USING MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI) FOR ASSESSMENT SUCCESS OF STUDENT GROUPS IN PROJECT BASED LEARNING Vicente Rodríguez Montequín, Joaquín Villanueva Balsera José Manuel Mesa Fernández and Javier De Cos Juez Area de Proyectos de Ingeniería, Universidad de Oviedo, C/Independencia 13, 33004 Oviedo, Spain Keywords: Project management, Project based learning, Collaborative projects, Learning through projects, MBTI. Abstract: One of the most used teaching methodologies nowadays is project based learning: organizing students in small groups and provide them with a real-life project to manage with. Group work on a real-life project is a very interesting teaching instrument since groups act as project teams and the project ideas are close to the student field of professional interest. In addition to the technical skills, there are other aspects influencing the result under this paradigm: management and personality. The students should work in a collaborative way in order to achieve the best outcomes. This methodology is very effective for learning and a high student motivation and satisfaction could be reached, but usually conflicts between group members arise, resulting in poor results. The source of conflicts could often be found in the different personalities among group members. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has become one of the most widely-used psychometric instruments for assessing personality characteristics regarding work environment. It postulates that four different behaviour stiles give rise to four separate but interrelated ranges of personal preferences or natural tendencies in a given situation. The MBTI suggests that every personality type has a behaviour that could be used to explain some kind of conflicts. Knowing more about the personality of the team members and how different personalities compliment or conflict with each other can be useful information for building and leading a students’ group. The results of this study have implications for assessment the success of student groups working in collaborative projects. 1 INTRODUCTION Group work on a project is a very interesting teaching instrument, since student groups act as project teams and the project ideas are close to their field of professional interest. This paradigm is often called Project-based learning (PBL), that is an instructional methodology in which students learn important skills by doing actual projects. Students apply core academic skills and creativity to solve authentic problems in real world situations. Students use a wide range of tools and the culminating projects are tangible and observable artifacts that serve as evidence of what the students have learned. This paradigm is commonly used in technological studies, mainly in Higher Education, and it is becoming even more important in relation to the Bolonia new teaching methodologies. Students learn best when they are actively involved in the process. Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats. Students who work in collaborative groups also appear more satisfied with their classes. Project-based learning is based on the constructivist learning theory, which finds that learning is deeper and more meaningful when students are involved in constructing their own knowledge. Students are given the opportunity to select a topic that interests them within the required content framework and then they are responsible for creating their project plan. Rather than a lecturer, typically, the teacher's role is that of an academic advisor, mentor, facilitator, task master and evaluator. Usually the achieved outcomes are very good, and the level of involvement of students is very high. But, despite considerable potential, project- based learning is not without its challenges. One of 156 Rodríguez Montequín V., Villanueva Balsera J., Manuel Mesa Fernández J. and De Cos Juez J. (2010). USING MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI) FOR ASSESSMENT SUCCESS OF STUDENT GROUPS IN PROJECT BASED LEARNING. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 156-160 DOI: 10.5220/0002859901560160 Copyright c  SciTePress