The Project Work as a way to promote group interactions (página 2)

In summary; the student or the team of students should participate being actively involved and making his own learning that of the other ones. To take responsibility with the process to carrying out the task and obtain the prospective product of the same one, as weIl as be interrelated with the other ones to solve the exercise or problem and this way to learn.

The teacher should make sure that each member of the team cames out his own work and that cooperation is given among them, which demands a didactic and appropriate planning. The work in teams does not suppress, neither it is quarreled as the individual work; on the contrary, it implies it as basic element for the construction of knowledge.

Students should be guided by the teacher, to contact with the teaching content directly: to read, to look for, to discuss… students wiIl only in this way find sense and meaning to what students Iearn and the genuine interest to know wiII arise in them.

During the process of construction of the students" knowledge, the teacher should induce them by means of questions and exercises to the development of metacognition, so that they become conscious of how to learn: steps, difficulties, successes, errors, etc.

Many specialists insist, from the point of view of cooperative learning as a teaching strategy; that is to say, like an effective way to structure team of students to learn and that these teams have successful in the following principles:

1. Distributed leadership: all the students are able to understand, to learn and to develop tasks of leadership.

2. Heterogeneous advantages: the effective teams are those that are heterogeneous and that students include students of sexes, different social origin, ability levels and physical capacities.

3. Positive interdependence: the students need to learn how to recognize and to value their mutual dependence with the other students. A positive interdependence is promoted based on common tasks, when being requested individual demands and group recompenses and material of shared work or the creation of a product of the whole group.

4. Acquisition of abilities: the students" ability to work in group in an effective way, it is determined by the acquisition of specific social abilities that promotes the collaborative and the commandment of the group.

5. Group autonomy: the teams of students will be able to solve their own problems better if they are not rescued by the teacher. The students that solve their problems are more autonomous and more self-sufficient.

AIl exposed up to here, allows thinking that Cooperative learning is the means for obtaining significant learning, and with it, the development of the individual potentialities.

Cooperative learning is the way to reach the quality of education; which is achieved when teachers and administrators are willing to work and to learn together to reconstruct new norms and school behaviors.

Cooperative learning is the educational pattern that better gives an answer to the historical, socioeconomic and cultural conditions of contemporary society.

It is not Iimited to impel changes in the classroom, independently of the organizational development of the school. Just the opposite, it permits to aIl of them to act in harmony and that so much administrators, teachers and students go on with the same principles of critical and creative performance, retransformation and constant construction of their reality, committing themselves and taking the responsibility each of them has according to their level and the role they should play, with the tasks that the teaching-learning process implies. (R, Ferreiro.1998)

Working in teams is one of the ways that cooperative learning adopts inside the teaching learning process. One of the ways in which cooperative learning can be developed is through working in teams in the classroom, through the activities that are developed during the Iesson. One of them is the project work; by means of this the students do not only get the new knowledge but also develop themselves on the educational sphere, besides of developing new abilities.

Some considerations about Project work in the Teaching-learning process

The elements of project work should have a relevant place in the system of lessons of all subjects; they should be varied and should not only be within the framework of habitual and traditional tasks. It is necessary to organize it according to the psychological and pedagogical characteristics of students.

The first investigation about the project work of students during the teaching learning process appeared in 1940, in a bock by R. M. Mikelson; (Cited by Conde, 2000). It contains a generalization of the experience of school teachers.

The systematic study of the contents of all project works and the different ways to organize their realization on the part of students began in the second half of the fifties. Back then, the role of a project work was only that of fixing and repeating the material exposed by the teacher, and it was not even systematic. The activities carried out such as; compositions, solutions of a part of the exercises of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and so on, were active means of the cognitive activity. As a result of this, one had that the student produced many independent actions in class, but the same as before, he thought very little.

The aspects related to project work of students and the procedures for its organization was very deeply investigated, only during the first years after the emergence and establishment of a new type of teaching. Esipov, (Cited by Conde, 2000), wrote that it was decisively important to raise the specific significance of project work of students in class. He said that with such a little quantity of them, students could not be trained to put into practice aIl the knowledge acquired. Trying to interpret, in this sense, some ideas of educator M. A. Danilov, who not only pointed out the quantitative aspects of project work for students, but also the qualitative ones, this experience was put into practice, and different types of project work settled down and its role was clarified in the improvement of the process of assimilation and fixation of knowledge by students.

Different types of project work were specified this way, starting from the pedagogical experience:

First type: Students carried out independent study of the aspects that were not fully revealed in the teacher"s explanation in the classroom.

Second type: It foresaw that students should study, by the textbook; all the fundamental aspects that the teacher exposed in class. They were assigned independent study of the elements, which had not been illustrated in the teacher"s explanation.

Third type: It was the interpretation, on the part of students, of the previously acquired knowledge, in new relationships and logical variations.

Fourth type: It was the fixation of any new knowledge in class without an ulterior procedure at home.

Fifth type: It represented the harnessed fixation of the received knowledge, which could be acquired, from the teacher"s explanation or from other sources.

Although this systematization of the types of students" independent educational activity did not give definitive methodological recommendations, it contributed to the search and establishment of the influence of the most convenient procedures for organizing project work and influenced upon the best assimilation of the knowledge exposed by the teacher in class.

In this pedagogical experience it was evidenced that not had enough didactical value. The application of the system of varied project work, guided to the independent acquisition of knowIedge on the part of students.Constituted an effective means to achieve a more active cognitive activity, and to develop the creative capacities of them.

This advanced experience was generalized on the basis of experiments, which allowed all the educators to deepen on the theory of project works; and to elaborate other alternatives with a psychological and didactical essence.

According to authors L. Klingberg (1972), P. I. Pidkasisti (1976), G. Red (1982), G. Valdivia (1988), A. Labarrere (1998); a project work can be considered a method, as a system, as a way of learning, among others. In consistency with the objective of this investigation, project work is assumed as a process and as a means.

This process that is conceived in a series of stages, going one after the other and following a logical order, and which allows the individual to corne closer and closer to the characteristic of the object.

According to the illustrated dictionary, a process is progress, action of going ahead. Moreover, in its second meaning, process is a group of consecutive phases of a phenornenon.

According to the philosophical dictionary of M. Rosental and P. Ludin (1981) the word process comes from the Latin processus that rneans step ahead. It is the systematic transformation, seized to law, of a phenomenon.

A process, from an operative definition, is a sequence of stages or states of a certain object that attempts to the achievement of a specific objective and which leads on to some development. The value of the characteristics of the object changes as the process develops.

According to Marco in his Masters Degree thesis (2000) ¨there is learning in the process of project work, because many transformations occur, both in teachers and students. There is development of certain abilities, new information is obtained and some strategies and procedures are gained to approach academic contents in any educational Ievel¨.

The process of project work makes possible to pay proper attention to the individualities of students. This requires careful planning, appropriate orientation and effective control.

In the orientation of project work, it is important to specify the consulting material that will be used, and, what means and procedures wiII be used for its realization. So that the student can fulfill effectively what has been assigned. It is important for the teacher to keep in mind the development of the abilities for taking notes, making summaries, analyzing new materials, solving problems, and so on, in correspondence with the characteristics of each of the subjects, in the process of the lesson.

The different ways, in which any project work may appear, wiIl provide students with new and varied sources of knowledge. Students will also develop, at the same time, the necessary abilities to fit the content of the textbooks, workbooks, maps and graphics, and of the whole informative material he could be interested in or feel necessary. But the most important thing that must be achieved is the development of abilities that allow them to use what has been Iearned, in the solution of each recommended activity, the confrontation to new situations and in the performance of very usual activities in real life.

Something decisive for a significant project work for students lies on the content and the nature of the tasks that the teacher commands him to do: the elaboration of summaries, the writing of works, for instance, in which the student is forced to apply and to relate the knowledge acquired in class. Only a scientifically elaborated task that is outlined with an educative and instructive focus represents a premise for the student"s project work to be efficient. On the other hand, each task should be laborious, so as to foster the student"s active interest, as well as the desire to complete it.

AIl good teachers should precisely be characterized by the fact that each step students take to guide, should bring students into the active-conscious work. This way, project work becomes a laboratory of mental work that is rationally organized, and it consequently foments a creative attitude in any task that the student cames out.

In the appropriate and systematic orientation of project work, the teacher"s main role is to direct his students correctly, constantly deepening on the activities that students carry out in the consolidation, search of knowledge and in the acquisition and development of abilities. Also, it is the teacher"s responsibility to carry out, in a systematic and operative way, the control of the knowledge of students and to inform them of their difficulties so as to work quicker to eliminate them.

It is very important that the students Iearn how to critically analyze the results that students obtain from their tasks, and if this is in agreement with what was expected, the teacher should then develop abilities in students so that they may evaluate their own work and build opinions that students can later discuss during the exchange with their classmates.

It is also important that teachers approve and recognize suitably the high results of their students in the activities, mainly in those cases in which the difficulties for learning and doing project work have been observed. Teachers should maintain the daily systematic control on the realization of the activities oriented.

The basis for students to study individually and consciously wiII be laid if teachers follow this systematization. It also implies the achievement of the possibilities to plan their time appropriately, to prioritize the activities according to their real necessities and to know how to guide and organize themselves, so as to complete the tasks recommended in the indicated time, and appropriate achieving a high level of efficiency.

The above mentioned is confirmed by José Ramôn Fernàndez at the closure of the Conference of Pedagogy 86 when expressing:

"The educator"s fundamental activity has to be directed to act upon the mind of students, to propitiate the development of their intellectual capacities, to teach them to think, to use reason, to synthesize, to develop habits and abilities for project work, for the search and organization of knowledge, for the correct use and the proper handle of the textbook, as well as all types of bibliographical sources, for taking notes in class as support and not as substitution for the textbook; to form them habits of individual study, and to teach them how to study, as he guides their efforts to the integral formation of personality."

Therefore, it is unquestionable, the necessity that students learn how to carry out project work, learn how to study, Iearn how to think, because this will contribute to their best integral formation, although, undoubtedly, these capacities are not acquired by students overnight. To develop them, it is necessary to keep a systematic, conscious process, so that students can feel the necessity of acquiring the contents by themselves and then be able of make it come true.

It is welI known that several levels of assimilation of knowledge exist: students can recognize, reproduce, apply and create. To achieve the proper development of their cognitive independence, students should end up creating. Students should assume their work in an active way and not as if students were deposits of information and simple repeaters of what students are taught.

To achieve in students the dialectical and creative thought, it is indispensable to contribute to their communist education, since one of their fundamental components is the intellectual education, the one that, besides preparing them for life, offers them the basis to carry out their future work with efficiency.

In the different educational levels students shouId Iearn and develop abilities such as: reading in an expressive way, learning how to think, observe, compare objects and phenomena, and act upon its transformation. Moreover, he shouId divide a text into its parts for its better analysis, locate data of interest in the sources of information, as well as learn how to listen to the teacher.

Reguisites an activity should meet so as to be considered as project work:

• It should be a task that is generated from the one assigned by the teacher.

• It should have reasonable negotiation for the realization on the part of students.

• It shouId encourage motivation in students so that students feel the necessity of searching and taking the appropriate procedures to solve it.

• It should have students make all of their efforts for the correct solution of the activities.

• It should respect the stages of the activity. It should agree with the didactical particularities of the links of the teaching-learning process.

• It should be settled down on the bases of the correct use of the work method.

• Evaluation and self-evaluation must be planned.

• It should have an educative value.

Then it is wise to consider that to achieve project work with these previously outlined requirements, a certain level of independence should exist in students, requiring certain basic knowledge of the topic of the activity, a clear objective, so that what is be understood by everyone, and the mastery of methods and possible ways of solution be evidenced.

Project work can be applied in all matters and contents of teaching regardless of the level. However, to achieve the quality that is expected on the part of students, it is necessary to keep in mind the following aspects:

• If it is guided correctly, the effectiveness of the process of assimilation will increase, leading on to make it more active, more conscious, deeper and more durable.

• It is directed to achieve in students a stable attitude towards the solution of tasks, that is to say, towards learning.

• With this type of activity, as the student puts into practice the knowledge already acquired and reinforces habits and abilities, the students" efficiency is achieved.

• Being applied correctly, it allows to achieve a productive attitude on the part of students before all the learning, avoiding, therefore, a merely receptive participation of the students and the teacher- centered- class. Lessons self-activity has its maximum expression here; it is not something external, but an interiorization that allows results and superior effects in the teaching process. This is obtained when the didactical and methodological conditions are created so that the initiative and the creativity in the relatively independent solution of the tasks can be developed.

The didactical value of the mentioned above is in how the teacher organizes and drives the activity, making all the work more and more productive.An organizational transformation in class should never be simply carried out without forgetting that the efficient organization of project work has a relevant importance in the results that are supposed to be obtained. It should be noted that all the human capacities are developed in the activity; therefore, the capacities of learning and those project work can also be fully carried out through a correct organization of the teaching activity.

Evidently, this indicates that the teacher should have clear conception of the way he should the activity before beginning it, as well as having very carefully checked all the possible conditions that can rise in class so as to be able to guarantee, in this way, a correct orientation of project work.

The teacher"s role in the teaching-learning process is decisive; since he is the one who communicates, exposes, organizes and provides students with the scientific, historical and social contents. There is, therefore, not only communication between the student and the teacher, but among students themselves and with the community, as well. All this allows affirming that it is the presence of a process where there is always interaction. The students" cognitive independence is mainly formed through project work, in all and each of the subjects of the curriculum. That is why it is organized as the realization of a certain task in which the student works without the teacher"s direct participation, but under the appropriate guidance.

Orientation, realization and control: essential parts of project work. Will the author plan any project work correctly if he does not know the parts of which it consists? Each of the stages or parts which compose project work includes quite important aspects for its application. In considering these elements, the different stages of this activity should be analyzed as the following:

STAGES OF PROJECT WORK 1- Orientation. 2- Realization. 3- Control.

ORIENTATION STAGE

This stage is the one which is to guarantee the students" comprehension of project work. That is to say, the comprehension of what he has got to do before its realization. This is the right moment at which the background information (that is, what the students know about the activity to be realized), the precision of the objectives, the condition of the task, aIl the data and information he has available, the procedures to solve the task, as well as the appropriate moment to use them, should be analyzed. AIl of these elements contribute to the students" reflection before his learning, permitting to achieve the effectiveness of his realization and results.

At this stage, the teacher should also guide the students towards the interiorization and motivation of the activity he is going to realize, creating, in them, a positive attitude towards the cognitive activity. Taking into account the previous knowledge, the teacher wiIl be able to introduce the new knowledge with a more direct and conscious intervention on the part of the student in the elaboration of new knowledge.

According to N. Talizina (1985), so that the actions are conscious and the individual does not become a mechanical performer, it is necessary to teach him the orientation stage from which his realization is derived.

The interaction among the orientation, realization and control actions that the student should carry out as part of his learning activity, whose address is on the teacher, should converse as a group of actions interrelated with a certain balance that allows a more efficient activity.

REALIZATION STAGE.

At this stage, aIl the information obtained from the previous one, with the purpose of producing the required changes for the realization of project work with the necessary quality, will be materialized for the part of students.

The actions to be realized should have been object of analysis of as part of the previous stage, which wiIl permit the students to achieve a conscious and rational action, otherwise, he will act by proofs leading up to mistakes, and this will take too much time on this matter and he wiIl not reach general procedures.

The realization is indispensable for the successful development of project work. At this stage the teacher will also be available for consultation in case the students have difficulty, but he should never give the solution to the activity himself and neither substitute the student. Here the teacher will observe aIl the students" capacities to solve the task on their own, permitting him to work according to the students" real potentialities, which will give the possibility to the teacher to move the student to an affective level of development in which the student previously was. This way, the teacher will, then, provide conditions which favor the reach of higher levels, allowing the student to be !ocated in new areas of near development, with the necessary help, as Vigotsky stages in his investigations.

CONTROL STAGE.

This stage constitutes an important link which allows to check the effectiveness of the ways and procedures used, as well as the results obtained, permitting to make all the necessary changes in case any mechanism fails. This implies the rectification of all the actions performed to approach the right answer.

Practice has shown that students are not always able to apply the procedures for the valuation and control of their results. The self-valuation and control are self-regulator mechanisms of our actions, and are put into effect at the different moments of the solution of project work. When the student is able to interiorize these actions, he will also be able to analyze if he used the correct method or not, which will give the possibility to be involved in the analysis of his classmates" work through the exchange that all of the viewpoints manifest about the matter studied or realized.

On the other side, it is wise to point out that there is a tendency among teachers to only controt if the student is doing project work or not, which is a pretty mistake. lt is true that the fulfillment of activities should be controlled, but the emphasis should be mainly on the way in which the student developed the activity, what method students used, what difficulty students had to encounter and how students managed to put it off.

The valuation is closely related to the control. It is formed upon the bases of this one, and allows the student to know the degree of correspondence or not, with the results obtained with respect to the demands of the assigned project work, which determines, to a large extent, the quality reached in the realization of it.

It should be noted that the way of evaluation may vary in correspondence with the kind of project work that is being assigned. The possible ways of evaluation are these:

• Frequent evaluation.

• Reading over class notes.

• Discussion of work and reports back.

• Participation in seminars and workshop.

• Application of tests.

• Written questions.

The control and evaluation should begin by the very organization of the activity on the part of both the teacher and the student. AIl of the teachers, at the time of organizing project work of students, should not only analyze which way of control students will apply according to the objectives, content and the type of the assigned system of tasks, but also take into consideration the individual particularities of students so as to attend to them individually.

Project work as an alternative type of project work for the Enqlish curriculum

Some teachers regard any activity that involves individual or group research over a period of time as project work. Very often this kind of activity is topic centered and results in the production of a piece of written work. Other teachers attach more importance to activities that will get the learners out of the classroom, particularly, those that involve the collection of data through interviewing. There are, in fact, no near definitions of project work. It can be both individual and collaborative; it can be in or out of the classroom (depending on the nature of the project and other constraints) and it may or may not result in a substantial product. Something must be produced, but the emphasis must be more on the process than the product itself.

Clearly the important thing in the foreign language classroom is to identify project work which, in narrow terms, will provide a framework for language use and development that is satisfying and effective. It should be something that the learners enjoy doing and find purposeful, while its effectiveness derives a great deal from the way it integrates skills naturally. At the same time, on a broader front, project work will require and develop skills which are equally important (although often neglected) in the mother tongue. Students are:

COMMUNICATION SKILLS (when interviewing and reporting back)

RESEARCH SKILLS (when reading)

SOCIAL SKILLS (when discussing, collaborating, meeting people, etc.)

Sometimes for project work students wiII have to work through the mother tongue, but this need not concern us if the outcome is educationally beneficial.

Projects have to be carefully planned, through a process of teacher-learner collaborative, but their setting up, as well as the guidance and monitoring that is needed in support, is largely a matter of common sense. Things may go wrong, as with other activities, particularly, those on a large scale like simulations, but because of the involvement demanded, project work must not be allowed to collapse or result in frustration. The teacher"s role is crucial in identifying or helping to identify project areas, in providing adequate support and in motivating the learners.

Some language professional equate project work with in-class group work, cooperative learning, or more elaborate task-based activities. However, project work represents much more than group work. Project-based should be viewed as a versatile vehicle for fully integrated language and content learning, making it viable option for language educators working in a variety of instructional settings including general English, English for academic purposes (EAP), English for specific purposes (ESP), and English for occupational/vocational/professional purposes. Project work is viewed by most of its advocates "not as a replacement for other teaching methods" but rather as "an approach to learn which complements mainstream methods and which can be used with almost all levels, ages, abilities of students (Haines 1989).

The primary characteristics of project work

Project work: it has been described by a number of language educators, including Carter and Thomas (1986), Ferregatti and Carminati (1984) Friedbooth (1982, 1986), Haines (1989), Legutke and Thiel (1983), Papandreo (1994), Sheppard and Stoller (1995), and Ward (1988). Although each of these educators has approached project work from a different perspective, project work, in its various configurations, shares these features:

• Project work focuses on content learning rather than specific language targets. Real-world subject matter and topics of interest to students can become centraI projects.

• Project work is student centered, though the teacher plays a major role in offering support and guidance throughout the process.

• Project work is cooperative rather than competitive. Students can work on their own, in small groups, or as a class to complete a project, sharing resources, ideas and expertise along the way.

• Project work Ieads to the authentic integration and skills and processing of information from varied sources, mirroring real-life tasks.

• Project work culminates in an end product (e.g. an oral presentation, a poster session, a bulleting board display, a report, or a stage performance) that can be shared with others, giving the project a real purpose. The value of the project, however, lies not just in the final product but in the process of working towards the end point. Thus project work has both a process and product orientation, and provides students with opportunities to focus on fluency and accuracy at different project work stages.

• Project work is potentially motivating, stimulating, empowering, and changing. It usually results in building student confidence, self-steem, and autonomy as welI as improving students" language skills, content learning and cognitive abilities.

Backqround knowledge

A fundamental element in the orientation stage, for the part of the teacher, is the fact of creating a positive attitude towards the cognitive activity in the student.

For the motivation of the students in the successful realization of project work, with a true personal implication, it is essential to promote their interest towards the knowledge to be acquired, as welI as its value. Keeping in mind the knowledge that students have about the new content, what representations students may have starting from their previous experience, allows to introduce the new knowledge with a more direct and conscious interruption of students, so that students can be involved, being part of the elaboration of new knowledge, and not acquiring it as something already done.

The position that the student"s previous knowledge takes in the assimilation of the new content has been emphasized by other authors, C. ColI (1993), (Cited by Conde, 2000) for instance, outlines how the construction of meanings takes place in the students when students are able to establish non-arbitrary relationships between what he learns and what he already knows, being able to insert or relate the wide range of meanings already constructed, according their previous experiences of learning.

In his works directed to the learning and the intellectual development of students, J. López (1990), points out that when new knowledge is not integrated and cannot find its connection with the previous one, it may actually become object of repetition and some formal production: but never of true assimilation.

It has been necessary to insist on these aspects for the significance that students have as part of the activity and the development to be achieved when guiding our students.

It is implied that if the teacher is able to create conditions in his pedagogical orientation which, apart from motivating, requires of the student the exploration, the previous recognition of the conditions for the realization of project work, the precision of the objectives, according to their previous knowledge, as a previous element that allows their active participation in the activity to be carried out as well as the orientation towards it, he will necessarily be contributing to the achievement of the students conscious and reflective position in their learning activity, and wilI also be contributing to get results of superior level.

Another element to be kept in mind by the teacher, when the students are performing actions corresponding to the learning task object, is the one related to what students can make by themselves and what students can make with help.

When students develop an activity, the teacher can observe when students are able to solve it on their own, which allows the teacher to know the level of effective development reached by students; but also, and this is of supreme importance for the teacher, is to know the potential that there is in the student, what can be done by means of the collaborative between the teacher and other students until gradually carry it out independently and turn it into a level of effective, real development.

In each situation of learning, in each case it is wished to Iearn any knowledge, abilities, attitudes and values either at school or out of it, there is a distance between the level of real development and the potential one which has been called by Vigotski, "area of near development¨ that considered by the teacher.

Allows him to work beginning by the students" possibilities to make him advance so as to move towards development, that is to say, not to be conformed with the current level the students has, but to create conditions that make possible the reach of superior levels, and then, what was potential at a given time, becomes affective, arising new development areas.

To organize the student"s activity and to create learning tasks that promote and elevate their development constitutes an important step for the teacher to achieve a developed teaching.

From Vigotsky"s perspective, education and development are two different phenomena. However, students are closely related to the way their interaction occurs.

Students are two processes that coexist in a very complex and dynamic relation that is put into effect ever since the first day between mother and baby, and probably before the child is born.

There is a law that states that education directs development.

Within the field of ideas of the relation between Education-Development, Vigotsky stated the existence of two types of development.

• The development that has been reached, that is to say what the subject is able to know and to do by himself, showing his real level.

• The potential development: this is what the subject is not able to do by himself; but which however; he might do with the help of any other, showing in this way his potential level.

The Area of near or potential development is one of the most important and penetrating proposals of Vigotsky because of the integration in concept, of theoretical, methodological and practical aspects about learning as a key condition for education and development.

As long as an individual is moved from his real level to a possible immediate-potential one, there is acquisition of knowledge, development of abilities, as well as the incorporation of attitudes and values, and therefore, there is also education and development.

According to L. Vigotsky, the potentialities of the individual are in the area of potential development. We begin by an initial level in which student cannot work alone. The necessary help is given by means of the interaction with other persons till he is able to work independently and reach, then, the desired autonomy.

At this stage, it is necessary the interests, the styles and the rhythm of learning of each individual, as well as some other peculiarities of the subject.

Education is then having to move from a real level to a desired one in an ascending way, and the process that takes place inside is that of learning. Obviously, to achieve this, it is essential that students interact one another. There should also be communication and dialogues which favor the interaction between the subject that is to learn and the subject matter, through a mediator who offers the orientation, suggestions and the necessary help, according to the real level of development of the subject and the object to be reached: desired level of potential development. The process which consists of taking in what is out, is not so simple as it may seem; it is not free of different types of factors that abstract it, such as:

• The attitude of the subject (person that learns in relation to the subject matter).

• The preparation of the mediator, his capacity of identifying the real level of development and stimulating for the achievement of a possible potential one.

The layout of orientations of the precise and necessary levels of help, given the initial stage (level of real development).

The mediator is the person that when relating to other or others:

• Favors learning.

• Stimulates the level of potentialities.

Correct cognitive functions that are inadequate propitiating this way, the movement from one present state of not knowing and not being able to do to others qualitatively superior of do knowing and being able to do, and so allowing the now and then to transcend.

Therefore the process of mediation comes into effect in the face to face interaction between two or more subjects interested in performing an activity.

All process is supported by the premise that states that the cognitive and effective moderation of the subject can be possible, and it is precisely favored in the interaction that is established arnong all of the subjects.

This process is characterized mainly by being deliberate, that is, on purpose and of reciprocity among the members of a group.

Parents, friends and teachers are rnediators. On the whole, anyone who relates to another one doing it with a purpose and expecting reciprocity is considered as a rnediator.

The mediator, as he facilitates the transfer from an initial or real state to a desired potential one (area of near development), he does it inducing the use of strategies on the part of the one who learns, given his level, style and rhythm of learning.

The mediation requires the self-evaluation for the part of the subjects who Iearn, as well as the control of the individual collective effort considering, at the same time, all the stages and results.

Teachers are the ones who should be mediators par excellence. Everybody is responsible for his learning and everything can be done when it is guided from what is already known to what should be known how to do or to be.

Golden rules of the process of mediation

• To search knowledge, abililies, attitudes, values, as well as interests.

To be able to make sure of the condition of the real and initial development: from the level with which it is begun to have the student move to a more advanced one.

• To explore the potentialities of students in each of the areas of development.

It is not only enough to identify and to stimulate the cognitive area, but the affective, the attitudinal and the conductual one, as well.

• To negotiate what is wanted and should be taught and learned.

The meaningful learning takes place as long as the student is interested in what it is to be taught making sense and having a valuable meaning to him.

• To specify the desired result of the activity.

• To give responsible freedom which involves doing and creating.

It is necessary to favor little by little the individual"s own regulation.

• To offer help if students have any difficulty.

It is recommendable to offer the enough and necessary help at the right tirne. That is, the level of help should be offered appropriately.

• To respect the style and rhythrn of learning.

Each student has his/her own peculiar personality, and as a part of it, a different way of learning. It is quite important to know them, as well as to adjust the way of teaching to them in order to have their learning become meaningful.

• To favor the direct confrontation to the content of teaching.

The student should not only be a passive expatiator, but the active protagonist of his/her process of learning.

But the content of teaching should be potentially significant by:

• The logical structure it should specify.

• Its insertion in the wide range of meanings on the part of the one who teaches and to one who learns.

• Its application to what can be done.

AIl and each of these rules wiIl guide our practical what to do in class, and also as a result of this, some apprenticeship will be obtained.

Characterization of the group II from the Course for Teachers to be in Primary Education for the activity of studying

The group is formed by 34 students, 24 girls and 10 boys. There are 19 students that corne from Protesta de Baragua Senior High School and the rest of the students corne from Alejandro Cedeño Senior High School. All of them are from Las Tunas municipality.

In general, the group is one of the best according to the academic results. Nevertheless, it was observed that there is not group interaction members. There are some evidences of individualism among some members and lack of companionship. This is evident when some students with academic problems come closer to some of those that have good results, to explain, to clear them any doubt and these reject them. This provokes that some students of those with problems do not find the way of coming closer to them.

At the beginning of the acadernic year there were 4 students with learning problems, while 14 students knew how to study in a general way, besides of locating information, to extract essential ideas and to summarize; which represents a 41%. This demonstrated that there was not any development of the learning strategies, habits of studying systematically, interest or responsibility.

The objectives and common goals to achieve along the academic year are established in the group; however they are some students that have not become aware about that.

There are problems with their behaviors; although they are not general problems they affect the good group development. There is a formal structure; the responsibilities and the tasks to be fulfill are distributed. However some students are not conscious of what they have to do and this provokes conflicts among them at the time of fulfilling the orientations offered to the hour of fulfilling the orientations offered. It is also evident that interpersonal relationships between girls are not so good, while interpersonal relationships among females and males and among males are considered good.

The elements previously approached reflect that the group is in a low level of development. It does not favor the good development of the personality. In a general way the group is characterized by having problems with the interaction among its members, which does not only affect their relationships students but also their learning. This is manifested in the results of the sociometric test. 2 students are isolated; there are 4 islands and 2 chains.

Foundation of the proposal

For the determination of the proposal an initial diagnose was applied to characterize the current state of students; among the main difficulties we found are the following: the low development of abilities on finding main ideas, on summarizing, on Iocate information and the none existence of suitable learning strategies in the majority of the cases and the lack of cooperation on the fulfiilment of tasks.

Taking all this into account the author decided to propose the development of project works because it is proved that a better organization of the activities of studying constitute an essential way to the solution of the difficulties.

The author determines to apply project works as an organizational form in order to transform the situation of the group because project work, not only facilitates the cognitive development of the students, but also the qualitative one when it is organized in a form that favors cooperative learning. It allows the solution of the contradictions between the level of the student´ knowledge and the complexity of the new tasks, between what they owned and what it is asked. In this solution the students must be confident, sure on the taking of decisions, students need hours of laborious search that allows them the self evaluation of their possibilities and efforts. They also need to develop the collectivism this work becomes richer in the way the partners criticize, value and bring new contributions. It also favors to achieve a better group interaction, making better consolidation of the relationships.

Professors should keep in mind the orientation of project work in a systematic way, to achieve not only a better learning in the students but also a better interaction among them. For it, teachers should analyze the personal characteristics of the students, to know everything, starting with a diagnosis not only to look for information in the cognitive area but in many other respects.

With the development of project work, students get the necessary knowledge that allows them to act and to move with decision and independence and to face the challenges of life from the own school. In general sense it contributes to the formation and development of the personality, as well as it promotes a better group interaction among the students which is something that favors their learning.

lt was necessary also to determine how to organize project work, for that the author decided organize them in such a way that will promote group interaction and in turn contribute to the solution of the cognitive problems detected.

lt was necessary to make an analysis of the English syllabus of the Course for Teachers to be in Primary Educaticn which has a total of 60 hours class, with a frequency of 4 hours class every two weeks and its content is distributed in 6 units. Among the general objectives of the syllabus one is the consolidation of habits in the development of project work on the students.

The study made was based on the following questions: Which are the main objectives and contents that are propose in the English syllabus? How to raise the development of the abilities of: to summarizing, to determine the main ideas and to locate specific information by means of the treatment to those objectives and contents propose? How to raise the development of group interaction from the content is proposed in the syllabus? What are the most appropriate units for the realization of project works? What grade of difficulty do the contents offer for the realization of project works?

Reflections on the organizational and methodological order were made. They favored the taking of decisions in the elaboration of the proposal, based on the following questions.

Which are the means we have for the implementation of this proposaI?

What points students, which are the possibilities they offer?

Are the students capable of working independently with these means?

What time should be devoted to the realization of project works taking into account the level of difficulty of the tasks, time of solution and the desired results?

How to make the distribution of the tasks of studying?

Which are the possibilities of interaction among the students that the way in which the project work is organize offers?

In which phase of the lesson is the realization of the project work more productive?

Which is the structure that the selected project works should have?

Which is the methodology that should be followed during their elaboration?

How to fulfill the stages of orientation, realization and control? How to carry out the analysis and evaluation of the results?

Based on all these aspects the author determined that the proposal was a set of project works apply to the success of group interaction and that its realization wilI conduct also to the systematization of the abilities where difficulties were detected.

Graphic representation of the proposal determination.

With the determination of the proposal, it was very necessary to select the units in which project works will be introduced and the abilities to develop with each of them according to the objectives and contents of the English syllabus and the individuals and group particularities.

The author selected the units in which each project work was going to be oriented. For the selection of these units the author took into account their significance according to the content and the interests of the students on the topics due to their newness and their organization.

The author selected the units 2, 5 and 6 because the topics get the adolescents attention and motivate them, but also because they do not know much about these selected topics and with the intention of contributing to the formation of a general culture.

The ability proposed was that of summarizing because with the development of it, the ability of selecting the main details in a context is systematized which is something very important because it constitutes an action inside the internaI structure of this ability.

Summarizing implies that students do a careful reading of the orientated text; to determine main ideas in each paragraph; to classify the ideas according to their importance and to select thematic, general and partial ideas; to hierarchy and order the main ideas; to eliminate the supporting details and finally to make the summary.

The proposaI is sustained on the theoretical foundations expressed in chapter I and in the necessity of achieving a group interaction that drives the improvement of interpersonal relationships; using as fundamental way project work as organizational form that propitiates a cooperative learning and with this the personal and group growth as long as students do not only acquire new knowledge but rather cooperation feelings are developed, sense of ownership, mutual help, solidarity, as essential elements for the establishment of solid interpersonal relationships according to our aspirations.

Starting from the elements mentioned and the necessities of learning the selected sample, where the development of base abilities as: to select the essential ideas, to summarize, to locate information constitute an important element for the achievement of new learning, it is that the author selected intentionally the units 2, 5 and 6 to elaborate the system of project works that she proposes.

This system propitiates the combination of the individual and team work. Each member of the team is the responsible of the performing of an individual action that favours the development of the activity to be developed by the team. This characteristic is manifested in all stages of project work, stages that were conceived according to the objectives of the investigation.

The group of project works that forms the proposal has a reproductive character, and it is related to the ability we are intended to develop and it constitutes an essential base for the acquisition of new learning with more level of complexity.

With the realization of these project works we propitiate the systematisation of the proposed ability, as well as the necessary strategies to learn how to learn in some cases, and in others to better the strategies they follow.

The way in which its realization was conceived will lead the necessary individual and group activity for the achievement of solid learning that demonstrates the superiority of the results reached by means of the collective effort.

It was necessary to divide the group into teams; these were formed according to the results of the Sociometric Test. Later on the author decided to carry out the proposal.

It is very important for both, teacher and student to be sure about their roles at the time of developing the project work for the success of each activity.

A set of project works to be developed

First Project Work.

Unit #2: How electronic communications are changing our lives. History.

Theme: The computers and their history.

Final outcome: Presentation and discussion of a report.

Objectives: To summarize the essential aspects about the computers, the different generations that have existed and the elements that have characterized each generation by means of the searching of information in Encarta and Ocean Encyclopedias and striking in the formation of an general culture at a reproductive level.

Biblioqraphy: Encyclopedia Encarta

Encyclopedia Ocean

Orientations for the students:

The development of this activity required the organization of the individual activity and by teams, for this, each team will have a responsible that will be in charge of distributing the individual tasks that will share the realization of the work of the team.

The realization of the work will be organized by different stages, an initial with a character of orientation where the general objectives and actions to be developed will be discussed as weII as the educational tasks will be distributed; a second stage of individual execution where each member of the team will fulfilled his or her function under the orientation and control of the leader of the team and the professor; a third stage of conective conciliation of the work carried out individually, where each member should explain to their partners the result of his or her activity, which will be evaluated for the rest; a fourth stage, to prepare the report the team should present to be the discussed in the group. For the presentation of the report the team should be based on material that express originality and creativity. The report should have a brief introduction, development and conclusions. In the introduction the essential aspects should be reflected according to the importance of the topic, in the development they should reflect the summary of the essential ideas extracted from the oriented bibliography and in the conclusions they should explain how the realization of the work has influenced on their formation.

All teams will come prepared for the presentation of their works, frorn the six tearns one wiIl be selected, to present the report and the rest will function as opponents, which will permit the interchange, the necessary valuation for the success of the work.

The work should be carry out in a period of time of fifteen days and required the participation and mastery of the thematic of all members of the team.

To the development of the work if is very important to consult all the oriented bibliography.

At the time of evaluating the following indicators should be taken into account:

Valuation by the team of the realization of the work and its importance.

Fulfilment during the execution of the work of the individual and group tasks for the sake of the fulfilrnent of the final objective.

Discipline and organization in the fulfilment of the tasks during the stage of execution.

Interchange of opinions and valuations among the rnernbers of the team that favors help cooperation among them.

Mutual demand arnong the members of the team to the fulfilrnent of the quality in the activity.

Quality in the summary and elaboration of the final report.

Quality in the presentation beginning with the adequate use of the mother tongue and the selected recourses.

You should not forqet that to surnmarize you have to:

Read the information carefully.

Determine the main ideas in each consulted bibliography.

Classify the ideas according to their importance.

Select general and supporting details.

Order main ideas.

Eliminate complementary ideas.

Write the summary.

Actions to be developed:

• 1. In the oriented bibliography Iocate the information about the history of computers.

• 2. Read the information carefuIly.

• 3. Determine the main ideas about the topic in each bibliography, for this, remember to determine the main ideas of each paragraph and them bring all the information

• 4. Classify the ideas according to their importance and relation to the objective and content of the work according to their opinions.

• 5. Select those ideas that you consider that are general and which are partials in each oriented bibliography.

• 6. Order the main ideas selected from each oriented bibliography.

• 7. Eliminate the unnecessary ideas of the ones extracted from each oriented bibliography.

• 8. Make a summary beginning with the main ideas extracted of each orientated bibliography.

• 9. Refer to the importance of this work for your professional formation.

• 10. Write a report that reflects the main ideas of the topic beginning with the summarized in each bibliography and based on the foflowing aspects:

Computer generations.

Elements that characterize them.

Computer application.

Parts of the computers and their functions.

Second Project Work

Unit #5: What is a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)?

Theme: Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Final outcome: Elaboration and presentation of a poster.

Objective: To Summarize the essential aspects about the transmission and causes of the sexually transmitted infections, their main symptoms and forms of prevention by means of the search of information in Encarta and Ocean Encyclopedias striking in the formation of a general culture and in the formation of values (responsibility) at a reproductive level.

BibIioqraphy:

Encarta Encyclopedia.

Océano Encyclopedia.

Orientations for the students:

The development of this activity requires the organization of the individual activity and by teams, for this, each team will have a responsible that will be in charge of distributing the individual tasks that will be of help for the realization of the work of the team.

The realization of the work will be organized by different stages, an initial with a character of orientation where the general objectives and actions to be developed will be discussed as well as the educational tasks will be distributed; a second stage of individual execution where each member of the team will fulfilled his or her function under the orientation and control of the leader of the team and the professor; a third stage of collective conciliation of the work carried out individually, where each member should explain to their partners the result of his or her activity, which will be evaluated for the rest; a fourth stage, to prepare the report the team should present to be the discussed in the group. For the presentation of the report the team should be based on material that express originality and creativity. The report should have a brief introduction, development and conclusions. In the introduction the essential aspects should be reflected according to the importance of the topic, in the development they should reflect the summary of the essential ideas extracted from the oriented bibliography and in the conclusions they should explain how the realization of the work has influenced on their formation.

In the evaluation the following indicators should be taken into account:

Valuation by the team of the realization of the work and its importance.

Fulfilment during the execution of the work of the individual and group tasks for the sake of the fulfilment of the final objective.

Discipline and organization in the fulfilment of the tasks during the stage of execution.

Interchange of opinions and valuations among the members of the team that favors help cooperation among them.

Mutual demand among the members of the team to the fulfilment of the quality in the activity.

Quality in the summary and elaboration of the final report.

Quality in the presentation beginning with the adequate use of the mother tongue and the selected recourses.

For the realization of the poster you should summarize first the main ideas and this implies:

To read carefully the information.

To determine main ideas in each consulted bibliography.

To classify the ideas according to their importance.

To select general and partial ideas.

To order and to give priority to the main ideas.

To eliminate complementary ideas.

To write the summary.

The poster elaboration implies the graphic representation of the determined ideas, which requires the imaginative and creator power of the member of the group.

Actions to be developed:

1. In the bibliography oriented locate the information about the STI.

2. Read carefully the information about the topic.

3. Determine the main ideas about the ways, causes, symptoms and ways of prevention of the STI that appears in each oriented bibliography, for this remember that you have to determine the main ideas of each paragraph and conclude with all the information.

4. Refer to the importance of this work for your professional formation.

5. Classify the ideas according to their importance and relation to the objective and content of the work according to your opinions.

6. That it is concede to the realization of this work to its professional formation.

7. Elaborate a poster that reflects main ideas of the topic approached beginning with the summarised in each bibliography taking into the following aspects: – Ways of transmission. – Causes which provoke them. – Symptoms. – Ways of preventing them.

Third Project Work

Unit #6: William Shakespeare.

Theme: William Shakespeare" life and work.

Final outcome: Elaboration and exposition of a report beginning with the summary of Shakespeare" life and literal work.

Objective: To summarize essential aspects about Shakespeare" life and work by means of the search of information in Encarta and Ocean Encyclopedias contributing to the formation of a general culture at a reproductive level.

Biblioqraphy: Encarta Encyciopedia.

Ocean Encyclopedia.

Orientations for the students :

The development of this activity required the organization of the individual activity and by teams, for this, each team will have a responsible that will be in charge of distributing the individual tasks that will share the realization of the work of the team.

The reatization of the work will be organized by different stages, an initial with a character of orientation where the general objectives and actions to be developed will be discussed as well as the educational tasks will be distributed; a second stage of individual execution where each member of the team will fulfilled his or her function under the orientation and control of the leader of the team and the professor; a third stage of collective conciliation of the work carried out individually, where each member should explain to their partners the result of his or her activity, which will be evaluated for the rest; a fourth stage, to prepare the report the team should present to be the discussed in the group. For the presentation of the report the team should be based on material that express originality and creativity. The report should have a brief introduction, development and conclusions. In the introduction the essential aspects should be reflected according to the importance of the topic, in the development they should reflect the summary of the essential ideas extracted from the oriented bibliography and in the conclusions they should explain how the realization of the work has influenced on their formation.

All teams wilI come prepared for the presentation of their works, frorn the six tearns one will be selected, to present the report and the rest will function as opponents, which will permit the interchange, the necessary valuation for the success of the work. The work should be carry out in a period of time of fifteen days and required the participation and mastery of the thematic of all members of the team.

To the development of the work it is very important to consult all the oriented bibliography.

At the time of evaluatinq the following indicators should be taken into account:

Valuation by the team of the development of the work and its importance.

Fulfilment during the execution of the work of the individual and group tasks for the sake of the fulfilment of the final objective.

Discipline and organisation in the fulfilment of the tasks during the stage of execution.

Interchange of opinions and valuations among the members of the team that favors help and cooperation among them.

Mutual demand among the members of the team to the fulfilment of the quality in the activity.

Quality in the summary and elaboration of the final report.

Quality in the presentation beginning with the adequate use of the mother tongue and the selected recourses.

You should not forqet that to summarize you have to:

Read the information carefully.

Determine the main ideas in each consulted bibliography.

Classify the ideas according to their importance.

Select general and supporting details.

Order main ideas.

Eliminate complementary ideas.

Write the summary.

Actions to be developed:

1. In the oriented bibliography Iocate the information about the history of computers. 2. Read the information carefully.

3. Determine the main ideas about the topic in each bibliography, for this, remember to determine the main ideas of each paragraph and them bring all the information.

4. Classify the ideas according to their importance and relation to the objective and content of the work according to their opinions.

5. Select those ideas that you consider that are general and which are partials in each oriented bibliography.

6. Order the main ideas selected from each oriented bibliography.

7. Eliminate the unnecessary ideas of the ones extracted from each oriented bibliography.

8. Make a summary beginning with the main ideas extracted of each orientated bibliography.

9. Refer to the importance of this work for your professional formation.

10. Write a report that reflects the main ideas of the topic beginning with the summary of the information taken from the oriented bibliography and based on the following aspects:

-WilIiam Shakespeare" childhood and youth.

-Occupations.

-The most important of his Iiterary work and its repercussion on the universal literature.

These activities wiII be measure by means of the following indicators:

The social valuation of the content of the activity is considered :

High: When the student masters the content of the activity that he does and positively appraise its social importance, when he feels preoccupation and implication in the valuation that others do of their activity. All the previous mentioned regulates the student"s behavior consciously.

Middle: When the student masters and valuates the content of the activity that he does. He feels satisfaction before the recognition that others do of their activity.

Low: When the student masters but does not valuates positively the content of the activity that he does, it shows indifferent before the valuation that others emit of his or her activity.

Objectives and common goals:

They exist: When the objectives and common goals are definite with clarity and precision, all members of the group knows them and know what to do to fulfill them, direct its activity consciously to the fulfillment of the same.

They do not exist: When the objectives and common goals are not cleary defined, they know what they want individually but do not organize their activity to their precision and consecution as a group.

Group organization:

High: When there is a defined formal structure represented by the leaders who are loved, respected and followed by the group. All the members of the group follow the disciplinary norms and each of them masters and does the task that he or she has to carry out.

Middle: When there is a defined formaI structure represented by the leaders who are not loved, respected, and followed by all the members of the group. Not all the members master and follow the disciplinary norms, and do not do the tasks that are assigned.

Low: When there is a defined formal structure but the group does not accept it. Generally the disciplinary norms followed and the tasks assigned are not done.

Group interaction:

High: There is a high index of interaction where all the members interchange opinions, valuations based on the mutual respect. It permits the taking of collective decisions that favor the function of the group.

Middle: There is a group interaction where not all members share opinions, criticize or valuate. The taking of collective decisions is difficult and with it the functioning of the group is limited.

Low: Poor group interaction, the majority of the members do not emit opinions or valuations which makes the taking of collective decisions almost impossible, it affects functioning of the group.

The influence of the group on the individual:

High: There is a coherent positive influence that contributes to the personal growth of each member.

Middle: There is an influence that favors the formation of qualities of the personaIity.

Low: The existing influence does not favor the good development of the personality of the members of the group.

In the development of each project work these indicators will be evaluated:

For the evaluation of the social valuation of the content of the activity the inclusion on the system of questions of the project work will be taken into account, and one of them will be referred to the importance of the development of the activity on their formation. Besides by means of the observation and control put into practice during the stages of orientation, realization and control, we will prove how this indicator is manifested.

Objectives and common goals will be evaluated based on how the team assumes the collective task and the individual responsibility in the fulfillment of it, the same will happen during the realization stages where the implication of each individual on the fulfillment of the common objective will be controlled.

The group organization will be evaluated by means of the manifestation in the fulfillment of the established norms under the direction of the leader, the way in which the task is organized and distributed will measure the responsibility of fulfilling it in the assigned time.

The group interaction will be evaluate starting from the number of interactions that propitiates the way in which the task is organized and distributed in such a way that this contributes to the quality in the fulfillment of the desired objective.

The stage of execution requires continuant control that permits to prove this aim and in the control stage the objective will be materialized.

The influence of the group on the individual wiIl be evaluated beginning with the demands that are outline among the members of the team and how they get imply on the fulfillment of them.  

Description of the proposal

During the implementation of the proposal a gradual process of ascent was appreciated from the initial state to the one desired during the three moments. (Orientation, execution and control)