Working in groups and on teams requires communication, and most of our projects included reading and reporting as part of our classroom process. Students report that they either have learned how to use the word processor or that their existing computer skills have improved. A few found that working in small groups helped them feel more comfortable speaking to the whole class. Decision making and planning are involved in choosing and implementing a project. Those who worked on organizing student writings said they learned organizational skills, how to put essays into categories, and how to make a table of contents.
Interpersonal skills are essential to teamwork, as are negotiation and compromise.
Almost everyone said they had learned something about how to work with others on a team. Reflection and evaluation are essential to the project-based learning process. Through individual reflection and group discussions of student themes such as divorce, raising children, domestic abuse and health issues, students learned to develop and express a sense of self. By far, I think that the most important outcome was the sense of accomplishment the learners felt when a project was completed. Her undergraduate degree is in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley.