C ONCEPTOS GENERALES DE LA JORNADA LABORAL E INSTITUCIONES QUE SON PARTE DE ELLA

The aims of S13 were to make final changes to the projects and prepare for the client presentation by dividing airtime between team members, reviewing good practice on presentations and performing final technical checks.

The client presentations were organized at the clients’ headquarters, in separate meetings when more teams worked for the same client. I planned to hold post-presentation half-hour debriefs. The aim of S14 was to present to the client the resulting online modules and to receive feedback. Table 5.5 presents the planned activities.

Elements of PjBL Planned activities

S13 S14

Problem-project space

Teams would present their modules to the client.

Cognitive and collaboration tools

Contextual support Offer support to prepare the presentation.

Offer support as needed during and after the presentation to the client.

Table 5.5 - Planned activities Stage 4

I also planned two reflection tasks to be submitted in the VLE: one regarding students’ experience of the client presentation (Figure 5.11) and one regarding their overall project approach and what it meant for their development as instructional designers (Figure 5.12).

Figure 5.12 - Reflection 5 & translation

5.7.2 Sessions report

Students organized their presentations according to their development strategy. Teams that decided together the general design and then distributed the development of the sub-topics chose to distribute the presentation accordingly. Other teams worked together on all the modules, without a clear division; they divided the presentations based on topic preference and confidence in presenting.

Similar to the first meeting, some of the clients organized a more formal meeting, while others kept things informal. Feedback was given to the students after the presentation. In one case the client requested to see the modules in advance so they can prepare. In another case, feedback was given while they were presenting; although this is reflective of real life, it can be disruptive for students, so I asked the client to postpone the remarks until the end. Outside the requirements of the course, the students promised to incorporate the feedback and deliver an improved version to the client.

5.7.2.1 Problem-project space: context, representation, manipulation

Presenting the modules to the clients serves the purpose of testing the solution against expectations and seeing how it performs, which is part of the problem manipulation space described in section 2.4.1.3.

What is interesting is that different students found surprising the positive and the negative feedback, the general and the specific one. This seems contradictory, but it points out that students may have not known what to expect. Besides getting specific suggestions, presenting to the clients and observing their reactions led students to see that multiple stakeholders may have conflicting demands, as well as understanding what they could do (usually in the form of “should have done”) to perform better next time.

Reflection 4-34 I think our presentation was received differently by the two client representatives: the manager saw potential and a small beginning for a useful project, while the practitioner analysed, saw the strengths and

weaknesses and made notes of many ideas I think for his own reference in the future.

Reflection 4-33 To improve the presentation, I would do a trial run with people that I don’t know. With questions and answers.

The clients’ interviews emphasized that all teams were on a right path towards a solution. Some projects were closer to a final form than others, but

generally clients were impressed that students invested time into understanding their activity and creating customized content.

Interview CB It really showed they were trying to impress us with all the interactive activities they included, even if the red thread was missing. They put a lot of effort into it. Interview PS I was really impressed with the professionalism with

which most of them approached the projects. You could see they were nervous, but they held it together and were not put off by the questions or our comments.

After each client meeting, at the debrief, students looked energized by the encounter and eager to implement the modification requested to produce a final version.

Teacher’s journal (after S14)

What was frustrating was that, every time, after the client meeting, they kind of wished they had put in more work. They were generally pleased with the reception they got, but most of the feedback was not surprising, it was things they could have done, and in that moment, they clearly regretted not having done it, to get an even better reaction.

To conclude, presenting to the actual client was a significant part of manipulating the problem because it allowed students to discover unanticipated situations, to perceive reception nuances not otherwise visible, and to plan how to perform better next time. Interestingly, the actual feedback received from the client was probably the least important element, as most of it was already known by the students.

5.7.2.2 Cognitive and collaboration tools

Many students favoured face-to-face meetings in class or team- organized over other types of communication.

Reflection 5-36 Because we all worked during the week, we met in the weekends at the house of one of us to work of the project in optimum circumstances.

Reflection 5-32 We tried to work virtually, but it was better face-to-face.

Some teams used Google Drive or Dropbox, but their comments indicate that it was mostly used as a repository of intermediate work that all the team members could access. Many students used e-mail to communicate within the teams; some set up Google Groups.

Reflection 5-5 We created an account on Dropbox, but we did not get to work together. Everyone did his part, we integrated them and that was all.

Reflection 5-13 To communicate easier, she created a Google Group. There was our meeting space, we sent e-mails, asked for feedback, etc.

Reflection 5-14 We kept one another informed; when someone couldn’t make it, we would send an email with the meeting minutes and with very clear next steps.

5.7.2.3 Contextual support

Generally, students found the guidelines for preparing the presentation very useful, although not all the teams used them and one team said having a suggested structure “stifles their creativity”. Many students indicated they would have liked dedicated time to rehearse the presentation, and some indeed had done that in private meetings.

Reflection 4-3 The thought of presenting to such a large audience, students and teachers of [PS], was scary, but we tried to forget about our nerves, and focus, and for this we needed a few rehearsals. [..] Regarding the structure our teacher proposed, it was very useful because we had so many ideas about the topic [..]

However, during S13, students did not have a presentation ready to be rehearsed, and some teams did not even have a completed module to present.

Teachers’ journal (after S13)

I really hope that [team X] will pull together and do all the things they promised to do. [..] They promise and promise and I hope they understand they cannot present promises... But if they do, or they are not ready, this will be a lesson that I am not going to save them from.

As the presentation approached, students entered into their role as consultants, needing less affective support and appreciating more frank critical feedback.

Reflection 4- 17

[..] It was also valuable the feedback of the lady who told us openly where and what to modify, without holding back, because the purpose is to learn from it, not to stroke our hair.

Although clients appreciated the students’ efforts, all of them indicated they would have liked to offer intermediary feedback.

Interview CH But they could have asked us for examples! If I’d seen this a month ago, I could have told them how this happens, they could have visited us and perhaps spent some time here…

Interview CB Yes, what they did was nice but now it feels like a first meeting to discuss a draft that we could have had some time ago.

In students’ final reflections, the most prominent challenge was related to the difficulties of working together in teams, managing the role allocation, and planning their effort. Some attributed the success of their teams to finding the right person “who complements you perfectly” (Reflection 5-4).

In conclusion, the contextual support of providing structure was appreciated by the students, but they also needed opportunities to rehearse

their presentations and improve their teamwork. The clients also expressed their willingness to offer more feedback to the students.