Integrating Peer Facilitation and Project-Based Learning in a Workshop to Improve Robotics and IoT Learning Achievement of Secondary Students

While Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) have been individually studied and shown to enhance student outcomes, research examining their combined impact remains scarce. This study aimed to address this gap by evaluating the effectiveness of an integrated PBL and PAL workshop in improving secondary students’ robotics and IoT knowledge and skills. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, the study involved 16 upper secondary students who participated in a 3-day workshop. The results revealed significant improvements in robotics and IoT skills, with overall knowledge and skill scores increasing from $7.78(\mathbf{S D}=\mathbf{5 . 1 8})$ to 18.81 ($\mathrm{SD}=6.53$). The workshop’s hands-on approach, combined with peer mentoring and the motivation provided by competitive elements, fostered technical proficiency, critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership. These findings highlight the value of integrating PBL, PAL, and competition to create engaging and impactful educational experiences, preparing students for real-world challenges in engineering and technology fields.