Problem-Based Task Knowledge Structure in Projects

1. Problem-Based Task Knowledge Structure in Projects Dr Lorna Uden School of Computing, Staffordshire University, Beaconside, Stafford, ST18 0AD. UK Phone +44 (0) 1785 353271 Fax +44 (0) 1785 353497 E-mail: L.Uden@staffs.ac.UK

2. Talk • Introduction • Problem-Based Learning • Task Knowledge Structure • PBTKS Method • Outcomes • Conclusion

3. Introduction- Students Projects • Final year project constitutes four modules, worth forty credits. • Students need project management skills, research skills, analysis, design, implementation, testing, documentation and critical evaluation skills and independent learning skills. • Students typically lack them.

4. Problem-Based Learning PBL, according to Barrows is, " ... the learning which results from the process of working towards the understanding of, or resolution of, a problem." Barrows describes the main educational goals as: • To develop students' thinking or reasoning skills (problem solving, meta-cognition, critical thinking) and; • To help the students become independent, self-directed learners (learning to learn, learning management).

5. Traditional learning model. Teacher as expert model; textbook as primary source; facts as primary; information is packaged; emphasis on product; assessment is quantitative. Problem-based learning. Teacher as facilitator/guide; variety of sources/media; question as primary; information is discovered; emphasis on process; assessment is quantitative/qualitative Paradigm shift from traditional learning models to Problem-based learning model.

6. In Problem-Based Learning, teachers encourage students to: • be active, not passive in learning; • engage in inquiry approach to learning; • accept responsibility for their own learning; • develop problem-solving, decision-making and evaluation skills and • develop a broad outlook on the world.

7. Students develop the ability to: • recognise bias; • make systematic comparisons; • form and defend opinions; • identify and develop alternative solutions; • solve problems independently; and • use responsible behaviour.

8. PBL is powerful because: • it is a learning environment that embodies most of the principles that we know improve learning: active, cooperating, getting prompt feedback, tailored to student’s learning performance with student empowerment and accountability; • it forces students to learn the fundamental principles of the subject in the context of needing it to solve a problem; • it offers an opportunity to practice, use and even develop such processing skills as problem solving, interpersonal, group and team skills, the ability to cope with change, lifelong or self-directed learning skills and self assessment skills.

9. Benefits of PBL include: • increased retention of data; • integration of knowledge; • life-long learning; motivation to learn; • development of reasoning and critical thinking skills; • development of communication and interpersonal skills; • development of the ability to work effectively in a team.

10. Task Knowledge Structures • Task knowledge is represented in a person’s memory and can be described by a Task Knowledge Structure (TKS). • TKSs are assumed to be acquired through learning and previous task performances, and are dynamically represented in memory. • Is akin to the theoretical position taken by Schank in assuming that the knowledge of frequently occurring events is structured into meaningful units in memory.

11. Empirical support for this assumption can be found in the work of Galambos, who showed that people recognise and use structures of events, such as the order, the sequence and importance of activities within the event sequence, to understand, explain, and make predictions about these events. • TKS is activated in association with task performance. • People acquire knowledge about tasks and subsequently transfer this knowledge to new or different tasks

12. Usability and learnability are directly related to the amount of knowledge that the person is able to transfer from one task to another. • A TKS is related to other TKSs by a number of different relations, which include temporal or experimental relations. • TKS theory provides a method for the analysis and modeling of the tasks in terms of goals, procedures, actions and objects. • Within each TKS, different types of knowledge are represented.

13. PBTKS Method Task knowledge structures : 1 .Explore the problem 2 Set hypothesis 3. Identify learning issues 4. Plan actions 5. Search and collate resources 6. Generate and elaborate hypothesis and solution 7. Evaluate the solution and re-examine the problem 8. Revise hypothesis and learning issues and repeat steps 4-8.

14. Outcomes • increased retention of data; • integration of knowledge; • development of reasoning and critical thinking skills; • Develop research and project management skills • Develop self-directed learning skills • Enjoyed learning for the first time • Grades typically first or upper 2:1

15. Feedback -about the method : • “It helped me how to solve problems, how to question myself on what and why I do certain things. It makes learning a very enjoyable process.” • “It is the best thing I ever learned in my life.” • “I have learned how to identify big issues which are relevant to the problem.” • “I learned to expand my research skills in order to find new sources.”

16. “I applied the method to my other studies” “I learned to isolate what I did not understand, research it to comprehension, and present new information.” “When presented with a problem, I now consider what I do not understand, and attack the problem from there.” “I developed an ability to reason through material I did not understand.”

17. Long-term benefits: • “I am still applying the method to my work at BT.” • “I used it to solve software problems and managed to reduce workload by three-quarters.” • “I have used it to learn new new software and my boss was amazed at the progress I made.” • “I used it to help me problem solving when dealing with clients.” • “I can now solve problems much better.”

18. Conclusion • Students need problem-solving, critical thinking and self- directed learning skills • Students normally lack these skills • We expect students to learn, but never show them how • Strategies are needed to help students to acquire metacognition skills • PBTKS proves to be effective