Active Learning based on Electronic Focus Groups and Participatory Design during the COVID-19 period

Universities have had to apply distance education models to prevent COVID-19 spread. This paper studies the feasibility of a learning model based on electronic focus (e-focus) groups and participatory design to carry out Project-based Learning (PBL) in these contexts of distance education. E-focus groups are debates supported by telematics tools to interchange ideas about solutions that must satisfy requirements of a real-world problem. Each debate is moderated by the members of a work group who must elicit requirements and build solutions. Stakeholders are classmates who participate in these debates to propose requirements and verify solutions. This model has been applied to teach a Human-Computer Interaction subject of the Computer Science degree of the University of Cantabria. To study the feasibility of this learning model, this paper analyzes the following three aspects: (i) the impact of the e-focus groups' proposals to improve the problem-solving process, (ii) problems to meet the deadlines of the project schedule and (iii) the students' satisfaction. The results of this analysis support the feasibility of applying this model to carry out PBL in a distance learning context.