Exploring the impact of integrating problem based learning and agile in the classroom on enhancing professional competence

Abstract

The main goal of education is to provide students with practical skills. To achieve this, it is important to connect course content to real-world industry while also maintaining academic rigor. The effectiveness of this integration has become a concern in university courses. In recent years, courses have used both Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methods that are tied to course themes and social issues, encouraging students to work together on assigned projects. However, these methods do not adequately prepare students for the fast-paced, innovative and team-oriented demands of the modern workplace. This study aims to take the problem-based approach a step further by adopting a demand-centric approach, promoting agile learning through focus group work and enhancing students' academic competencies. The study also designs a flexible learning method that adapts to the rapidly changing digital age, combining PBL with industry needs to encourage self-directed learning. This not only sustainably improves students' learning outcomes, but also develops their practical skills. The study was evaluated through pre- and post-tests, which showed a significant improvement in students' learning outcomes. Additionally, peer Net Promoter Score (NPS) assessments were used to evaluate students' subject-area competencies, yielding positive results.

1. Introduction

The teacher designs the course to effectively convey the necessary knowledge and skills. The traditional lecture-based teaching model, often referred to as “banking education," has been criticized for its lack of student engagement and motivation. To address these issues, some courses have adopted Problem-Based Learning (PBL) where students work in groups to solve real-world problems [1,2]. While this approach can be effective in promoting student engagement, the problems posed in the classroom may not always be relevant to industry needs and students may not receive enough guidance on autonomous learning. According to Ref. [3], there is a need for more support in promoting student collaboration and providing career aspirations.

In [4], it is mentioned that individuals face various unpredictable changes in their future development and need to enhance their employability, which is especially critical in the current landscape of the e-commerce and digital marketing industry. University courses should be aligned with the job market, but it can be challenging for students to gain real-world experience. To address this, it's crucial to provide students with practical job-related experiences in the classroom, so they can develop skills that will be useful in their future careers. This study takes electronic commerce and digital marketing courses as an example and highlights some of the current difficulties faced in these courses.

• 1.Santos et al. [5] conducted a literature review to identify the challenges and trends in the use of e-commerce tools. The courses of electronic commerce and digital marketing are greatly impacted by the rapid digitalization worldwide, with changing concepts and business models. Therefore, the courses should be able to adapt to these rapidly changing features of electronic commerce business models, so that students can feel that the skills they learned can be fully utilized in the workplace.
• 2.Need to be closely integrated with industry. Most courses teach professional concepts, but do not teach students how to combine what they have learned with problem solving. The courses should be able to adapt to the characteristics of “digital marketing needs hands-on operational experience", so that students can learn to solve industry problems during the course. Education considerations during one's academic years and their integration with the industry have traditionally been highly regarded models, often achieved through industry-academic collaborations [[6], [7], [8]].
• 3.General courses do not train students on how to enhance the competencies in this field. Vocational training contributes to the effectiveness of student learning [9], and this emphasis should not be limited to technological universities alone. Many students, despite getting high course scores, do not improve the competencies they need to have in the future workplace, which can hinder their future development at work. Therefore, the courses should be able to adapt to the characteristics of “strengthening students' competencies in the subject".

The teaching of general courses is usually conducted through traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, as noted by Ref. [10]. The past way of evaluating learning is mostly through written exams. This study focuses on the interaction between students during the course, and the learning of the course positively impacts their enhancement of occupational ability. Therefore, summing up the above explanation, besides proposing a course model to improve learners' learning outcomes, this study aims to strengthen the occupational ability standard of students who participate in the course in the relevant field.

2. Literature review

Learning outcomes refer to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students gain through actively participating in coursework and various learning activities. The teacher should aim to not only impart subject matter knowledge, but also to integrate their teaching knowledge and methodology, known as Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), into their lesson plans to create a more organized and integrated learning experience for students [11].

However, the e-commerce industry is rapidly evolving, and there have been significant changes in the concepts, models, and evaluation methods of digital marketing in recent years. To keep up with these changes, many teachers have turned to case study teaching methods. This approach has been adopted in various fields, including management courses in the information systems field, where students are taught through texts, charts, and data. The cases used are often from the teacher's own case studies or from newspaper and magazine reports, which may not be representative of current industry practices. This is particularly true for rapidly evolving subjects such as e-commerce and digital marketing. Velenchik [12] found that students learned better through theoretical case studies, and their expression and communication was clearer. To overcome this issue, Kennedy [13] have suggested using scenario simulations to solve real problems, which can greatly enhance learning outcomes. Kennedy's research that connects to current events offers a promising model for teaching practices and addresses the limitations of textbook teaching.

Additionally, the imposition-style teaching method disregards students' perceptions and does not promote the values of self-directed learning [3]. Because meaningful action is present in education practices, teaching methods that prioritize the integration of theory and practice are crucial [14]. Therefore, the integration of industry issues into teaching is of utmost importance: cooperation between teachers and industry experts is a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice [15]. The interaction between teachers, industry experts, and students transmits the dynamics of theory and practice and allows students to access a wealth of current industry cases and practical ways of operation and trends [16].

Competences can be divided into company-specific and individual-specific competences, with individual competences encompassing knowledge, expertise, abilities, experience, and personal traits [17]. Since competences are a source of competitive advantage, they are inherently linked to job roles. Generally, competences can be considered as performance evaluation indicators, as they are closely related [18]. In Ref. [19], the discussion revolves around the required competences in the field of e-commerce. Stefani and Vassiliadis [20] have introduced an adaptive framework suitable for the digital era, offering valuable insights that we should consider.

These competences encompass.

• ●Technical Domain: This includes e-commerce technology, network security, data analysis, and more.
• ●Business Domain: Encompasses areas like product management, marketing, customer service, and others.
• ●Communication Domain: Involves oral and written communication, cross-cultural communication, and so on.
• ●Team Collaboration Domain: Encompasses teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and related competences.
• ●Personal Development Domain: Includes self-management, learning ability, innovation, and more.

Competences encompass not only academic or technical knowledge but also aspects like self-management and teamwork, making them particularly suitable for Problem-Based Learning (PBL) teaching models [6,21].

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a student-centered teaching approach that guides students in group learning through activities such as problem analysis, goal setting, resource collection, idea synthesis, and reflective problem-solving experiences. It primarily fosters critical thinking, enhanced analytical reasoning, problem-solving, and collaborative learning [22]. Similar to Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is Project-Based Learning (PBL). Project-Based Learning (PBL) refers to a teaching method based on inquiry, which involves engaging learners in meaningful projects and the development of real-world products to encourage their participation in knowledge construction [23].

Recent courses have adopted two types of teaching methods, “Problem-Based Learning (PBL)" [22,24] and “Project-Based Learning," [23,25,26] and have integrated course values and social issues. PBL and Project-Based Learning are good methods, but exposing students to industry issues through practical business problems prepares them better for the working field and equips them with professional skills and practical experience [6,21]. This approach is more effective, where industry experts pose problems and students respond to solve them, as it is a demand-driven course methodology. Therefore, Problem-Based Learning is more suitable for fostering students' understanding of future work practices within the curriculum.

A skilled workforce is essential for driving industry advancement and is a critical determinant of enterprise success [7,27]. Students will always enter the workforce, so occupational competency is crucial, and educational institutions have established internship programs. The study [20] noted that the learning process of practical skills by students will enhance their growth in occupational competency and self-efficacy, indicating the relationship between students' practical learning and their occupational competency and self-efficacy. Some scholars have also explored various reasons that affect students' perceived occupational competency and value [28]. Wei and Lii [29] studied a competency-based curriculum and training, and found that students had stronger learning motivation and better employability. McCullagh et al. [30] conducted a feasibility study on integrating interprofessional collaboration into occupational and environmental health and safety education to practice in the occupational environment. This research aims to enhance the core abilities of students by offering training courses in two key areas: professional skills and occupational competencies. On the other hand, research has found that higher education is not enough to guarantee good job opportunities [31], making occupational competencies even more important. From an educational perspective, the study aims to explore how to cultivate enterprise spirit and professional talent. In terms of occupational competencies, research has found that grit, which is persistence and enthusiasm for long-term goals, is a crucial aspect of occupational competencies at the level of individual traits [32].

The study also designed multiple questions to measure the occupational competence of job engagement, which includes maintaining vitality, focus, and engagement, including students' mindset and actual learning. The higher the engagement level, the higher the learning outcome, and the positive cycle between learning outcome, self-identity, and recognition by others [33]. Additionally, promoting team collaboration, clarifying goals and problems, deepening experience through communication and innovation, and extending cooperation enhance the value of participants and team collaboration success. The tool for objectively measuring the impact of courses on students has not yet been developed and obtained consensus [34,35]. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is widely adopted by managers as an indicator to measure customer sentiment and predict sales growth. Baehre et al. [36]used NPS to predict sales growth. Although NPS is used to replace traditional customer satisfaction surveys [37], increasing participants' engagement and confidence in team collaboration will enhance the value of participants and the concern of the team. This study will use the NPS based on peer assessment to evaluate occupational competence. Stanbery et al. [38] also examined the feasibility of using NPS to measure real-time employee engagement, which differs from the past application of NPS that only measures satisfaction. This innovative idea not only gives a new perspective on NPS but also has potential applications in the development of professional skills in education.

Based on the above literature and current teaching experience and observations, several key issues have been identified that can optimize course development: first, life or current events can be integrated, responding to the rapidly changing problems in the subject industry and enabling students to see the practical applications of what they have learned. Tümen [39] conducted a focus group study to investigate Turkish university students' perceptions of distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, the focus group model is adopted to allow students to practice e-commerce and marketing planning and to sharpen their cooperation abilities with each other. Finally, the need for hands-on experience can be addressed by having industry experts set questions and students solve them. This study will transform the approach from problem-oriented to demand-driven and implement agile learning through the focus group model to enhance students' professional competencies in the subject and enable them to quickly connect with the industry in the future through e-commerce and digital marketing.

3. Proposed method

In this section, the overall framework of the study will be explained. All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study.

3.1. Research method

In this study, the “Assessment Research" methodology is employed, using both pre-test and post-test assessments as well as the NPS to evaluate the functionality of the participants. This methodology is typically utilized for assessing the effectiveness of specific projects, interventions, training, products, or services to determine their impact on the participants' functionality or satisfaction.

The pre-test and post-test assessments are integral components of the assessment research, aimed at measuring specific indicators or performance of the participants before and after the implementation of the intervention. This aids in determining whether the intervention has led to improvements or changes among the participants. The NPS, a metric commonly used to gauge customer satisfaction and loyalty, is also applied in this study. Besides its application in the business sector for measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty, it is widely employed in understanding key performance indicators for employee satisfaction, dedication, and loyalty [37]. Hence, the research framework adopted in this study can be summarized as follows:

The first stage is a traditional lecture-based mode, followed by a subject test to evaluate the learning effectiveness of students under traditional lecture mode. The second stage involves inviting industry experts to propose relevant topics on e-commerce and digital marketing, and allowing students to work in groups to delve into these topics. Each week, students share and discuss current issues in e-commerce and digital marketing in class. Within each group, students are required to divide responsibilities, researching the overall benefits, operational models, information technology, and marketing models of current cases. This stage simulates future job division, thereby inducing learners to develop the necessary skills for different job roles. At the end of the second stage, another subject retest is attempted to assess the effectiveness of the independent study after classroom combined with expert-topic exploration model in promoting student autonomous learning.

Finally, in the third stage, experts propose real-world requirements in class, and students carry out actual digital marketing operations. Before the practical digital marketing operations, students will conduct on-site visits and engage in classroom communication, followed by expert focus groups. A formal group presentation will be held at the end of class, with results shared with experts and other classmates, and a peer assessment method will be adopted to simulate team collaboration and skills evaluation. The overall framework is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Research framework.

In this study, the interaction between students and business experts is divided into two parts. The first part is the group design of e-commerce and marketing models, with the experts playing the role of business requesters. In addition to (1) sharing the difficulties and problems encountered by the business, (2) and providing consultations on industry problems in various fields, including retail, tourism, and food and beverage. The second part is in the focus group, where the expert serves as a guiding moderator, providing students with problem correction and consultation during practical exercises and giving revisions to the proposals. Finally, the expert will assist students in presenting their proposals, making them closer to the needs of the business. After the model design, focus group, and result presentation, NPS peer assessment is conducted, with NPS items combining competency and evaluated using a Likert 10-point scale. Subsequently, data analysis is performed.

3.2. Objectives of research

The scope of this study focuses on the teaching research of a single course area, specifically the elective course of Electronic Commerce and Digital Marketing for university students. Through multiple teaching methods, and collecting students' learning status data in three stages, this study aims to understand the effectiveness of incorporating Problem-Based Learning in improving students' learning outcomes. It will also explore the relationship between the use of focus group methods and industrial practices, and the enhancement of students' competencies. This research project recruited participants for the study in 2022. Any data collected that is related to the research cannot be used to identify specific individuals. All data will be promptly deleted upon completion of the research project.

3.3. Teaching environments

There are three teaching environments: the teaching location, the teacher-assigned independent study after class, and the result development location.

• ●Teaching location

It will be conducted in the classroom and includes.

• 1.Discussion of current trends and e-commerce marketing models
• 2.Online real-time interaction
• 3.Focus interviews
• 4.Sharing insights on business problems
• ●Teacher-assigned independent study after class

Students are encouraged to learn outside of the classroom and discuss in class.

• 1.Cloud-based online interaction with industry experts
• 2.Collection of news and information after class
• 3.On-site visits to various fields (retail, tourism, restaurants)
• 4.Practical operation of industrial problems

3.4. Effectiveness evaluation method

This study combines the Assessment Research methodology, incorporating both pre-test and post-test assessments, as well as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and other measurement tools, to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, the performance of the participants, and their satisfaction. The goal is to determine whether improvements or further measures are required. This methodology is commonly employed in project evaluations and outcome studies in fields such as management, healthcare, and education.

The Assessment Research methodology includes two key methods.

3.4.1. (1). Pre- and post-test assessments

After the traditional teaching methods, an initial exam covering ten aspects of electronic commerce and digital marketing is administered. This includes topics such as the first step in digital marketing, understanding customer behavior, search engine marketing, and others.

The study employs a pre-test and post-test approach, where participants' knowledge and performance are assessed before and after the intervention. The test questions are based on the TIMS certification exam provided by the Taiwan Institute of Marketing Science. These questions are expected to demonstrate a certain level of efficacy.

Then, the students are put into groups and participate in a Problem-Based Learning approach, where they are given questions to work on. The model is implemented, which involves the students searching for current events and news topics related to electronic commerce and digital marketing, creating cases, and discussing marketing topics in class.

3.4.2. (2). NPS for mutual evaluation of competence

The NPS is used as an assessment method for evaluating the competence of the participants. This involves mutual evaluations among participants to gauge each other's competence, knowledge, or skills. It provides insights into how participants perceive their peers' competence in the context of the study.

By employing these methods, the research aims to comprehensively assess the impact of the intervention on participants' competence, performance, and satisfaction.

In the method is carried out in groups, and each week a complete case is required to be presented. As shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, the operation of the group must be agile. The agile spirit means that each team member must have a certain excellent skill and interactive ability, and through fast communication, the team members' known knowledge is stacked into a prototype of results in a cumulative way. Agile method emphasizes continuous feedback, and each added step is affected by what was learned in previous steps. Therefore, this study designs a case agile observation sheet and allows group members to take on a specialty, accumulating knowledge of the specialty from the first case. In the middle and later stages of the course, they can quickly come up with effective suggestions and insights based on the accumulated knowledge. The specialties are divided into.

• ●Information Officer: Digitalization
• ●Marketing Officer: Marketing effectiveness
• ●Operations Officer: Competitive effectiveness
• ●General Affairs Officer: Cost considerations
• ●Executive Officer: Comprehensive evaluation

Fig. 2.

Student practice agile case: Douwe Egberts.

After 6 weeks of combining Problem-Based Learning with agile single learning in the teacher-assigned independent study after class, industry experts proposed the practical needs for digital marketing in the classroom. The focus interviews guide students in observing problems and gaining insights into the target audience for marketing, as shown in the following diagram. Students then carry out content marketing operations for a month, surveying the audience distribution of backpacker lodges/youth hostels and guiding customers through content marketing on social platforms and video platforms, among others. The focus is on marketing planning, observing traffic and interaction rates for self-reflection on strengths and weaknesses and making adjustments. This requires full communication, cooperation, and reflection among team members, not just presenting marketing outcomes.

Finally, peer assessment is conducted after the presentation of the group's results. Presenting results can inspire students to help each other, provide support, generate innovation, and continue participation to make the team successful, thus training their competencies. Therefore, the competency assessment is conducted through peer assessment. The competency options are referred to Refs. [17,40] and the digital marketing management course, respectively.

• ●Innovation ability: To what extent can you bring creative ideas to digital marketing concepts and practices?
• ●Proactivity: Does the team show a proactive approach when given tasks?
• ●Copywriting ability: The level of contribution to writing the report.
• ●Fostering team success: How much initiative do you take in accepting tasks and making the final report smoother?
• ●Communication skills: The smoothness of discussions and communication.
• ●Problem-solving and verification: The level of contribution to solving problems and verifying the marketing strategy.
• ●Marketing strategy development: The level of contribution to developing the marketing strategy.
• ●Marketing execution ability: The level of contribution to executing marketing.
• ●Tracking and adjustment: Represents the pursuit of excellence in the representative competency.
• ●Self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses: Self-learning in the role.

Evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative learning method using the NPS. NPS is a unique method of calculation compared to other metrics, which are typically direct average calculations. Companies such as Apple, Amazon, Google, and Tesla have adopted NPS to measure customer satisfaction. The NPS survey not only calculates the recommendation level but also categorizes customers into three groups, providing a basis for improvement actions. This study uses students' mutual assessment of job satisfaction as a recommendation, with the net recommendation value serving as a way to evaluate job satisfaction. NPS is not only used for general statistical analysis, but also to identify areas for improvement in job skills, such as innovation, focus, self-growth, involvement, teamwork, goal-setting, communication, and cooperation. Additionally, a student mutual assessment form will be designed to focus on evaluating job skills.

The collected NPS peer assessment data will be organized and recorded after the course results are published. The competency assessment will provide insight into the students' perceptions of the integration of Problem-Based Learning and the teacher-assigned independent study after class approach, as well as the focus group method and practical operation mode in solving corporate problems. Furthermore, pre- and post-subject tests will be used to assess the students' improvement in subject knowledge.

4. Experience result and discussion

4.1. Experience result

The research focuses on 59 students who have chosen the elective course “E-commerce and Digital Marketing." Pre-and post-tests were conducted using the teaching method employed in this study, and the results showed that the students made significant progress, as illustrated in the following Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

A comparison chart of pre- and post-test results for subjects using PBL and the teacher-assigned independent study after class learning approach.

After traditional teaching methods, a pre-test was administered covering ten aspects of electronic commerce and digital marketing, including: the basics of digital marketing, understanding customer behavior, search engine marketing, effective search engine usage, marketing strategies for physical stores, social media for beginners, content marketing, successful online sales, the benefits of digital marketing analysis, and e-commerce marketing.

To further improve student learning outcomes, the model was utilized in conjunction with Problem-Based Learning. In this approach, students worked in groups to search for current events and news related to electronic commerce and digital marketing, create real-life case studies, and engage in class discussions on various marketing topics. Results from a subsequent subject retest showed that students made significant progress, with the greatest improvement observed in the area of Search Engine Marketing (71 % increase). This can be attributed to the lack of practical applications and hands-on experience in traditional digital marketing textbooks, which often only provide an overview of Search Engine Marketing concepts. While there was a slight decline in Social Media Marketing (2 % drop), it can be considered acceptable.

The results of the experiment found that in the peer assessment, under NPS measurement, the average performance of each competency is greater than 50.79 %. The 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings report by Bruce Temkin details the NPS standards of different industries, with the highest NPS being 65 %. However, based on the average, 39 % is considered to be highly agreed. The average of the student peer assessment data collected in this study ranges from 50.79 % to 61.38 %. As shown in Fig. 4, it is evident that learners' recognition of various competencies is based on certain standards in Problem-Based Learning and the combination of the teacher-assigned independent study after class.

Fig. 4.

Peer evaluation NPS distribution.

Fig. 4 shows the NPS scores for the learners' various competencies, all of which are above 25 %. There are more negative scores for the items of being proactive and promoting team success, which suggests that these are competencies that peers place more importance on in digital marketing. Furthermore, there appears to be a concentrated agreement among peers regarding the competencies of identifying problems and TA, and self-examining strengths and weaknesses. This suggests that there is a certain level of consensus among classmates within the same group. It's worth noting that peer evaluations of competencies are always conducted within a group and should be considered normal. Additionally, there was no significant cross-group collaboration, so it is not appropriate to evaluate competencies across groups.

Despite peer evaluations being a reflection of teamwork experience, it's challenging to assess learning performance accurately as peer evaluations have a certain degree of subjectivity. For instance, if we take group 10 in Fig. 5, the peer evaluations are too concentrated and lose their representativeness. Meanwhile, when we look at groups 11 and 12, the distribution profiles of competency evaluations are similar, but group 12 has better overall peer evaluation scores compared to group 11. This could be due to the classmates in group 11 having stricter recognition criteria for competency performance, which results in similar NPS recommendation scores as group 12. Thus, NPS should only be used as a measure of competency, not learning outcomes, which should still be mainly based on subject test scores.

Fig. 5.

In-group peer evaluation NPS distribution.

Although peer evaluations have a subjective aspect, they can provide valuable insight when combined with the text opinions of the evaluations. From the peer evaluation text, peers seem to be most concerned about their team partners' participation and engagement, which is often reflected in the active initiative of team members. This observation aligns with the previously mentioned strict evaluation criteria for NPS, which values proactivity and promotes team success. The second most important competency aspect in team cooperation, according to the peer evaluations, is observing marketing audiences and formulating marketing strategies. Writing copy is also an important aspect and the third most frequently mentioned in the peer evaluation text.

Overall, through problem-based learning and the teacher-assigned independent study after class approaches, the learning outcomes of students have improved and there is a noticeable recognition of competency performance among peers in the same group.

4.2. Discussion

This study introduces an applied research on instructional methods in university elective courses, focusing on the domain of e-commerce and digital marketing. The article adopts Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and the teacher-assigned independent study after class pedagogies with the aim of enhancing students' learning outcomes. It employs focus group discussions and practical exercises to investigate the linkage between learning effectiveness and competency enhancement.

The pre- and post-assessment of the teaching model reveals that it effectively enhances learning outcomes in the field of e-commerce and digital marketing. This model resonates with the findings of [6], which explores how collaborative teaching between academia and industry enhances students' professional competencies, although [6] does not solely focus on competence improvement. The “Industry-posed, Student-solved" PBL teaching model in this study simulates real-world professional settings, providing students with an instructional approach that engages them in authentic problem-solving and competency development. Furthermore, the results from student Net Promoter Score (NPS) evaluations indicate a significant increase in perceived competencies among students, ranging from 50.79 % to 61.38 %. These findings align with [23].

Additionally, this study employs an agile approach that involves students in solving industry-relevant problems, akin to their participation in actual corporate operations. This approach allows students to enhance various competencies, such as proactiveness and team success facilitation, echoing the research of [34]. [34] investigates the impact of youth enterprise company programs on students' attitudes and enterprise potential in six secondary schools in London. It found that participation in company programs cultivates positive attitudes and greater enterprise potential among participants compared to non-participants. However [34], considers that the participants have already entered the corporate environment, whereas this study achieves early competency accumulation through the agile PBL teaching model.

Furthermore, while NPS-based mutual competency assessment is an innovative measurement method, its adoption aligns with contemporary international corporate practices. Thus, it presents itself as a viable approach for assessment. This instructional model is best suited for courses that involve the transmission of soft knowledge, such as e-commerce, digital marketing, and knowledge management. The efficacy of this model for technology-oriented courses has yet to be explored through experimentation.

The study progressively guides students through practical problem exploration, teamwork, and hands-on activities. This approach closely mirrors real-life scenarios, fostering holistic skill development among students. Additionally, the utilization of NPS for peer evaluation and the subsequent analysis of competency performance based on student feedback represent meaningful explorations. However, due to the absence of a dual-classroom design, there is no specific control group, and the experimentation is conducted solely within a single class through pre- and post-assessments.

This study aims to explore how to enhance students' employability by integrating PBL and agile learning models. By combining these two teaching methods, the research seeks to strengthen students' practical job skills, enabling them to adapt to rapidly changing career environments. Specifically, the study emphasizes providing students with real-world experiences relevant to the workplace to nurture the skills they will need in their future careers. This endeavor will help bridge the gap between university education and the practical job market. The ultimate goal of this research is to improve students' employability, enabling them to integrate successfully and thrive in their careers. By incorporating PBL and agile learning, this study introduces practicality into university curricula. As seen from the practical results, the enhancement of communication skills is the most notable, followed by facilitating team success and marketing execution. However, in the future, other variables, such as occupational identity and employability, may also have an impact on employability, as echoed by Ref. [4], which links employability to occupational competence, job prospects, and job satisfaction, possibly related to industry and social support differences. This study does not explore the phenomenon of students' employability in relation to job skills, and therefore, we cannot draw conclusions based on the practical data of this teaching. However, it is worth considering further research in teaching models, student learning attitudes, and the phenomenon of employability in the future.

5. Conclusions

The rapid advancement of digital technology has made it challenging to teach many courses in a traditional lecture format, particularly e-commerce and digital marketing. To enhance the students' learning experience, it is crucial to integrate practical exercises, discussions based on current events, and marketing strategies. In terms of the practical value of education, this study combines evaluation research methods, including pre-test and post-test assessments, as well as the NPS and other measurement tools, to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. It validates the effectiveness of the agile teaching model of PBL in enhancing student competencies. This has a demonstrative effect on courses requiring high-level soft skills, such as electronic commerce and digital marketing. This study adopts a Problem-Based Learning approach, inviting experts from various fields to present real-world challenges in digital marketing. The teacher-assigned independent study after class method is used to link course content with real-life scenarios, and media reports are used to keep students updated on current events. Through participating in discussions on current events and case studies, students will significantly improve their learning outcomes compared to traditional lecture-style teaching methods. The course will culminate in a focus group with industry experts serving as moderators for company problems, guiding students in problem-solving and providing practical experience. This process helps students to practice e-commerce and marketing planning, improve teamwork skills, and enhance their e-commerce and digital marketing competencies. The pre- and post-assessment results show a significant improvement in learning outcomes, and the NPS results from student evaluations also indicate a net recommendation value of over 50.79 %, demonstrating the positive sustainable impact of this teaching method on students' learning and skill development.

Ethics Declarations

Review and/or approval by an ethics committee was not needed for this study because the research complies with the regulations set forth by the Ministry of Science and Technology's Humanities and Social Sciences Division in Taiwan. It specifies that research projects not involving minors, detainees, indigenous peoples, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, mental health patients, and others who are subject to undue coercion or unable to make decisions freely as research subjects may be exempt from submitting to an ethics review committee.

Data Availability

This study commits to classroom participants. The collected data will be promptly deleted upon completion of the research project. Therefore, this study does not have permission to provide access to the data.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Hao-En Chueh: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Data curation. Chang-Yi Kao: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Validation, Supervision, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the Supplementary data to this article.