Problem-Based Learning (PBL) What it is, Principles, and Examples

1. Problem-Based Learning (PBL)What it is, Principles, and Examples David W. Mogk Dept. Earth Sciences Montana State University On the Cutting Edge Workshops Teaching Structural Geology in the 21st Century June, 2004

2. Discovery! • Sustains and inspires us as researchers • Is most effective for learning/understanding • Researchers create new knowledge • Learners achieve mastery of material previously unknown to them (re-discovery) on the way towards true discovery. • Both require • Creative thinking, seeing relations in a new light • Application of first principles, basic knowledge • Work in a meaningful context • Building on work of predecessors • A common language for effective communication.

3. Integration of research and education: …infuse the joy of discovery and an awareness of its connections to exploration through directed inquiry and careful observation, and analytic thinking for students at all levels. NSF in a Changing World (1995)

4. Integrating Research and Education • (Re)Discovery Simulation • Modeling Replication • Real-time, archived, and authentic data • Critical review of the literature • Training on instrumentation, software, field methods • New creative contributions

5. Scientific Habits of the Mind • Reasoned use of evidence • Verifiable data, testing, proof, prediction • Curiosity, skepticism, open to new ideas • Integrity, fairness, ability to identify & avoid bias • Computational and estimation skills • Ability to observe, measure, manipulate • Make connections, apply to new situations • Communicate!

6. What is PBL I? In PBL groups are presented with contextual situations and asked to define the problem, decide what skills and resources are necessary to investigate the problem, and then pose possible solutions (Duch, Groh, and Allen, 2001)

7. What is PBL II • Student-centered; faculty facilitated • Inquiry training; methodology to teach students about • clinical cases, either real or hypothetical • Going beyond content Involvement + Experience = Understanding, Ownership and Long-term Retention

8. What does PBL do? PBL simultaneously develops problem solving ` strategies, disciplinary knowledge bases, and skills.   How does PBL do it? By placing students in the active role of problem solvers confronted with a (purposefully) ill-structured problem which mirrors real-world problems.

9. Problem-based learning has as its organizing center the ill-structured problem which... • is messy and complex in nature • requires inquiry, information-gathering, and reflection • is changing and tentative • has no simple, fixed, formulaic, "right" solution

10. PBL Consists of Two Complementary Inter-related Processes Curriculum Design • Teachers design an ill-structured problem based on desired curriculum outcomes, learner characteristics, and compelling, problematic situations from the real world • Teachers develop a sketch or template of teaching and learning events in anticipation of students' learning needs • Teachers investigate the range of resources essential to the problem and arrange for their availability Cognitive Coaching • Students actively define problems and construct potential solutions • Teachers model, coach, and fade in supporting and making explicit students' learning processes

12. Resources for Problem-Based Learning University of Delaware http://www.udel.edu/pbl/ San Diego State University, The Learning Tree http://edweb.sdsu.edu/clrit/learningtree/PBL/WhatisPBL.html The Power of Problem-Based Learning, A Practical "How To" For Teaching Undergraduate Courses in Any Discipline, edited by Barbara Duch, Susan Gron, and Deborah Allen, Stylus Publishing, LLC (2001), 256 pages

13. Features of a PBL Problem • introduction, • content, • learning objectives, • resources, • expected outcome, • guiding questions, • assessment exercises, • and time frame (Bridges, 1992). • The students must be guided to reach both the objectives involved in solving the problem and the objectives related to the process.

14. Creating An Appropriate Problem • Choosing a relevant problem, • Ensuring that the problem's coverage includes both the big idea and basic skills, and • Ensuring the problem's complexity mimics real-life problems.

15. Design Considerations • How should PBL be incorporated into the curriculum? • What problems should be used and how should they be presented? • What are the instructional goals? • How should small groups be formed? • How much should each problem be pre-structured? • How to evaluate the program and the students? • What resources should be available? • How to prepare students and faculty for PBL? (Bridges, 1992).

16. Guidelines for Problems • common situation to serve as a prototype for other situations, • significant, • prevention is possible, • interdisciplinary, • cover objectives, • task oriented, • and complex enough to incorporate prior knowledge (Albanese & Mitchell, 1993).

17. Assessment of PBL • Assessment of problem based learning; students and classes • Assessing student achievement • Written examinations • Practical examinations • Concept maps • Peer assessment • Self assessment • Facilitators/tutor assessment • Oral Presentations • Reports • Assessing the value of a problem based learning curriculum • Attitudes • Basic knowledge • Reasoning and problem solving skills • Team work

18. Barriers to PBL • PBL requires more time of students, expects to be responsible and independent learners • More time to cover same content (transfer of info via lecture is certainly more efficient—but does learning really occur?) • Requires technical and information support • Lack of incentives for faculty

19. Disadvantages of Problem Based Learning • As with all learning theories, there are advantages and limitations when creating or implementing problem based learning curriculum. These limitations revolve around six topics: • the academic achievement of students involved in problem based learning, • the amount of time required for implementation, • the changing role of the student in the process, • the changing role of the teacher in the process, • generating appropriate problems, and • valid assessment of the program and student learning.

20. How does PBL compare with other instructional approaches?

21. Teacher as coach Student as active problem-solver Problem as initial challenge and motivation • Models/coaches/fades in: • Asking about thinking • Monitoring learning • Probing/ challenging students' thinking • Keeping students involved • Monitoring/ adjusting levels of challenge • Managing group dynamics • Keeping process moving • Student as active problem-solver: • Active participant • Engaged • Constructing meaning • Problem as initial challenge and motivation to attention: • Ill-structured • Appeals to human desire for resolution/ stasis/harmony • Sets up need for and context of learning which follows Problem-Based Learning causes a shift in roles...

22. “Science is knowledge not of things, but of their relations.” Science is built up of facts, as a house is built up of stones, but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a house. Henri Poincaré Science and Hypothesis