Enhancing Soft Skills in Culinary Education through Project Based Learning and Vlogs: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Project-Based Learning (PBL) has emerged as a practical pedagogical approach across various educational domains, fostering critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative skills among students. In the realm of culinary education, this approach offers a unique opportunity for students to apply their culinary knowledge and skills in authentic, real-world contexts. By incorporating project-based activities and utilizing digital platforms such as vlogs, students become more actively involved in the learning process. The hands-on nature of the approach, coupled with the interactive and visual elements of vlogs, fosters a dynamic and conducive learning environment. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the ways in which the integration of PBL and vlogs can improve the soft skills of students, encompassing communication, collaboration or cooperation, commitment, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. A quasi-experimental model with a one-group pretest-posttest design was employed in this research. The design involved 125 students (25 groups) from the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism at Padang State University, which served as the research objects, spanning approximately four months. Furthermore, in order to collect data, vlogs showcasing continental dishes produced using the PBL approach were evaluated and compared with dishes from the preceding semester, which were solely presented in a practical learning environment. This evaluation and analysis were carried out using an observation sheet and Wilcoxon test, respectively. By integrating the PBL model with vlogs, students were afforded practical experiences in crafting captivating culinary content and building a solid portfolio while honing their communication, collaboration, problem-solving, commitment, creativity, and innovation skills.