Q-Methodology Study of Students Behaviour During Project-Based Learning

Abstract The contribution describes the circumstances of the implementation of a chemistry project with the main theme “Chemical show - Harry Potter”. Project-based learning belongs between the complex teaching methods, where the desired effect can be influenced by many factors, eg student’s attitude, student’s overall opinion and feelings about the method. The motivation of the researchers was to understand and evaluate the factors present in the realised project. The analysed factors and behavioural schemes can provide a good starting point for the teachers at planning their projects. With the aim to understand the students’ reaction the researchers used Q-methodology to identify the different behavioural groups of participating students based on their real opinion. In the presented research the researchers analyse the response of totally 26 students. As a result totally 6 behavioural examples are presented that teachers can meet during implementation of project based learning. The presented categorization collaborates with other formerly publicised types of student’s behaviour, eg students of “pleasant surprises” and “disappointing surprises”. However, other additional types of behavioural types emerged eg students orienting and concentrating on the theoretical knowledge, students with very strong need for leading and students with the need of several assessment systems. The presented results can provide a wider view for the teachers in preparing and forecasting the flow of their projects and can help them to prepare the project.