PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
Graphic from John Chaffee’s Critical Thinking
Active Learning ModuleSection 5: Problem-based Learning
NOTE:
I want all links to open in a new window unless otherwise indicated.
- Identified words should be linked to the glossary.
formative assessment / An ongoing type of assessment, geared to inform and suggest to learners specific opportunities for improvement in their learning; it also communicates the degree of progress towards a goal and enables learners to correct deficiencies before final grading.
metacognition / Monitoring of one’s own thinking processes, allowing a person to learn from reflecting on new experiences and how he/she acquires knowledge, and then making decisions and adjusting behaviors based on your reflections.
peer assessment / A type of formative assessment, usually taking place at the end of a PBL group session, where students identify strengths and weaknesses of the other students and recommend specific suggestions for improvement.
summative assessment / Final “grading” designed to rate each student’s level of learning compared to other learners or against a criteria
triple-jump examination / A comprehensive assessment of a learner’s ability to apply a reasoning process to a unique situation. Students duplicate the PBL group process as an individual. The examiner scores each student on his/her ability to identify the problem, propose hypotheses, explain mechanisms, identify and research needed information and apply the new information to the problem.
PBL tutor / A faculty member, graduate student, peer, or near-peer who facilitates the PBL group. Without dominating the process, the tutor monitors the forward movement of the group and when the process is diverted or bogged down, through well-placed questions the tutor can help the group get back on track.
rubric / A grading instrument that is also a guideline comprised of criterion-referenced rules used for assessing student performance; also referred to as a primary trait analysis,
Page 5.1.1 PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING:Objectives
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
- Identify the three main elements in the PBL methodology and how they contribute to the method.
- Explain how PBL is a format to develop higher order thinking skills including critical thinking
- Outline objectives for a PBL case/problem.
- Choose, adapt or develop a scenariofor problem-based learning.
- Locate written and web-based resources related to problem-based learning.
(Click to next page, unless indicated otherwise.)
Page 5.1.2Pre-Instructional Motivation Activity
PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING:(voice over and flash movie with text)
You’ve just been charged by your department to infuse more active learning into your course. You and your colleagues have briefly explored the idea of problem-based learning and want to try it, but have no idea where to begin.
(Questions fade in, one line at a time – possibly appearing around the screen.)
Where do I begin?
What do I know?
What do I need to know?
What is PBL?
Is there research to support its use?
Could it work in my course?
What is my role in PBL?
Where do the problems come from?
How will I assess my students?
Will my students be willing to try PBL?
What are the advantages of PBL?
What are the disadvantages of PBL?
How can I learn more?
Page 5.2.1a PBL: Where do I begin?
PBL begins with a problem. . .
Page 5.2.1b PBL: Where do I begin?(text on page 5.2.1a stays, the remaining text builds)
A problem is presented, one that is based on “real” situations. The PBL problem is designed so that it does not have one easy answer. Sometimes PBL problems or cases are called “messy”, because they actually create more questions than answers. They are “authentic” because they are problems that connect the classroom to the world beyond.in significant and meaningful ways (Newmann & Wehlage, 1993).
Page 5.2.2 PBL: Where do I begin?
Your exploration of PBL as a teaching/learning method in this module is not unlike what your students will experience in PBL. The design of this module does not begin with the dissemination of information as a traditional module would. You will not be told what you need to know; You will determine your direction. A good way to begin the process is by asking yourself the following:
(above text remains; one line enters at a time (with click, and builds)
- What do you presently know about PBL?
- What more do you think you need to know?
- Can you prioritize your list of learning issues?
- Where can you find this information?
Before going on, take a moment now and jot down a list of questions you have about PBL.
When participant clicks on NEXT button, pop-up window appears, asking the following: (next/previous buttons should be removed)
Did you stop, reflect, and jot down your questions?Yes. I am ready to begin the module.
No, I need to stop and reflect. / When participant clicks yes or no, pop-up window closes and participant is allowed to continue.Pevious/next button should be removed from this screen.
Page 5.2.3 PBL: Where do I begin?(I really like the look of the graphic organizers found on kartoo.com. Please take a look. I imagine it was done withflash. I would like this screen to resemble their organizers)
Did the questions on your list resemble these? Click on each to discover some answers.
Page 5.2.3 – cont. (Questions in graphic organizer are links to the different sections in the module. They do NOT appear in a list like this in the module. This is only a reference for the programmer.)
Where do I begin? (goes to page 5.2.4)
What do I know? (goes to page 5.3.1)
What do I need to know? (goes to page 5.4.1)
What is PBL? (goes to page 5.5.1)
Where did it get started? (goes to page 5.6.1)
Is there research to support its use? (goes to page 5.7.1)
Could it work in my course? (goes to page 5.8.1)
What is my role in PBL? (goes to page 5.9.1)
Where do the problems come from? (goes to page 5.10a.1)
Who writes the problems?(goes to page 5.10b.1)
How will I assess my students? (goes to page 5.11.1)
Will my students be willing to try PBL? (goes to page 5.12.1)
What are the advantages of PBL? (goes to page 5.13.1)
What are the disadvantages of PBL? (goes to page 5.14.1)
What is metacognition? (goes to page 5.15.1)
What do the students do in PBL? (goes to page 5.16.1)
Will students be able to do well with PBL? (goes to page 5.17.1)
Will my students be willing to try PBL? (goes to page 5.18.1)
Is it possible to do PBL online?(goes to page 5.19.1)
How can I learn more? (goes to page 5.20.1)
Page 5.2.4 PBL: Where do I begin?
To get a sense of what PBL is like, start by reading an article written by Harold B. White, III, an innovative professor and proponent of PBL, in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware. Dan Tries Problem-Based Learning: A Case Study is an excellent overview of the integration process.
(HOT LINK to:
Page 5.2.5 PBL: Where do I begin?
Now, look at a course you are presently teaching. Is there an opportunity within this course to try PBL on a small scale? Perhaps it is a single topic or element which you are currently teaching with a case study. Normally, a case study, game or simulation occurs after a topic has been covered by lecture or reading. PBL would encourage you to switch that order and present the problem first. This would allow students to decide what information they need to learn. In PBL, the students have a context within which to place and apply new information.
Reflection: Stop now and identify a topic or course which may work well in a PBL format. Jot down your idea.
Page 5.2.6 PBL: Where do I begin?
Another good place to begin is with some preliminary research on PBL. Click to locate good resources to get started?
(Click takes learner to page 5.20.1)
Page 5.3.1a What do I know about PBL?
You may know more about the PBL process than you think. Robin Fogarty (1998) recommends first listing what you know. Click here to print a one page document to get you started (hotlink to KND word document).
Page 5.3.1b What do I know about PBL?
Reflect on what you know about learning.
- What do I know about learning theory?
- What you know about small group contexts?
- What types of small group experiences have you tried in the past?
- What do you know about collaborative learning?
- How might this apply to PBL?
Write that information in the “K” column of your document.(Shade that section of the matrix to indicate where they should write the list of their current knowledge on the topic.)
What we Know / What we Need to Know / What We Need to DoReference: Fogarty, R.(1998) Problem-based Learning and Other Curriculum Modelsfor the Multiple Intelligences Classroom. Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight Training and Publishing, Inc.
(Next click takes participants back to list of questions on Page 5.2.3 PBL: Where do I begin?)
Page 5.4.1 What do I need to know about PBL?
Higher education is experiencing tremendous changes shaped by political and economic forces, societal pressures and expectations, technology, and student demographics (ISU, 2001; Moses, 2001). Often the result of changing demographics in institutions of higher education, major trends influence how universities carry out their missions. Three trends – accountability, assessment, and a focus on student-centered learning – suggest we need to reevaluate our approach to teaching.
Page 5.4.2 What do I need to know about PBL?
PBL can provide not only a strong grasp of a student’s knowledge base, but also can provide opportunities for the development of critical appraisal and self-directed learning skills that provide a foundation for professional behaviors. In other words, PBL “simultaneously develops the knowledge base and problem-solving abilities of our students” (Stepien, Senn, & Stepien, 2000, p. 180).
Page 5.4.3 What do I need to know about PBL? (graphic and text)
As faculty in the 1980s searched for vocabulary to describe significant kinds of learning, they turned to Benjamin Bloom (Fink, 2001). Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy has provided the basis for many critical thinking and intellectual development theories. Definitions of critical thinking generally contain verbs located within the upper three levels of this taxonomy (Facione, 2000).
Page 5.4.4 What do I need to know about PBL? (graphic stays)
Although faculty value students’ abilities at those upper levels, it is easier to teach and assess lower levels of learning – knowledge and understanding – than to teach and assess higher order thinking, and critical thinking in particular. If classroom activities lie at the bottom of Bloom’s Taxonomy, requiring students only to listen passively and recall information, then critical thinking is not consciously being developed (Browne & Keeley, 1994; Chickering, 1972).
The easiest way to define higher order thinking is to think of it in contrast to lower-order thinking. “Lower order thinking occurs when students are asked to receive or recite factual information or to employ rules and algorithms through repetitive routines. . .
“Higher order thinking requires students to manipulate information and ideas in ways that transform their meaning and implications, such as when students combine facts and ideas in order to synthesize, generalize, explain, hypothesize, or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation” (Newmann & Wehlage, 1993, p. 9).
Page 5.4.5 What do I need to know about PBL? (graphic stays – lines on either side are added with the text))
As information processing moves up the taxonomy, questioning changes and thinking becomes more deductive (Hunkins, 1989). For example, at the knowledge level, learners are asked only to recall specifics: names, events, and definitions. Ennis (1987) insists that calling this level knowledge is misleading, because it really requires nothing more of a learner than recall of information. We think students understand because they can read a text, listen to a lecture, and provide a certain answer on a test. They provide what Howard Gardner calls the “correct answer compromise”. However, if students are put in a situation outside of class, many times they cannot give the “right” answer.
At the comprehension level, learners are asked to move beyond basic recall, to understand information by comparing, predicting, and drawing conclusions. At the application level, students must apply, develop, and test generalizations, concepts or principles in specific situations. The analysis level asks learners to break ideas into parts, discriminate, explain, and relate elements. At the synthesis level, students combine information to formulate, propose, and derive ideas or generalizations. Finally, at the evaluation level, learners must judge, select, and defend choices. All this takes place in the cognitive domain with which this taxonomy deals.
More deductiveLess inductive
Less deductiveMore Inductive
Page 5.4.6 What do I need to know about PBL?
Students require both autonomy and connection to develop complex forms of knowledge (Baxter Magolda, 1992). Problem-based learning is a pedagogical tool that creates discord but then helps students resolve that cognitive conflict through critical thinking.
Students are pressed to identify and challenge assumptions; to explore alternative ways of thinking so that artificial resolutions do not occur; and to be flexible, risk-takers (Brookfield, 1987).
Page 5.4.7 What do I need to know about PBL?
Time to start thinking about the next column of your KND matrix. What else do you think you need to know about PBL? Feel free to share your questions and review what others have asked in the FACULTY FORUM(hotlink to PBL faculty forum)
What we Know / What we Need to Know / What We Need to DoReference: Fogarty, R. Problem-based Learning and Other Curriculum Modelsfor the Multiple Intelligences Classroom. Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight Training and Publishing, Inc.
(Next click takes participants back to list of questions on Page 5.2.3 PBL: Where do I begin?)
Page 5.5.1 What is PBL?
“Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that encourages students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that they can carry with them throughout their lifetimes” (Samford, 2000). It is an instructional strategy where small student-centered, self-directed groups are guided by faculty mentors. Students are presented ill structured problems, complex and multi-faceted, with no single textbook answer. Instead of memorizing and repeating information for content specific tasks such as quizzes or exams, they identify the problem, determine the knowledge they will need, analyze the information, and resolve the problem usingtheir knowledge rather than simply recalling it (Duch, 1995; Samford, 2000). “In the process, students criss-cross domains of knowledge, making interdisciplinary connections (Stepien, Senn, & Stephien, 2000, p. 15).
“The purpose of Problem-Based Learning is to simultaneously develop the knowledge base and problem-solving abilities of our students” (Stepien, Senn, & Stepien, 2000, p. 180). It is sometimes referred to as “authentic” learning, a term used “to distinguish between achievement that is significant and meaningful and that which is trivial and useless (Newmann & Wehlage, 1993, p. 8).
There are four main objectives of PBL:
(1) “structuring knowledge for better recall and application in [real world] contexts;
(2) developing an effectivereasoning process;
(3) developing self-directed learning, and
(4) increasing motivation for learning” (Nendaz & Tekian, 1999, p. 232).
Page 5.5.2 What is PBL?
PBL “increase(s) the relevance of preparation by orienting it more explicitly to problems of practice” (Bridges & Hallinger, 1998, p. 3). In other words, the future transfer of knowledge and processing skills may be easier for students if education mimics what will happen in real life. Knowing that these situations are similar to what possibly will happen in “real life” may also increase the motivation levels of the learners.
“PBL is based on the assumptions that human beings evolve as individuals who are motivated to solve problems, and that problem solvers will seek and learn whatever knowledge is needed for successful problem solving. Thus if an appropriate realistic problem is presented before study, students will identify needed information and be motivated to learn it” (McKeachie, 1999, p. 176). In essence, “PBL provides students with an authentic apprenticeship in real-world problem solving” (Stepien, Senn, & Stephien, 2000, p. 1).
Page 5.5.3 What is PBL?
Variations in purpose, educational setting, faculty cooperation, and student support explain the differences in levels of implementation. Where PBL has been adopted, the norm is a hybrid model composed of PBL experiences and traditional formats (Rothman, 2000). Regardless of the level of inclusion, the prime directives for PBL are identified as the following: (1) a student-centered learning approach; (2) a small group context; and (3) the problem presented first (Kaufman, 2000).
Absence of any of these three features and the PBL program will be unsuccessful (Fincham & Shuler, 2001). “Simply placing students in groups and telling them to work together does not in and of itself promote higher achievement and higher level reasoning” (Johnson & Johnson, 1992, p. 120).
Text in graphic is hot linked to reveal rollover text which appears near the corresponding circle, which explains a bit more about each of the main elements in PBL.
Figure Reference: Finchum & Shuler, 2001)
Hot linked text in figure
/Message revealed
Problem-based
/The problem provides the context for learning. However, unlike case studies, the PBL problem is always presented first. The goal is to move toward understanding the problem and to suggest the best possible way to “solve” it. The problem provides the context for new learning.