Team Effectiveness of Higher Education Students through Project-based and Agile Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract: Agile methodologies derived from software development are today successfully applied in educational contexts as they provide a robust description of process workflows in team-based learning. It appears that the Agile Scrum model enhances team effectiveness, particularly focusing on teamwork and team interaction, which indicate effective collaboration. Agile methodologies further help learners develop sustainability competences because they reflect the current fast-paced and dynamically changing processes of our world. As Higher Education (HE) students are at the threshold of their careers, it is essential to strengthen soft skills beyond their academic subject. On these grounds, this study attempts to evaluate team effectiveness through the participation of 63 higher education students in an e-course, designed and developed according to the processes of the Scrum model appropriately embedded in Project-Based Learning (PjBL). Students were divided into small teams to provide sustainable smart solutions for their city, contributing to UNESCO's Global Goal 11 for Sustainable Development. Team effectiveness was assessed employing the "Big Five" framework. A questionnaire of 18 questions (Likert scale 1-5) was distributed to the students after the processes of the Agile Scrum. Initial results appear to be encouraging and motivating for authors to conduct further research.

Keywords: Agile Scrum model, Project-Based Learning (PjBL), Smart Pedagogies, Big Five Model, Sustainable cities, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004554

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