Primary And Secondary Schools Based On The Topics Of Interest In Collaborative Learning Activities Are Designed

According to one outline promulgated by the Ministry of Education P.R.C, which was Outline of Curriculum Reformation in Schooling, advocating self-based learning, inquiry-based learning and collaborative learning in elementary and secondary schools as one of the emphasis of curriculum reformation is significantly effective to promote the development of creative and practical capability. Meanwhile, the idea of knowledge integration through learning project has been put forward in the curriculum reformation. At present, collaborative learning and project-based learning have become two frequently popular instructional approaches in classroom setting in elementary and secondary schools.With the rapid development and corresponding applications of information technology (especially WWW), Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning has been the trend of Web-Based Instruction. Great deals of studies indicate that there are still some problems on Project-Based Web-Supported Collaborative Learning to be solved, especially how to design the process of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning. Nowadays, Activity-Centered Design has been a newest theoretical framework of Instructional Design, which gives a fresh insight to the design of the process of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning. However, there is lack of methodology to guide the design of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity. This study is attempt to propose the design item and methodology of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity based on some learning theories (e.g. activity theory, situated learning theory and social constructive theory), and to valid the effectiveness of the design methodology by means of instructional experiments. For one thing, makes the theoretical research of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning more perfect and provides a typical example for the research of Activity-Centered Design. For another, presents a comprehensive, detailed and easy operation procedure and provides pratical guidelines for teachers to design Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity.This study includes five phases, which are pilot study, theoretical study, experimental study, evaluation and summary respectively. During the phase of pilot study, it is purposed to make a detailed review on Web-based Collaborative Learning and Project-Based Learning. In theoretical study phase, based on the elaborative analysis of elements, categories and characteristics of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity, this study advances the design item and methodology. As for the experimental study phase, Eastern Road of Dongfeng Elementary School, Jindao Secondary School and Nanhai Guicheng Secondary School are chosen as experimental schools. Action Research is applied to verify and perfect the design methodology of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity proposed in theoretical study phase. To the evaluation phase, Quasi-Experiment Research is used to valid the application effectiveness of the design methodology from student-dimension. What's more, Evaluation Research and Interview are also used to analyze the effectiveness of the design methodology from teacher-dimension.It is concluded that there are five categories of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity, including question communication, production design, resource collecting, production evaluation and role playing etc. Among of which, the former two kinds of activity are frequently used in elementary and secondary schools.The design methodology of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activityincludes three phases, which are Initiation, Implementation and Evaluation respectively. Initiation phase consists of five sub-steps, which are determining collaborative learning activity projects, determining collaborative learning activity objectives, determining collaborative learning activity category and organizing collaborative group. Implementation phase is the core of the design methodology, which includes selecting collaborative learning activity category and tasks, analyzing collaborative learning activity composition and describing collaborative learning flow. As to evaluation phase, it is composed of one sub-step, which is developing collaborative learning activity outcome and evaluating collaborative learning activity. In addition, Web-Supported Collaborative Learning Activity Environment and Strategies/Rules are also greatly indispensable. Among of which, it is flexible and dynamic to design Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning flow, environment and strategies/rules according the different types of learning activity.It is obviously indicated that the design methodology is of scientific, practical and effective function, which is not only good for teachers to design Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity in elementary and secondary schools, but also useful for students to make clear the procedures of Web-Supported Collaborative Project-Based Learning Activity. Moreover, the design methodology is significantly beneficial to students' scores, collaborative ability and information literacy.