Proceedings Education and Project Based Learning Geneva Forum 2024

This study examines the use of augmented reality (AR) technology in community project-based learning (PBL), using the case of protecting the Qin Huai River water, which was implemented with approximately 1,800 community residents. The objective of this study is to evaluate how AR technology can enhance emotional engagement and learning effectiveness among community residents. By designing AR-based educational content for the community residents, the study found that AR technology effectively stimulated curiosity and increased engagement in learning content. The completion rate of educational activities reached 90%, demonstrating a high level of participation among residents. Pre- and post-knowledge tests showed that the average score of residents increased from 60 to 80 points, representing a 33% improvement. The self-assessment score for emotional engagement rose from 3.0 before the event to 4.5 after the event, indicating a significant increase in emotional engagement.

The simulation and visualization functions of AR technology deepened residents’ understanding of water issues and improved emotional resonance and recognition. Moreover, this interactive and dynamic learning mode enhanced the attractiveness of educational activities, increasing residents’ participation and learning outcomes. Ninety percent of residents expressed satisfaction with the AR teaching content, and 85% were willing to recommend it.

This study shows that the rational use of AR technologies can effectively promote emotional engagement in learning among community residents, as well as raise awareness and participation in social issues. It is therefore recommended that educators and technology developers further develop such tools to support diversity in education and community engagement.

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Project-based learning fosters learner engagement in real-world, often collaborative projects. Emotions play a critical role in this process, directly influencing motivation, engagement, and student success. Some emotions facilitate learning, while others may hinder it.
• Facilitating emotions: Curiosity, empathy, enthusiasm, and pride encourage learner engagement, strengthen collaboration, and promote an active approach.
• Hindering emotions: Frustration, anxiety, and fear of failure, on the other hand, can paralyze learning, reduce self-confidence, and disrupt project dynamics.

To foster positive emotions, teachers can:

Create more relevant projects linked to students’ interests and encourage exploration without fear of uncertainty.
Provide emotional support tailored to individual needs, celebrate small successes, and promote a safe environment where mistakes are seen as learning steps.

Strategies to mitigate frustration and anxiety include emotional regulation techniques like mindfulness, constructive feedback, and fostering a supportive climate where learners feel encouraged. Assessing emotional impact can be achieved through questionnaires, behavioral observations, and regular emotional reflections. These tools enable teachers to monitor learners’ emotional development and adjust their practices to maximize project effectiveness. In conclusion, emotions, when well-managed, can become powerful drivers of learning. Thoughtfully integrating emotions into project-based learning enriches the educational experience, improves student engagement, and promotes sustainable learning.

Abstract to come

The Émotion Montagne project explores the power of emotions in learning within a natural environment. By combining hiking and creativity, it allows participants to experience an immersive journey in the mountains, where every step is an opportunity to deeply feel the landscapes and understand their fragility.

Through activities such as emotional photography, drawings, and group discussions, this program invites participants to discover how emotions like wonder, pride, or empathy enrich engagement and enhance knowledge retention. By integrating emotions into the heart of learning, we strengthen connections with the living world and foster motivation to protect our environment.

This project embodies an innovative project-based pedagogy where emotions become tools for fostering a more human and responsible approach to nature.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Learn to design and scale innovative and engaging citizen science projects that encourage active participation and contribute to sustainable solutions for our society.
Discover and master a unique pedagogical methodology to maximize the educational impact of these participatory research projects.
Gain the skills needed to initiate, organize, and facilitate these projects effectively and engagingly.

TARGET AUDIENCES
Teachers, educators, socio-cultural facilitators, sports and arts professionals, engineers, researchers, project leaders in education or environmental fields, guides, travel agencies, local elected officials, entrepreneurs, and all individuals interested in participatory research and sustainable development.

LusTra (Ludique smart Trash) developed a mobile and intelligent waste collection prototype for educational purposes that can be deployed in gathering places (e.g., schools). Smart bins equipped with sensors and optimized detection algorithms allow the recognition of discarded materials. The system aims to motivate children to sort waste in a pedagogical and playful way through a game that presents a circular economy scenario, with evolving scenes as the child recycles (correctly) a waste item.

The embedded system, fixed at the bin’s entrance, includes a 45° inclined plate hit by the waste, modeled and 3D printed. This system also supports the electronics embedded in the bin, consisting of a Raspberry PI, a light barrier, an accelerometer, a microphone, and a metal detector. To identify the type of waste, a Foucault sensor was designed and implemented, and machine learning algorithms were carefully trained on a large dataset. This allows classification between PET, aluminum, and other waste types, based on the equipped bin. A communication infrastructure connects the system to a remote server for data persistence and monitoring via a dashboard to track (anonymously) users’ recycling behaviors. LusTra prototypes are functional and have been tested in various environments (open days, a middle school in Neuchâtel, a workshop in a primary school in Geneva). Feedback from target audiences has consistently validated the concept of LusTra’s interactive and educational smart bin, appreciated both by students and teachers.

We are witnessing the rapid progression of AI in mechanical terms, peacefully integrated into our daily lives, although before regulation, thus in a non-democratic scenario. Any technological development must be part of a robust strategy guided by fundamental rights. Otherwise, it transforms into a dangerous and parallel ad hoc authority.

Currently, despite some legal progress, there is a worrying legal void, where ethical issues are dictated by social media platforms, which deeply fail in responsibility and transparency.
We have the tools to make AI an inclusive and transparent hub by deploying various participatory research methodologies to address the complex practices of AI through shared leadership.

Particularly under the light of “AI values,” its impact is equal regardless of region, politics, religion, or culture. Broader studies and greater institutional engagement in multidisciplinary and transversal approaches will yield better results for addressing AI challenges, including awareness of threats to children from the outset. Work on prevention and supervised change. Education plays a central role at this stage.

Priority methodologies include:

Team Science: Collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to complex social problems.
Community-Engaged Research: Broad research approaches emphasizing partnerships between academia and communities, focused on issues affecting community well-being.
Participatory Evaluation: Sharing decision-making with stakeholders in evaluating a program or service at a particular stage of the process.
Popular Education: A people-centered educational approach launched by Paulo Freire, centering on individuals’ life experiences, treating all participants as both teachers and learners.

Although presented as a revolution of social innovation, shaping new practices promising new well-being for citizens, AI is not yet regulated and is not part of a multi-stakeholder action strategy. National and global institutional engagement is the guarantee for ensuring protection.

To date, the EU has taken a step further by approving the AI Act last August, covering a wide range of risks, and China has achieved the significant milestone of requiring all foundational models to be registered with the government before being released to the public.

How will tech companies ultimately engage in social responsibility action? Only through strict regulation and vigorous action by governments and global institutions can current challenges, risks, and potential new threats be resolved under a mandatory minimum standard and strict control.

Raising the bar for AI safeguards is not just an ambition; it is a genuine need.

Is it time to reevaluate our values around AI developments to ensure societal transformations respect human rights and SDG expectations, especially by focusing on empathetic AI rather than mechanical or analytical tasks, which ultimately become good assistants with minimal ethical concerns, more about refinement or retraining? It is indeed the replacement of humans that raises the deepest concerns about how a value-based approach could radically transform into a machine-centered one. Task automation is welcome, but not value automation, which is non-negotiable.

The immutability of values is an asset worth defending and can be transformed when adapted to a new moral framework to prevent being erased by a new set of norms based solely on mind control, centralized power, and corporate profits.

Sustainable development in education integrates sustainability principles into teaching and learning, empowering learners to address global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and resource scarcity. It emphasizes curriculum reform, transformative pedagogy, equity, environmental awareness, and global citizenship education. The SYN Fab Lab, a mobile fabrication laboratory in Greece, exemplifies innovative approaches to sustainability education by delivering STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) workshops aligned with different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These workshops prioritize hands-on, interdisciplinary learning tailored to the specific needs and context of each location, creating significant local impact. By linking STEAM education to sustainability goals and local relevance, the SYN Fab Lab equips future leaders with the tools and mindset to drive transformative change toward a sustainable and equitable future.

OxBIIC’s journey commenced in late 2019 with the conception of a visionary business incubation idea. By 2020, Oxford Business College (OBC) had taken bold strides to bring this innovative concept to fruition. By embedding the Business Incubation Centre (BIC) within our provision and introducing the Business Growth Crash (BGC) programme, we aimed to empower our students and local community with the resources and support needed to thrive in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship.

The response from students and the local community surpassed our expectations, inspiring us to further enhance the centre’s offerings from Oxford to other OBC campuses in West London, Slough and Nottingham. In late 2022, the College established the Oxford Business Incubation Centre (OxBIC). This strategic move solidified the College’s commitment to fostering innovation and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit.

Building upon this foundation, in 2023, we appointed Business Incubation managers for each OBC campus location: Oxford, Nottingham, West London, and Slough. Focusing on innovation, we transformed OxBIC into the Oxford Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (OxBIIC). This evolution reflects our unwavering dedication to driving forward-thinking initiatives and providing a dynamic ecosystem where ideas flourish, and businesses thrive.