Democratic elements in group and project organized PBL: democratic skills and buildung via project organized problem based learning in groups in the Aalborg Model. Results from a pilot investigation

Students in a democratic learning system as the Aalborg Model knows of and uses democratics skills as e.g. the ability to discuss and accept other points of view, negotiate, compromise, reach consensus or accept the result of a vote in striving to reach specific common or personal learning goals, run processes and decide behaviour. It is what a pilot investigation referred in this article indicate. The meaning of this seems to be far behind the study itself and qualifications of the students to the labour marked. If it is true that ”the building of community begins in the classroom but extends beyond it to the school and the community” (Marris, 2003:274) then implementing democratic learning systems as The Aalborg Model are important for supporting and promote democratic bildung of students in higher education. This article defines at a – start - what should be understood by a democratic learning system. It contrasts it to an authoritarian or elitist systems. Then it brings the results from an investigation of 9 process analyses’ written at the end of the second semester 2005 by project groups from The Technical Natural Scientific Basic Year at Aalborg University and concludes that students make decisions related to learning and learning goals, learning processes and behaviour after discussions and so called rounds which indicates hat they develop democratic skill useful in social relations.