Project-Based Learning Management Combined with Peer Coaching to Enhance the Innovative Thinking Skills of English Major Students

It is recognized that innovative thinking is a key competency in 21st-century higher education; however, research on the integration of project-based learning and peer coaching is limited, especially in English teacher education. This study, therefore, investigates their integration in enhancing students' innovative thinking skills. The objectives were 1) to compare students' innovative thinking skills before and after participating in project-based learning with peer coaching; 2) to compare students' innovative thinking skills between the control group and the experimental group after the intervention; and 3) to evaluate the quality of students' innovations after the intervention. The participants consisted of 57 second-year English majors, with 29 students in the experimental group and 28 students in the control group. The research instruments included an innovative thinking skills assessment form and an innovation quality assessment form. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test, and effect size. The results revealed that students showed statistically significantly higher innovative thinking skills after the intervention at the .05 level. After the intervention, students in the experimental group indicated significantly higher innovative thinking skills than those in the control group at the .05 level. The quality of the innovations created by the students was at the highest level. The results indicate that this approach successfully enhances students' innovative thinking skills and increases their ability to create educational innovations in a real-world learning environment.