ ECU writing.

The content pages of EMA and ECU projects might be longer than those of EXS due
to their differences in purpose. The formers are to provide more detailed and in-
depth information while the latter tries to catch and hold the attention of the
readers as quick and long as possible.

In general, a content page needs to include the following parts

 Tittle (3-5 words; simple and brief)

 Sub-tittle (optional; if the articles contain many sections)
 Content paragraph (200-400 words; should be written with clear main idea
for each paragraph, either following deduce or induce writing style).
 Addressing the author
 Page number
 Illustrations (photograph, picture, icon)
 Company/ group logo and slogan (optional)

A sample content page of the magazine or culture brochure on cuisine can be found
on the next page. Here are some comments for that page in terms of design and
content.

Positives

 The overall design is very clear and professional

 Tittle, sub-tittle and word length are just right for an article
 Both photographs are the best illustrations for the content

Negatives

 The author should not bold the content words

 There are still many grammar and spelling mistakes.
 The author should not write “writer: La Thi Ngoc Anh” in the end.

Recommendations

 To address the ownership, the author should write “By La Thi Ngoc Anh”
 Consult teammates and instructors for checking and correct grammar and
spelling mistakes.

50
51
Project cycle

Literature cycle

Literature cycle aims to raise student’s input (language skills and content) so that
they can develop their language use and discuss to choose the content for their
drama. Groups do not have to base their drama on an existing story, but can
generate their own story of a topic which is appealing to them.

Students perform literature cycle during their first three weeks of the course. They
will have to read a novel (they read one or two chapter each week) or read a short
story (one story each week) and then report their understanding and discussions
based on their role. Each of them will play one of these roles, discussion director,
literary luminary, connector, visualize, word wizard, inquisitor/fortune teller.
Students exchange the role each week according to their action plan.

Groups conduct Literature cycle in class and hand in the report to teacher at the end
of the lesson. Students make copies of the book chapter, read it in class and discuss
as their assigned role and write their report.

Books can be borrowed from bookworm corner

or downloaded from https://goo.gl/gyKQkS

Discussion Director (DD)

It is your job to guide this session’s Book talk.

a. Provide a brief summary of the today’s assigned reading. Make sure you
include the important events and the main idea of what was read
b. Discuss the main character of the book. Who are they? What challenges do
they face? How are they changing? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
DD reads and summarize the story/ chapter of a novel as in a)
DD gives his/her opinions of the characters in the book and asks other students
what they think of the characters. Similarly, he/she asks members what they think
of the challenges, changes, strengths and weaknesses of each character. All teams
come to a conclusion with ideas produced about each category above.

52
Literary Luminary (LL)

It is your job to choose particularly powerful or interesting passages to read for

today’s discussion. You may choose others from the group to read the passages out
loud. Remember before you read, discuss with the group why you choose each
passage. After you read, see if the group agrees with your understanding of what
you read
Passage number # 1
Page # ______ Where on the page? (top, middle, bottom)
Why did you choose this passage?

Connector

It is your job to make three connections to the story from today’s assigned reading.
Share your connections and then ask if anyone else in the group made similar or
different connections to the story.
Connection # 1 (text to self) How the chapter/ story is related to your life
Connection # 2 (text to text) How the chapter is related to the other chapter in the
book
Connection # 3 (text to world) How the chapter/ story is related to the world today
Visualizer
It’s your job to pick a part of the story, “see” it, and illustrate it. This can be a mind
map that connects the characters or a physical map of the setting or a drawing of an
action sequence in the story or a drawing of one of the characters. Discuss your
drawing choice. Ask for feedback.
Action sequence:

Cinderella cries Fairy god appears Cinderella gets a

dress

Or a drawing of a scene in the story you like best.

53
Word wizard
Your job is to identify any sentence or word that seemed difficult to understand.
During the discussion, ask the group if they might know what a particular word or
phrase means. Use context clues to guide the discussion. If you can’t figure it out, use
a dictionary or ask your teacher for help.

Inquisitor/Fortune teller
Your job is to think of questions that arise from today’s reading assignment. Think
about big questions and big ideas rather than small details. Label your questions: B-
before reading; D-during reading, A-after reading.
After discussing your questions, make a prediction or two with the group about
what will happen next.

Assessment of literature cycle use individual student’s report and is based on the
following criteria

Score 3 or 6 or 10 or
Equivalent to A1 Equivalent to A2 Equivalent to B1

Task Too simple or most Only a few questions/tasks Very detailed and task
completion questions are are unanswered with is fully answered
unanswered attempt to add more details

Language Lots of grammar Few grammar mistakes Hardly any mistakes.

use mistakes. Most with attempt to use some Many complex clauses
simple sentences complex structures. are used. Structures
and structures. Few Evidence of complex are greatly varied.
variations. clauses.

Vocabulary Most simple Some uncommon Many uncommon

vocabulary. vocabulary of various vocabulary
topics

54
Culture cycle

Students are expected to search and collect information as well as to discuss and
report what they discover about the cultural characteristics of a region/ country.
For the first three weeks of the projects, students exchange their role to perform the
tasks described below. This exercise is to raise students’ input for their project
(language and knowledge) as they have chance to discover different regions and
countries in terms of culture to choose the best subject for their project.

Groups collect information at home, discuss in class and write a report based on
their findings. Each student should submit their own report under the assigned task.

Individual 1: language and religion master

It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 Language use in the area (accents, dialects)
 Beliefs and religions (origins, popularity, festival, holidays, rituals, ect.)
Individual 2: cuisine master
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 Cooking recipe and techniques practiced by the locals
 Eating habits (time, place, manner)
 Street foods
Individual 3: technology and architecture master
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 Popular jobs and job technologies
 Housing design, building materials
 buildings
Individual 4: arts master
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 music (traditional and modern)
 literature (works and authors)
 dance (traditional and modern)
 painting (traditional and modern

55
Assessment of culture cycle use individual student’s report and is based on the
following criteria

Score 3 or 6 or 10 or
Equivalent to B1 Equivalent to B2 Equivalent to C1

Task Too simple or most Only a few questions/tasks Very detailed and task
completion questions are are unanswered with is fully answered
unanswered attempt to add more details

Language Lots of grammar Few grammar mistakes Hardly any mistakes.

use mistakes. Most with attempt to use some Many complex clauses
simple sentences complex structures. are used. Structures
and structures. Few Evidence of complex are greatly varied.
variations. clauses.

Vocabulary Most simple Some uncommon Many uncommon

vocabulary. vocabulary of various vocabulary
topics

TV show cycle

Students are expected to search and collect information as well as to discuss and
report what they discover about the characteristics of different TV shows. For the
first three weeks of the projects, students exchange their role to perform the tasks
described below. This exercise is to raise students’ input for their project (language
and knowledge) as they have chance to discover what included in the preparation
and production of a TV show to choose the best subject for their project.

Groups collect information at home, discuss in class and write a report based on
their findings. Each student should submit their own report under the assigned task.

Producer(s)
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the purpose, the type (comedy, sitcom, news, history, documentary, drama)
 the main content (activities, stages, performance, talk)
 the length
56
Director(s)
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about and reasons as well as
opinions for the choice of the following attributes in the program.
 the main actors and actresses (name, their acting)
 master of the ceremony (name, skills, mistakes)
 the arrangement of seats and camera (suitable or not)
Script writer(s)
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the language use in the program (formal, informal), by whom and when
 Is there learned or simultaneous conversation? How do you know?
Designer(s)
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 What kinds of clothes are used. List them and the scenes they are used in. How
appropriate each kind of clothes in each scene.
 Stage design (good or bad) where and why.

Assessment of show cycle use individual student’s report and is based on the
criteria developed for assessing culture cycle

Tour cycle

Students are expected to search and collect information as well as to discuss and
report what they discover about what included in an existing tour. For the first three
weeks of the projects, students exchange their role to perform the tasks described
below. This exercise is to raise students’ input for their project (language and
knowledge) as they have chance to discover what included in the preparation and
management of a tour to choose the best subject for their project.

Groups collect information at home, discuss in class and write a report based on
their findings. Each student should submit their own report under the assigned task.

57
General description
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 Company introduction
 the type (eco-tour, homestay, experiencing, food, sightseeing, cruise, ect)
 the brief description of destination(s)
 the length, address, contact, price, booking, special offers
Main activities
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the destination and activities in the tour (things to do in each day)
Cuisine and accommodations
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 people’s eating habits, eating manner of the destinations, available foods and
drinks. Introduction to accommodations in the tour (location, services)
Travel guide
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 What clothes tourist must bring for their journey
 Notice about the available payment method in the area and health related
problems like weather, food
Assessment of culture cycle use individual student’s report and is based on the
criteria developed for assessing culture cycle

Magazine cycle

Students are expected to search and collect information as well as to discuss and
report what they discover about the characteristics of a magazine/ or an issue of a
magazine. For the first three weeks of the projects, students exchange their role to
perform the tasks described below. This exercise is to raise students’ input for their
project (language and knowledge) as they have chance to discover what included in
a magazine and the production of a magazine to choose the best subject for their
project.

58
Groups collect information at home, discuss in class and write a report based on
their findings. Each student should submit their own report under the assigned task.

Manager(s)
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the purpose (profit/ non-profit, knowledge/ entertainment/ information, ect)
 the main sections (how many, main focus)
 intended audience

Magazine section 1
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the description of an article in the section (focus, length, organization of the
article, content of each paragraph, language use, any technical vocabulary and
its meaning, the effectiveness of visual aids)
Magazine section 2
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the description of an article in the section (focus, length, organization of the
article, content of each paragraph, language use, any technical vocabulary and
its meaning, the effectiveness of visual aids)
Magazine section 3
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the description of an article in the section (focus, length, organization of the
article, content of each paragraph, language use, any technical vocabulary and
its meaning, the effectiveness of visual aids)
Magazine section 4
It is your role to find out and tell members in class about
 the description of an article in the section (focus, length, organization of the
article, content of each paragraph, language use, any technical vocabulary and
its meaning, the effectiveness of visual aids)
Assessment of tour cycle use individual student’s report and is based on the criteria
developed for assessing culture cycle

59
Chapter 6 Questions and Answers
1. How many projects should I choose to participate?

Three. You should not choose more than 3 projects as there are some
similarities among them.

2. What projects should we choose?

It really depends on you and your interest. However, it is crucial to choose

EDR, EXS and one of the others.

3. What do we have to do one day before the test day?

Check all documents you will need for the test day. For EDR, you will need to
print 2 drama scripts and 2 assessment forms for evaluators (Chapter 5). For
other projects, you will need to print 02 copies of either scripts or brochure.
Ask your instructors for more details.

4. What do I have to do on the test day?

Arrive early and prepare your costumes, backdrops. Check the projector
connection, sound system if you are planning to play video/audio. Troubles
like no sound on the slide, bad connection or missing drama props can slow
you down, make you nervous and frustrate your teacher. No teacher wants to
wait, so get things ready.

5. Is costume important for my final show?

Your clothes will support telling who you are in the drama or show. Do not
come on the stage wearing exactly the same thing like any other day. Try to
make some changes by adding hand-made hat, a walking stick, some medals.
Some team rent costumes in the clothe shop and they are expensive. If it is
necessary and you do not have much time to create one, rent them. Besides,
definitely wear a piece of paper with your name on it so that teachers will
know who you are.

6. Should I form a group with all students of best English ability?

No. Many students with good English skills have weak soft skills as they are
too arrogant and tend to show off. Look for someone who are Respectful,
Responsible and Open. One or two with good English skills is good but it is
still fine if there is no one like that. What matters is what you learn in the end.

60
7. Is there a website that can help me with my project?

To search for information, simply use Google.com

To download photo, use flickr.com and google.com. Some photos on
flickr.com are not downloadable.
To design brochure, use canva.com
To publish project product, use wix.com
There are plenty of tutorials for websites above on youtube.com. If still not
clear, ask your instructor for more help.

8. Is PBL really helpful for me?

PBL is truly effective in bringing out changes in students’ language abilities

and life skills. Language skills are improved by intensive and extensive
language practice in reading internet sources, writing reports and essays,
discussing and listening to instructors and friends. Foundation of life skills
such as critical thinking, collaboration skills, responsibility, presentation are
well-established. This kind of learning requires high level of learning
autonomy and self-regulation though.

9. Can I change my action plan after week 2?

Yes. You should submit your action plan no later than week 3 to instructor.
However, you might also make changes during the project to suit your
progress. In the end of the course, submit the final action plan to the
instructor.

10. Why do I need both action plan and weekly report? They are quite similar.

Action plan is to tell you the big tasks you need to do to achieve your goal (a
completed successful project).

Weekly report tells in details what you and your team has done according to
what is written in action plan. This document also keeps you goal-oriented.

11. Not all students come to the class during week one. When they turn up in the
next class, they cannot find a group to get in or no group accepts them because
they do not like rearrangement or working with stranger.

Encourage students to form groups with strangers to make friends and learn
from more people. For teacher, check the student list. Set a group with 3-4
students just in case. All groups should keep in mind that teacher might
change and has the right to change the group member during week 1 and 2

61
12. My partner does not co-operate. She just did not come to our meeting

Report member's bad behaviors or laziness is group leader's responsibility.

Tell teacher about this and he will jot that student out of the class

13. One of my member wants to be a narrator and he does not want to play any
other role

Tell him that narrator receive zero for the test. It means teacher does not
mark narrator. Some groups even ask people of another team to narrate the
story. This is accepted.

14. We always chat about something else rather than the drama and project. We do
not work effectively

Plan things ahead. You all must agree about the purpose of each meeting. The
leader should remind everyone of the goal. Sometimes, it is good to have fun
too.

15. We have 6 members but the story we chose can only offer 4 roles.

Invent something more for the other two members, make up or change the
plot of the story. Creating surprising is a good way to raise your mark. Be
creative

16. I really do not know what I have to do before, while and after the class

Project Based Learning is for you to decide your own way to achieve the goal
you set. The goal of this project is that you and your friends will make and
perform a drama. Plan what to do every week and you will know what to do.
Sit with your friends to make detailed plan. Ask "This is the big goal for 15
weeks, this is small goal for every week. What do you do this week, Nhung?"

17. My teacher does not reply our email

Check if you are sending email with proper language (formal language); check
if you really show your teacher that you really need his help.

18. Many groups are lazy in the beginning, or they are lazy practicing the drama
and in the end, when final test is coming, they hardly have enough time to
practice. It is true to so many of my students

Always check what you do every week. You must complete small tasks each
week
62
 19. We always have argument over the drama

Do not worry. It is somehow good because you are working effectively. Just
sometimes relax and think on other person's side and you will see her points.
Ask teacher for help if situation goes out of control

20. At week 8-10, you should submit your drama script, but sometimes your
members do not show up for the script which he is assigned to do. Teacher gets
annoyed and you get angry

Leader should check your friends' progress and help them.

21. Can we let someone speak or act more than other in the drama or show?

It is important for everyone to have equal chances of speaking and acting as it

will affect their score. Those who speak a little might have lower score than
others
22. Are there any limit to the scope of our project?

There is no scope so you can carry out a project in Vietnam or international

locations and contexts. However, measure your chances of success and try to
predict whether you can handle a big project with lots of information. For
example, most EXS projects will focus on 3-4 locations so that you have time
to explore and develop in-depth understanding.

23. Where can we find sample final products?

It is best to ask your instructors for some. However, many of them are
available from https://oasisphamhungthuye.wixsite.com/sfl-pbl

EXS: http://www.austravel.com/info/brochures

Or from an alumni with full EXS articles, report and website

address

http://huyennguyen22.weebly.com/excursion-project.html

ETV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCMS41_oWRo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfggI5TwVoU

63
24. I do not know what content I should put in my brochure.
You can do the following things to generate ideas for brochure. One, read the
sample brochure, website of related areas, works of previous groups. Second,
think as if you were the costumers/reader of the brochure. For example, in
EXS project, think that you are tourists, and if you are a tourist, ask yourself
what kind of information you will need in the brochure. Last, consulting your
instructor (only do this after finishing the task one and two).

25. How do we start EXS?

Teams should design a package tour and decide the length of the tour (how
many days), then the activities to do, places to visit, foods to eat and hotels to
stay for each day. After that, start writing interesting introduction for each
activity, place, food and hotel and maybe other things included in the tour.
Organize them in your brochure in terms of topics or days.

26. How do we start EMA?

First, think of the big theme and target reader for your magazine. For
example, you might want the central point of all your main articles is
education and the target reader is university students. Then, brainstorm main
corners of the magazine such as student’s life, education policy, learning
techniques, teacher’s life, fashion for students, stories of great students.
Finally, think of how many articles can you write for the corners above and
assign members to starting searching information and get ready to write.

27. How do we start ECU?

First, think of big theme and target reader for your brochure. Adult readers
will require more serious topics and formal languages. Then, browse the
internet and read about culture of different areas, peoples, and nation. Within
a small project like ECU, it is ideal to work on the culture of one ethnic group
or region. In that culture, find out and present the information about its
history, belief, knowledge, contribution, cuisine, clothing, social manners,
languages and accents, festival, ceremonies and celebrations, ect.

64
28. What topics should I choose for my EDR project?
There are two ways to create the drama. Read the novels, fairy tales and
create a drama based on them; or invent a drama of your own. Never create a
drama which is popular like Little Red Riding Hood, Star fruit tree, Tam Cam.
However, you can still choose these if you change the plot.

29. Why do we have to create a website when we have the brochure/CD as our
products?
The ultimate goal of the project is for you to create and show your products to
the public. In many schools, there are exhibitions for PBL products; however,
at our school, an online website is enough for teams to show their work.
Knowing that the work will go online is another motivation for teams to work
better.

65
Chapter 7 Appendix
Appendix 1: Action plan

The action plan with some sample for EDR below is a common form for all projects and can be adjusted to each project’s and teachers’
requirements. Action plan might be changed a little while students are carrying out the project.

 Group title: Sun River

 Group members: 1. Pham Hung Thuyen Project title: …………………………………………..

2. Pham Minh Ngoc

3. Pham Minh

Timeline
Activities [What to do] Who do it Expected outcomes
Date

Week 2 Read the first chapter of “Great Pham Hung Thuyen Understand the meaning, characters,
traveler” at home.  Discussion director hidden messages in first chapter of the
23/6 – 28/6
 Literary Luminary story.
Prepare to tell other members in class
Pham Minh Ngoc
about the chapter based on role’s Decide if we want to make it our drama
 Connector
guide. or not
 Visualizer
Write cycle report in class Pham Minh
 Word wizard
 Inquisitor/Fortune teller

66
Week 3 Read the second chapter of “Great Pham Hung Thuyen Understand the meaning, characters,
traveler” at home.  Visualizer hidden messages in second chapter of
31/6 – 05/7
 Word wizard the story.
Prepare to tell other members in class
Pham Minh Ngoc
about the chapter based on role’s Decide if we want to make it our drama
 Inquisitor/Fortune teller
guide. or not
 Literary Luminary
Write cycle report in class Pham Minh
 Discussion director
 Connector
Week 5 Decide the drama or story to be All members discuss and then Drama content is finalized
developed into a drama. Write drama
19/7-24/7 Thuyen_write drama Drama introduction is written
introduction
introduction
Group name (if possible, logo, slogan) is
Divide the projects into scenes.
created
Discuss group name, logo,
introduction, slogan

Ask teacher if necessary

Week 6 Write the first scene All members First scene is completed

26/7 – 30/7 Ask teacher to correct writing and

pronunciation in class

Practice the scene at home. Make

Thuyen and Ngoc: make a list
changes if necessary. Make a list of
of costumes for scene 1, Minh:
costumes, visual aids, tools
audios needed for scene 1

67
Appendix 2: Weekly report

Team present a written weekly report of what the teams have done for the project
up to that week based on the action plan. Teacher should ask any students orally
according to what is written on the report

 Group title: Sun River

 Group members: 1. Pham Hung Thuyen Week: …………. to ……………

2. Pham Minh Ngoc Project title: …………………..

3. Pham Minh

ACTIVITIES COMPLETED THIS WEEK

Include major tasks and describe what and how you did for each


ACTIVITIES NOW
Include lists of activities you are doing in class now


ACTIVITIES NEXT WEEK

Include lists of activities you are doing at Due date
home next week
 
 

TEACHER’S COMMENTS


68
Appendix 3: Creating SMART goal

Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely

Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general
goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:

Who: Who is involved?

What: What do I want to accomplish?
Where: Identify a location
When: Establish a time frame.
Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Measurable – Can you track the progress and measure the outcome
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many?
How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable – Is the goal reasonable enough to be accomplished? How so? Make sure the
goal is neither too ambitious nor easy.

Relevant – Is the goal worthwhile and does it meet your language and life needs? Is each
goal consistent with other goals you have established and fits with your immediate and
long term plans?

Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it
there's no sense of urgency. Set the completion time for every task.

During the first few weeks, group needs to think and decide the main content of their
project, and it is this time that SMART goal theory is best applicable. Specifically, team
needs to be aware if their project requires highly extensive preparations or does not
include enough roles for every member, or might be irrelevant to teacher’s requirements of
topics, or might cover a large area of knowledge and theory that they can’t deal with within
the time of the course.

69
Appendix 4: Sample project report

PROJECT REPORT

Team: Red river company

Project title: A lifetime trip to Ha Noi

Class: EXS group 3

Instructor: Pham Hung Thuyen

School year: 2017-2018 term II

The reasons why we started this project in

Last year we had a chance to start our drama project and found that PBL was a very
useful learning method to improve both our language and life skills. Therefore, this
year our team decided to take another PBL course in excursion and so we are now.

We are all from cities and provinces around Ha Noi and are very proud of this city so
we chose this destination for our project. We would like to discover everything
about Hanoi so as to equip necessary understanding regarding this city to prepare
for our job as a tour guide in the future.

This place is also close to our school so we thought it might be easier to travel and
collect authentic inputs for our projects. […]

The way the team worked

We always worked at Thuyen’s room as it is quite central. Some had to ride

motorbike to get here but most could walk. We started discussion at 3 PM every
Wednesday afternoon, except for the fifth Wednesday when we started at 7 PM due
to the bad weather. In every meeting, the leader raised the issues, asked all
members for opinions and took notes. We discussed a lot and we often encouraged
shy members by saying “what do you think?”. We worked on social networks too
where we created a page to share document and discuss. […]

The lessons and knowledge we learned from the course

It is undeniable that we achieved better language skills through huge amount of

discussion, reading and writing. All members said that they witnessed some changes
in the way they speak and write. Reading was easier and we had more vocabulary
70
about places and cultures. We learned to speak as a tour guide too which is very
beneficial for our work.

Besides, all of us make a lot of improvements in our soft skills. Firstly, we found it
easier to start a conversation with a stranger and learned ways to work with each
other. Secondly, by strictly following the team’s rule, we became more responsible
and confident. […]

The difficulties we had to deal with and our solutions.

In the beginning, we met some difficulties in deciding the location for our meeting.
Most people prefer to choose their room as the meeting room because of its
convenience. Since it was hopeless to make a decision, we decided to write each
suggested location in a piece of paper, folded them and chose one randomly. It was
both fun and helpful.

Then, […]

Unforgettable memory you drew in the process of doing the project

We think that each person learned something new after the project.

As the team leader, Thuyen learned to help resolve the conflicts between members.
He had to talk to each person and sit down with them to tell them about the needs
and importance of team spirits as well as the unnecessary trivial arguments. He
learned to encourage everyone in the team. We always remember the rainy days
when we had a meeting. […]

Comment and suggestions

If we had a chance to start the project from the beginning, we would like to change
the following things. Firstly, we would plan the project more carefully and ask for
instructor’s feedback. When we carried out the project, we often got lost and didn’t
know what to do because there was so little details in our action plan. Secondly, […]

References

Griffee, D. T. (2012). An introduction to second language research methods: design

and data. TESL-EJ Publications, Berkeley.

71
Appendix 5: User’s guide for Canva.com for designing brochure

Step 1: Go to canva.com and register for a new account.

Step 2: Click “create a design”. A number of templates will show up on the

main board. Personally, I think the “A4” template will be very useful as
1) there are many free templates and 2) the templates there look more
like what we expect each team to do. So click “A4”.

Step 3: Scroll up and down the available templates here and click one to
choose. Your chosen template will be shown on the right hand panel.
Just click on any text in the template to change them. Images should be
uploaded in “upload” option in vertical menu. Then images can be
dragged into photo place. Beautiful brochure is the one with less word
but still can provide important messages. So cut down the words if
necessary when putting in templates.

Step 4: If you are happy with that page. Click “download” on the top right hand
corner. Remember to choose file type as pdf-print. Save the picture into
your computer.

Notice:

If a template is free, a word “free” will be attached to the bottom right corner of the
template. Many require you to pay a small fee.

We can design and download one page of the brochure at a time and merge all
individual pages into a brochure using software like
https://smallpdf.com/vi/merge-pdf

If you are creative and wish to make some thing out of the box. Try using other
features of the website like elements, text and background which appear on the
vertical menu when you choose a template. With “text”, you can add a place to insert
words on a template. With “elements” and background”, you can even create a
brochure from a blank page. Watch the video for more detailed instruction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHIXzvxzbhs

72
Appendix 6: User’s guide for Wix.com website to publish PBL product

Step 1: Go to wix.com and change the language if you have French interface.
Change language by clicking on the globe symbol on the top right
corner. Click “start now” and then “sign up’” for a new account. After
signing up, you are requested to choose the theme of your website. It is
better to choose “blog”and then “Start with Wix Editor”.

Step 2: Pick the Blog website template available on the right hand. The first
one “Traveler Blog” seems to be suitable for EXS, but it is highly
recommended that you should try different template. If you want any
template to be your website, scroll over it and click “Edit” when this
option appears.

Step 3: Edit the template on your own. Simply click on the text, or image and
an option “Edit text” or “Change image” will appear which allow you to
change the text or image. If you want to delete anything, click on it and
press “backspace” on your keyboard. If you want to add anything, click
on “Add” on the top left hand corner and select whatever you want to
add. You might get confused at first as there are too many options
there. But discover them slowly and you will master them.

Step 4: As a website needs to consist of more than one page, it is a good idea to
create a horizonal or vertical menu of pages. In my sample website, the
horizonal menu includes pages like Home, About, Day One, Day Two,
Day Three and From last customer. For each page, keep changing or
adding the text and image.

Step 5: When you are happy with the changes, click on “Publish” on the top
right hand corner. Next time, when you log in, you will be taken to the
main board where you can “manage your site”, “create new site” or
change your site name and address.

See my simple website here (I use “Traveler Blog” template):

https://nguyenthiluyen1706.wixsite.com/hungthuyentravel

Mastering the site takes some time and creating site should start right during the
first few weeks. Most people are scared or lazy to get it started but once you start
things are easier than you thought.

Watch full tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hDW8_Y7bNc

73
Appendix 7: Preparing for career development

[article]

At Thai Nguyen school of Foreign Languages, we have taught project-based learning

for many years. This subject group has been doing a great job in promoting the real
experiences and practices among students, encourage creativity and teamwork. This
PBL subject goes through three important phases – Multiple Draft; Critique and
Exhibition - that are also discussed in Work That Matters. As the project goes on,
students have to finish many pieces of writing and summary about the places of
interest, review and comment on friends’ products and publish their products
online. To finish the project, students need to get involved in a huge amount of
group discussion which requires “high degree of student participation, a strong
focus on essential content and high levels of thinking” (Harvey F. Silver; R. Thomas
Dewing & Matthew J. Perrini), critical thinking through comparing and selection of
information as well as ICT skills.

STEP 1 The first step is to have students discuss and choose a place of
Reflection interest for conducting a tour. Teacher’s role in this step is to
encourage students to choose a place where they can come in
person for information and latter for tour organization. At this
very first step, have student think as if they are in a travel agency
and doing their job to introduce their product to customers. A
small task could be naming company, creating logo and slogan as
well as company overall aims. These will decide what they will
do in their tour. Due to the fact that students have to cover all the
expenses for the virtual tour (there are no real tourists), they
should select a location that suits their financial capability. At
this stage, they need to discuss about all the possible spending
they can make to have the project done.

STEP 2 At this step, have students review traveling brochure from

Reflection different company and write down their comments such as
strengths and weaknesses about each brochure. Encourage them
to think as a tourist; discover the connection between color and
travel theme, the size, font and layout which can catch the
tourists’ eye. It is better to have them tell other groups about
what they discover in the sample brochure. Teacher can provide
74
 a review of the video of a real tour guide doing her job and then
ask critical questions10 about how the format of a brochure and
basic skills of a tour guide. Teacher can give students a list of
things or techniques that a tour guide uses in her job.

STEP 3 Students search for information when going to the place of

Research interest as well as it on the internet. Students should be asked to
carry an internet search before arriving in the destination so that
they could generalize what they should do there. By experiencing
the real travelling, they become aware of or are asked to think
about the travelling tips, length, activities throughout the tour.
The information gathered individually on the internet can be
checked and discussed at this step. The discussion would develop
into a critical talk between members to judge the ideas which are
agreed later on. Students are expected to share with other
groups about why they choose the place and how they would like
to develop their project. After this step, students should be able
to decide what to write in their travelling brochure.

STEP 4 They start to write about their destination based on the

Discovery information collected. At this step, students should be able to
compare the information from different sources (internet verses
reality) and discuss to come to a conclusion on what to be
presented. They can develop the information into pieces of
writing so as to fulfill their understanding of the travelling sites.
Teacher gives feedback about the quality and language problems
of the pieces of writing as long as suggest them what to choose to
put in the brochure and how to organize the details. The writing
can be exchanged and checked among groups so that they can
keep track of what other groups are doing and learn from others
(peer review).

10
Critical questions are open so that students have to think about different answer for it. Normally, critical questions are WH
questions. Teacher should not feel satisfied with the answers but frequently ask students to clarify or restate the answers.
Sample QA exchange can be:
T: So what do you think about the color of the brochure?
S: I think it is very attractive
T: Which page is the most attractive?
S: I think that page 6 is the one because it has green color that matches the theme of the brochure.
T: Do you think that page 7 is a little bit wordy?
S: Yes
T: As a tourist, do you want to read it?
75
STEP 5 Students use the writing to design their brochure. They have to
Application cut out pieces of information to put in their brochure. The
process involves group discussion, brochure review, summary
and basic designing skills. Teacher can support students with
ideas about the organization of the brochure and graphic design.
A small introduction to Adobe Photoshop or the likes and
Microsoft Office should be carried out. This step should be done
in class where students sit in group and ask for help whenever
they are in need. At this step, we have organized a multimedia
room where students can interact with teacher individually and
with other students through computer-assisted environment.

STEP 6 Students play as tour guides in a tour. They go to their

Application destination to remember the traits and information they will
introduce to tourist. They can refer to the brochure for
information. Automatically, they start to think about the
costume, language and equipment for a tour guide and do first
preparation to show the product (carrying out a tour). Students
have to think ahead of the raising problems, make a list of
necessities and prepare the dialogue. At this step, teacher can act
as a “tourist” to observe and give feedback when necessary.

STEP 7 Students conduct a tour in the destination in the brochure. All

Application students in the class can join the tour as “tourists”. They are
Communication provided with food and drink, travelling tips and guide as well as
schedule and all other information for the tour by the “tour
organizer”. At this step, all of them would be very enthusiastic to
show are eager to know what they have learned and
experienced. After that, students will publish their brochure and
introduction to their tour on their google sites or their own
website. The publication should include their tour information,
videos of the tour in step 6 and details of their company, booking
service, brochure, ect. A voting campaign can be open to choose
the best site.

The goal of the project is that to help students develop a general view of organizing
a travelling tour.

76
Appendix 8: Conducting a virtual tour in a location

In EXS, students are encouraged to lead a group of visitors (teachers and other
classmates) to the destinations in their tour. This practical product presentation can
be quite stressful if it is not carefully prepared in advance. Here are some tips for
one of those trips.

Before the tour

Step 1: Structure the tour by looking at the tour itinerary. Think of one
message you want to give to the tourist in each site/ objects.

Step 2: Learn about all facts and dates relating to the location. It is ideal to
keep in mind even information regarding the historical events,
economic development, impacts on the culture and lifestyle, and any
other information you can get for it.

Step 3: Imagine the items or events you want to tell the tourists. It is
impossible to tell everything you know. Sometimes just give them the
basics, let them explore and they can return with questions later. Try to
think of interesting facts about them or something that relates to our
modern life or to the tourists themselves. Learn all the facts by heart.

Step 4: Make a list of all items (a small flag, a medal, a shirt, food, ect) that you
need to carry with you to the destination.

Step 5: Rehearse the tour. Practice giving information as a tour guide several
times.

On the tour day

Step 6: Arrive early to leave you plenty of time for last-minute preparation.
Double check the items and place them along your trip route if
necessary.

Always start the tour by giving special notice about the language,
culture, weather, carry-on things.

77
Appendix 9: Online student’s assessment form

This is to exemplify how teacher can create an online form for students’ assessment.
By doing this, students certainly have more time to reflect on the how project
process and provide more accurate evaluation. Furthermore, they are more likely to
conduct the evaluation on their own without being interrupted or affected by their
friends.

A capture of the interface of the assessment with link to the form provided below.

https://goo.gl/forms/qy1YTIhmueSWUyGj2

In the setup, allow students to give only one answer. The form can be sent to all
students by email and they should be reminded to assess students of their own
group only.

78
Appendix 10: Guidelines for video editing program

There is a number of video editing software but one of the most useful ones is Sony
Vegas. This software allows you to add a variety of effects to original videos, add
texts and transitions.

Tutorials for video editing can be found in the

link below

https://goo.gl/z7NMTD

Appendix 11: Common typing mistakes

Most first year students are not aware of or very bad at basic word processing skills,
so they often have typing and even basic grammar mistakes such as

1. Lacking letters in word (misspelled words)

2. Leaving 2 or more spaces between two words
3. Using space instead of tab between characters and their words in
drama script
4. Using space to center the title
5. Underlining too many words
6. Having unorganized format such as putting phrases indicating feelings
in different places throughout the script
7. Starting a scene in the end of a page
8. Forgetting to change verb form in different tenses
9. Misusing articles
10. Writing incomplete sentences

79
These mistakes can be checked and must be done using the following methods
before being submitted to your instructors.

For number 3) above, use the key “tab” located on the top left-hand corner of
the keyboard to make regular big space.

For number 4), choose/highlight the title and then press Ctrl + E.

For number 5), remember to underline only the most important and short
text; or never use underlining in your drama script.

For number 6), always look at the sample script when you are typing

For the rest, activate Spelling and Grammar check in your word processing
software.

Appendix 12: Presentation skill

Fonts

It is better not to use default fonts installed in your computer because most of them
are neutral and thus not inviting to audiences. There are a number of excellent fonts
to choose such as

1. Bebas Neue Capital letters, neutral, formal https://goo.gl/gzTFyR

2. Simon says slim letters, exciting, informal https://goo.gl/Nezvw5
3. Sketch block handwriting on board, formal https://goo.gl/rJ29SR
4. Museo 300 regular letter, neutral, formal https://goo.gl/pmqxz5
5. iCiel Crocante Vietnamese, fun, informal https://goo.gl/vzxRtC

Personally, I often use Bebas Neue for heading and Museo 300 for content. Crocante
is used for my Vietnamese slides. These fonts will help keep audiences’ attention as
they stimulate amusement and give them a sense that you have made very careful
preparation for it

80
Illustrations

It is ideal to choose only one picture for each slide and that picture should be set as
the background of the slide. All other details like words, symbols, icons should be
above the picture. When there is only one picture, audience finds it easier to catch
the main idea which also means that you must choose one that closely interprets
what you want to present. A picture should not contain too many details and should
leave some blank spaces for writing letters. It is not eye-catching when putting your
slide phrases in front of the subjects of the picture. Choose a picture of which the
resolution is at least 1000x1200 px. You can check it easily before download.
Pictures with small resolution are likely to reduce in quality when you enlarge them
in the slide.

Today, many professional speakers are using icons in their presentation. They are
graphic symbols and have great quality. Try them from www.iconfinder.com but
remember to download the icon as PNG file.

Wording

As you will use only one picture to illustrate one main idea per slide, it is advisable
to include only few words or a short sentence of up to 8 words per slide. Many
people will want to write 2 or more supporting ideas per slide. At that time, they
should provide no more than 3 phrases per slide with no more than 6 words per
phrase. See my presentations here: https://www.slideshare.net/phamhungthuyen

Eye contact

There is no more powerful tool to engage audiences than your own eyes. Presenter
should use their eyes appropriately by following these dos and donts

 Do look at the audiences when  Do not look at the roof or the

speaking floor
 Do look at all corner of the hall  Do not look at one area or one
 Do look at the audience who asks person too long
you question  Do not look at the slide a lot

81
Gesture

This means how you move around the presentation board and how you move your
body. All these movements indicate your confidence and comfort which can send a
message to your audience. Comfortable speaker makes audiences relaxed. Follow
these dos and donts to know what you should do

 Do move your hands  Do not put your hands in your

 Do walk around pocket, behind your back
 Do stand upright  Do not scratch your hair or head
 Do smile a bit  Do not cover your mouth
 Do not lean on the table
 Do not walk a lot
 Do not stand still
 Do not laugh

Rehearsal

Rehearsal is practicing presenting at home before you actually give that

presentation. Do it in front of a mirror or with other students. Ask for feedback from
them by using the following questions

 Do I use appropriate visual aids?

 Are there any grammar mistakes in slides?
 Are there too many new words that you don’t understand?
 Is there a part that is too long or underdeveloped?
 Do you notice the signals to change the main points?

82
Appendix 13: Filming genres

Political journalism

In political journalism, journalist tends to report changes or issues regarding

government, laws, taxes, education and economics. Journalists of this kind record
detail, tell stories using scenes filmed in the location and interview people involved.

Celebrity journalism

Journalist has a whole series about famous people, so they often have interview with
these celebrities in their house or in the filming studio. Their topics are less
academic and serious.

Investigative journalism

News and reports of this kind dedicate at giving viewers full information regarding a
problems like environmental problems or declining health-care quality. Journalists
often have to investigate the issues from many perspectives and provide solutions if
possible.

Science journalism

This kind of journalism focuses on reporting technologies, sciences, inventers and

events in science world.

Sports journalism

Sport journalism writes and reports people at sporting events, sportsmen and even
health-care and diet for sporting people.

83
References

Ananiadou, K., & Claro, M. (2009). 21st century skills and competences for new
millennium learners in OECD countries.

Blumenfeld, P. C., Soloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A.
(1991). Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the
learning. Educational psychologist, 26(3-4), 369-398.

Boss, S., & Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to
real-world projects in the digital age. Eugene, Or: International Society for
Technology in Education.

Fisher, A. (2011). Critical thinking: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Langhout, R. D., Rappaport, J., & Simmons, D. (2002). Integrating Community into
the Classroom Community Gardening, Community Involvement, and Project-Based
Learning. Urban education, 37(3), 323-349.

Maida, C. A. (2011). Project-Based Learning: a critical pedagogy for the twenty-first

century. Policy Futures in Education, 9(6), 759-768.

Ministry of Education and Training. (2014). An Action plan of the government

program on implementing the Decision Number 29-NQ/TW of education innovation.
Retrieved from http://www.moet.gov.vn/?page=6.4&view=262

Mioduser, D., & Betzer, N. (2008). The contribution of Project-based-learning to

high-achievers’ acquisition of technological knowledge and skills. International
Journal of Technology and Design Education, 18(1), 59-77.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). P21 Framework Definitions. Retrieved
from www.p21.org/framework

Ravitz, J., Hixson, N., English, M., & Mergendoller, J. (2012). Using project based
learning to teach 21st century skills: Findings from a statewide initiative. In
American Educational Research Association Conference, Vancouver, Canada (Vol. 16).

Rotherham, A. J., & Willingham, D. (2009). 21st century. Educational Leadership,

67(1), 16-21.

84
Schwalm, J., & Tylek, K. S. (2012). Systemwide Implementation of Project-Based
Learning: The Philadelphia Approach. Afterschool Matters, 15, 1-8.

Trilling, B., Fadel, C., & Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). 21st century
skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Wurdinger, S., & Rudolph, J. (2009). A different type of success: Teaching important
life skills through project based learning. Improving Schools, 12(2), 115-129.

85