Skills improvement in self-directed learning using collaborative project-based learning in multimedia communications. Case study at the National University of La Rioja (Argentina)

This article shows the results of research conducted at the National University of La Rioja (Argentina). The object of this investigation was to inquire into the improvement of self-directed learning in students that made use of Project-Based Learning (PBL) strategies during the whole academic year. Students implemented these PBL strategies for the making of a transmedia documentary which was central to their training in a particular subject in the last year of the degree of Communication Studies. The results were obtained through an experiment based on pretest and posttest (no control group used) using a questionnaire for self-directed profile enquiry (CIPA, for its acronym in Spanish) in a group of students of Multimedia Communications at the National University of La Rioja. The experiment demonstrates remarkable improvement regarding the continued use of PBL strategies throughout the whole academic year.