Principal Features of PBL

29 assessment is not merely summative in authentic activities but is woven seamlessly into the major task in a manner that reflects real-world evaluation processes. Ninth, there are polished products meaning that conclusions are not merely exercises or substeps in preparation for something else. Authentic activities culminate in the creation of a whole product, valuable in its own right. The last, there should be multiple interpretations and outcomes in which rather than yielding a single correct answer obtained by the application of rules and procedures, authentic activities allow for diverse interpretations and competing solutions. It is clear that authentic tasks embedded in PBL have the potential to match the real-world contexts. Challenging topics should encourage students to communicate meaningfully and purposefully. Students should have a chance to use what they learnt from previous and present classes to communicate and provide ideas in real ways. Students should have opportunities to read and listen to valuable sources of input and converse and interact with people outside the classroom. After going through a complex process of in-depth learning, students then should have the opportunity to create authentic product that is directed towards their ultimate goal.

d. Learner Autonomy

There are various definitions of learner autonomy. Little and Dam 1998 define learner autonomy as “...responsibility for our own learning ... The students should take at least some of the initiatives that provide shape and direction to the process of learning, and should communicate the progress and should evaluate the targets to be achieved. Macaro 1997, p. 168 adds that autonomy is an ability learned through knowing how to make decisions. It is an ability to take charge of 30 one’s own language learning and an ability to know the value of taking responsibility for one’s own objectives, content, progress, methods, and techniques of learning. In PBL, learner autonomy is showed through project work. PBL students are enabled to choose the topic of the project and are enabled to be engaged in planning and creating their project and the process of learning with support from teachers Markham et al., 2003. In other words, the authority is provided so that learners can control their learning from the beginning of the study to the end of the course program. Additionally, Stoller 2006, p.33 adds that PBL classroom setting can create more learner and learning-centred setting. With learner autonomy in PBL, students owns their responsibility for their learning. Moreover, they are expected to be motivated and to feel more competent and self-determined. Students are also likely to obtain interest and succeed in their learning Kohonen, 1992.

e. Cooperative learning

Gillies 2007, p. 246 defines cooperative learning as working together with group members to finish the shared purposes. To level up the awareness of one’s own learning, students should reflect and communicate their experience in learning with their partners or friends. Cooperative learning can also be a way to increase learner’s awareness of learning Kohonen, 1992. Cooperative learning is a student-centered, instructor-facilitated instructional strategy in which a small group of students is responsible for its own learning and the learning of all group members. Students interact with each other in the same group to acquire and practice the elements of a subject matter in order to solve a problem, complete a task or achieve a goal.