Prof. Dr. phil. Ralph Dreher

1. Prof. Dr. phil. Ralph Dreher PW AND PBL – COMPETITIVE OR SYNERGETIC CONCEPTS ? Joint International IGIP- SEFI Annual Conference 2010 Trnava, Slovakia 19th to 22nd September 2010

2. THE CONCEPT OF PROJECT ORIENTED LEARNING • Holistic learning processes • Sustainable learning and teaching • CHARACTERISTICS OF “PROJECT WORKING” (PW) • Source • Main characteristics • CHARACTERISTICS OF “PROBLEM/PROJECT-BASED LEARNING“ (PBL, PjBL) Source • Source • Main characteristics • CONCLUSION • Similarities of both concepts • Distinctions of both concepts • Competitive or synergetic concepts ? Topics

3. Head, heart and hand (GAUDIG) means: Learning, thinking, feeling and doing in one learning process. We have two souls, one for rationality and one for emotionality (GOLEMAN) means: The theory of education has to understand that rationality and emotionaltiy are not dichotomic, human beings have to be able to bring them in balance. Teaching today is making cognitive twists in the students (KATH) means: The affective parts of the brain have to be activated, because they determine the regulation of saying and doing. Cognitve learning in the first placeis not geared to education. The concept of project-oriented learning (Holstic learning)

4. If you want to build a vessel, don‘t call together the people to collect wood, assign tasks and arrange work, but teach them to long for the big, wide ocean. The ark was built and steered by the farmer Noah. The „Titanic“ was built and steered by experts. (Unknown) (Antoine de Saint Expury) The concept of project-oriented learning (Sustainable learning and teaching) Good and new engineering solutions need passion. Operative engineering solutions need function-orientation. Conclusion: Engineers have to learn to feel the facination of artless solutions, which are tailored to the appetency. These solutions will work well and long term, which means: They are sustainable and not existing products of overengineering!

5. Project-oriented learning means to give a complex task to the students. In a self-determined and self-responsed process of problem solving, the students will design and implement their solution for the task. The teaching persons will select the task and moderate the process in adjustment with the students. The concept of project-oriented learning (Summary)

6. Project-oriented learning means to give a complex task to the students. • In a self-determined and self-responsed process of problem solving, the students will design and implement their solution for the task. • The teaching persons will select the task, moderate the process in adjustment with the students. • During this process, the students • are working in a holistic way, because they have to find a balance between their ideas and the reality; • are going the whole way from understanding the problem to finding a solution and to prove it (seeing the total work of engineering); • have to work in a team and learn to communicate and to feel the advantages of networking (personal impressions vs. function of the network); • have the chance to understand, that basic and functionable ideas are more realistic and better to implement then complex ideas; • that expertise is nothing without the competence, to understand the core- problem and to internalize the aspects of sustainability. The concept of project-oriented learning (Summary)

7. PW: • Based on the idea of learning in projects developed by KILPATRICK (using „project“) and DEWEY (using „project“as part of a problem) ca. 1918. Adapted from the french education in archticeture starting in the 16th century. • Concretion of idea „learning by doing“ what means: a democratic education has to base on self-experience, because the cases of success will be repeated, the cases of failure will be avoided afterwards. So the altercation with the reality without ideological content will become the core of education – and this will be a basic assumption practicing democracy. • Adapted from the academic didactics and the general-education school didactics to the vocational education by KATH during the 1970´ and 1980´, using the ideas of KERSCHENSTEINER, PESTALOZZI and FREY. PW – Project Working (Source)

8. Selection of content: • Aspect of interdisciplinarity; • Using the catalogue of questions by KATZ and CHARD (2000) (primary question: Relation between the content and the living enviroment of the learners) • Structure of lessons: • Initiating, starting, planning, doing, presenting, reflecting • Relationship learner - teaching persons: • Coming to a common idea of the project during initiation; • The teacher as moderator, „stand- by-expert“ and (leading) supporter; • the learner as self-regulated and self-responsible project member. • Performance assessment (PA): • „The way is the aim!“ • KATH: „Assess the project, not jugde it!“ PW – Project Working (Main Characteristics)

9. P(j)BL: • First used as case-study-learning in the medical education by working on direct cases of diagnostic and therapy (the patient with his disease as problem for the doctor); adapeted from the education of engineers by SHOEMAKER. • Subsequently developed to Project Based Learning (PjBL) to eliminate the critism of case-orientation and small learner control during the problem-solving process (MOURSUND). So the learner has time enough to research and to investigate with the aim to transcend the barrier between cognitive and affective learning (KOLMOS). • Re-adapted to the engineering education in Scandinavia, Asia, Australia and America by developing new curricula for the engineering education, which specially describe relevant problems during the whole study-programm (for example: BRODIE/PORTER, RAU/CHU/LIN). P(j)BL – Problem-/project based learning (Source)

10. Selection of content: • Focussed on realistic problems based on cases in the vocational reality (MOSS); • Needing interdisciplinary thinking. • Structure of lessons („7-jump“): • Clarify terms and concepts, define the problem, analyse the problem and offer explanations, draw up explanations, formulate learning objectives, collect further information, synthesize new information and test them against the problem(GIJSELAERS) • Relationship learner - teaching persons: • Shifting from teaching to learning (KOLMOS), which means: • the teacher will become a tutor in this process, the learner will develophis mental structures based on experiences. Performance assessment (PA) (van Woerden): • PA is dominated by the quality of the learning-process (PBL); • PA is dominated by having a problem-solution (PjBL). P(j)BL – Problem-/project based learning (Main characteristics)

11. Summarizing: • Representing the idea of a holistic (including the affective, implicit knowledge) and sustainable learning; • giving the teaching persons an equal role in the process of education; • the same role of the learners with a high part of self-responsibility isneeded; • using the same psychological theories of learning (PIAGET, BRUNER, MANDL/SPADA, RYLE) PW and PBL: Having the same idea of the aim and the result of the learning process: Not the solving of the problem, the process of generating new knowledge of acting (called „implict“ or „procedural“ or „working-process“-knowledge) is the core of the learning-process. PBL and PjBL: Using the same pattern for planning and strcturing the lessons. Conclusion (Similarities)

12. method PjBL PW PBL topic The whole project- process (every part has the same value) Generating implicit knowledge Performance assessment Finding a solution Real vocational tasks with high frequency Define Project-topic In common with the learners In common with the learners looking to vocational tasks Conclusion (Distinctions) Useful to understand the process of de-veloping and struc-turing knowledge Using new knowledge for allied tasks Reflection Project-Process Main part of learning for the future Special mental development Utilitarian development Developing Soft-skills All-embracing development

13. method PjBL PW PBL topic The whole project- Process (every part has the same value) Generating implicit knowledge Performance assessment Finding a solution Real vocational tasks with high frequency Define Project-topic In common with the learners In common with the learners looking to vocational tasks Conclusion Competetive or synergetic concepts? Useful to understand the process of de-veloping and struc-turing knowledge Using new knowledge for allied tasks Reflection Project-Process Main part of learning for the future Special mental development Utilitarian development Developing Soft-skills All-embracing development

14. Thank you! Prof. Dr. phil. Ralph Dreher Bergische Universität Wuppertal Gaußstrasse 20 D-42119 Wuppertal Germany +49-202-439-2049 rdreher@uni-wuppertal.de