PROBLEM BASED LEARNING PBL CONCEPT MODELS AND LEARNING
PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL): CONCEPT, MODELS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES Prof. A. Chuchalin
Learning Outcomes After completion of the PBL – unit the learner should be able to: - understand the objectives, essence, pedagogical fundamentals and characteristics of PBL, - understand various models of PBL, - recognize different stages of the PBL process,
Learning Outcomes - understand Taxonomy, algorithm of creating and resolving a problem situation in the learning process, - understand conditions that enable effective use of PBL metod, - recognize advantages and challenges of the PBL method, - identify competences that an educator should possess in order to implement PBL method in practice.
Contents 1. 1. Introduction to PBL 1. 2. Aims of problem-based and project-organized learning 1. 3. Experience of PBL application 1. 4. Essence and pedagogical background of PBL 1. 5. PBL in higher schools 1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component
Contents 1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL 1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations 1. 9. Conditions for efficient application of the PBL method 1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges 1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization
1. 1. Introduction to PBL Actual trend in higher education is transition from teaching courses and disciplines to student-centered learning that is usually interdisciplinary. Traditional teaching uses passive gaining of ready knowledge transmitted by a teacher. Student-centered learning develops creative thinking and encourages active gaining of knowledge.
1. 1. Introduction to PBL Student-centered learning is the most effective in interactive educational models, when students work in team and interact with one another rather than only with a teacher. Interactive methods include group discussion, brainstorming, role and business games, case study, problembased and project-organized learning.
1. 2. Aims of PBL Problem-based learning (PBL) is one of advanced and popular methods that activate student learning. It helps students to focus on analyzing and solving a problem situation that initiates the learning process.
1. 2. Aims of PBL A problem situation greatly motivates students to gain knowledge needed to find the solution, stimulates independent knowledge acquisition from different disciplines with subsequent classification and consolidation of new knowledge in the context of the problem in hand. This is what graduates will do in real professional life.
1. 2. Aims of PBL Project-organized learning in team work is another efficient method. In this approach learning environment simulates a real professional situation to a very great extent. Student can gain experience of solving complex problems that require distribution of functions and responsibilities among team members.
1. 2. Aims of PBL Development of cooperation skills is an important feature of project-organized learning. Many teachers note a special role of collaboration among other skills related to the desired outcome – cooperation.
1. 3. Experience of PBL application PBL is actively applied at Stanford University (USA), Mc. Master University (Canada), Coventry University (UK), University of Newcastle (Australia), Aalborg University (Denmark), Maastricht University (The Netherlands), University of Bremen (Germany), Linkoping University (Sweden), and other universities.
1. 3. Experience of PBL application In Russia “elite technical education” experiment based on PBL approach was carried out at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow University of Electronic Technology, Siberian Federal University, Tomsk Polytechnic University, etc.
1. 3. Experience of PBL application Similar programs of training engineering elite exist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Singularity University (USA), University of Toronto (Canada), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and other universities worldwide.
1. 3. Experience of PBL application Every innovation experience is a combination of specific means and methods, professional competence of teachers and their readiness to experiment, available material and financial resources, faculty support, time frame, scope of the innovation project and other components.
1. 4. PBL essence and background PBL approach is known since the times of Confucius and Socrates. PBL is associated with “experiential learning” and “constructivism”. “Experiential learning” was introduced by John Locke in the 17 th century and developed in the 19 th century by Pestalozzi, Hegel, Parker, Russian sociologist Vygotsky, and others.
1. 4. PBL essence and background In 1980 s David Kolb created a model of experiential learning, which is based on a four-stage learning cycle. David Kolb proposed that an individual learner moves through a spiral of immediate experience which leads to observations and reflections on the experience.
1. 4. PBL essence and background These reflections are then absorbed and linked with previous knowledge and translated into abstract concepts or theories, which result in new ways and actions to adjust to the experience that can be tested and explored.
1. 4. PBL essence and background A new approach to education known as “constructivism” was proposed by a Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget in 1930 s. “Constructivism” has its roots in learning theory, which insists that learning is based on experience.
1. 4. PBL essence and background This pedagogical philosophy explains that knowledge cannot be transferred to a learner and that a teacher should create a learning environment in which learners create new cognitive structures on their own.
1. 4. PBL essence and background Any learning starts from a basic viewpoint of the learner, no matter how “raw” it is. According to Jean Piaget this viewpoint is a take off position where structuring new knowledge starts from.
1. 4. PBL essence and background PBL grounds on the ideas of an American psychologist, philosopher and educator John Dewey. In 1894 in Chicago he established an experimental school where students did not have traditional educational programs but learned playing games and carrying out projects.
1. 4. PBL essence and background Though educational methods, approaches and ideas used in this school lacked theoretical background and were not defined as a conception they became widely spread in 1920 s-1930 s. In the Soviet Union they were considered revolutionary and were applied in many schools.
1. 4. PBL essence and background In 1928 John Dewey visited the USSR to support People's Commissariat for Education in bringing the project-based approach to Soviet schools. However, in 1932 ideas of John Dewey were declared daydreaming and forbidden. In 1937 John Dewey himself was declared a follower of Trotskyism.
1. 4. PBL essence and background The ideas of problem-based and project-organized learning rose in the Soviet pedagogy again only in 1960 s, when they were researched by psychologists S. L. Rubinstein, D. N. Bogoyavlensky, A. M. Matyushkin, T. V. Kudryavtsev, M. I. Mukhmutov, I. Ya. Lerner, M. N. Skatkin and others.
1. 4. PBL essence and background In 1990 s Russian educator A. A. Verbitsky developed a context approach to learning in higher school that was ideologically aligned with PBL in that it was based on problem-oriented learning and simulation of the content and settings of a real professional practice.
1. 5. PBL in higher school In higher school PBL was first applied in 1950 s to medical programs in Case Western Reserve University (USA), and later in Mc. Master University (Canada). Today PBL is successfully implemented in many universities and various disciplines, including medicine, management, engineering and others.
1. 5. PBL in higher school The latest tendency is to introduce the PBL method as an integrated problem-based and projectorganized learning.
1. 5. PBL in higher school is a process of continuous interaction of students with an object of knowledge that includes analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization. Internal conditions of thinking are motivation and attitudes of students, their values, skills, abilities and experience.
1. 5. PBL in higher school The main task of a teacher in PBL is to create external conditions that activate the internal ones. A problem situation can be such an external condition. It stimulates an internal condition – cognitive need of students. Through the cognitive need a teacher can control the process of gaining new knowledge by students.
1. 5. PBL in higher school A problem situation is a situation of an intellectual challenge, when students do not know how to explain a fact or a phenomenon and cannot find a solution. A problem situation is a conflict of knowledge (previous experience) and a failure to explain a new phenomenon and solve a new problem.
1. 5. PBL in higher school PBL is characterized with a special form of interaction between a teacher and a student and a high level of independency of the latter. PBL can be implemented in three modes: definition of the problem, partial searching and research.
1. 5. PBL in higher school 1. When defining a problem students are not given ready knowledge. Instead, a teacher describes a problem as a reason to start searching for the truth. The teacher defines the problem, identifies possible ways to solve it, simulates a search and announces the results. In this mode students act as interested and empathic listeners.
1. 5. PBL in higher school 2. Partial searching assumes that students are partially involved in the search process. After a problem is defined by a teacher, the students are requested to suggest and evaluate assumptions, propose ways to solve the problem, give explanation and draw conclusions.
1. 5. PBL in higher school 3. In research students are independent and immerged into the problem to the highest possible extent. They define and solve it without any teacher’s assistance: suggest and discuss assumptions, identify verification methods, apply different problem-solving methods, achieve results, assess them and draw conclusions.
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component The project methodology is focused on the independent creative students’ activity that is carried out by an individual or a group for a sufficiently long time and results in a final product.
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component In contrast to research activities the main purpose of which is to achieve truth, project work is aimed at a comprehensive and systematic study of the problem and suggests a practical outcome in the form of a product.
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component Project-organized learning is of particular importance at engineering schools. Performing individual and team engineering projects, including industry orders, makes it imperative for complex and innovative professional training in the field of engineering and technology.
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component Leading technical universities organize training seminars for students involved in engineering projects where they invite employers. Implementation of projects proposed by companies, including those enterprise-based and using their resources,
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component engagement of experts from industry as project leaders and evaluators, enables students to solve real-world problems and to attract potential employers thus implementing target training tasks with subsequent employment.
1. 6. Project-organized learning as a PBL component Problem-based and projectorganized students’ independent work, integration and consolidation of acquired knowledge, their transformation into learning skills and experience are very important things for solving practical problems in future professional life.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL The PBL method is characterized by three main approaches: cognitive learning (problem, project, experience and context), content (interdisciplinary, exemplary, theory and practice including research methodology) and collaborative learning (team, participant directed).
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL In 1996 Howard Barrows (Southern Illinois University, School of Medicine) identified six PBL characteristics: 1. Education should be studentcentered. 2. Educational activities should be performed in a group (a team). 3. Teachers should act as consultants (facilitators).
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL 4. Problems should encourage students to involve themselves in self-study. 5. Problems should be used as a tool for the development of students’ skills in research and project work. 6. New knowledge must be acquired as a result of self-managing learning.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL Schmidt and Hung developed a method of “cognitive constructivism” in PBL. Its essence lies in the fact that solving a problem through group discussion activates students’ existing knowledge. Working in a team, students develop possible theories or assumptions to explain the problem.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL Together they determine the area that they want to explore and construct a coherent initial model to explain the problem using brainstorming techniques. Brainstorming is an effective method of stimulating cognitive activity, creativity of students, both in small and large groups.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL can be effectively combined with the traditional case-study method. In 1986 Howard Barrows suggested PBL Taxonomy in which he determined the levels of case-study application in problem-based learning.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL A case-study approach is an interactive method of teaching and learning that creates a very positive attitude to studies among students who are likely to see it as a game, which gives an unique opportunity to learn both theory and practice.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL According to the PBL Taxonomy by Howard Barrows, there are the following levels of case-study application: 1. Use of case studies during a lecture (as examples to illustrate the lecture material). 2. Use of case studies before lectures (examples are studied by students and explained at the lecture).
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL 3. Use of case studies at the seminar (examples for discussion). 4. Use of the modified case study (examples are provided to select one solution from a range of options). 5. Use of case studies for modeling (examples are given to stimulate the free choice of the decision). 6. Closed PBL cycle (a reflexive phase complements the case-study).
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL In 2000 Prof. Maggi Savin-Baden (Coventry University, UK) proposed five PBL models that differ by type of knowledge acquired by students, learning objectives, the type of the problems being addressed, the role of a student and a teacher and assessment methods.
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL On the basis of models proposed by Prof. Maggi Savin-Baden the model of synchronization of problem-based and project-organized learning was designed by Prof. E. de Graaff and Prof. A. Kolmos. The model is based on PBL integral perception and allows distinguishing PBL approach from the disciplinary one according to learning objectives,
1. 7. Main characteristics, Taxonomy and models of PBL acquired knowledge, types of problems solved, types of projects carried out by students, PBL sequence, dimension and duration, teacher’s role, space and organization of educational activity, as well as assessment methods.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations To design a problem situation in the process of learning a certain algorithm is used. Experience demonstrates that teaching staff needs special training to be able to hold PBL classes and special preparation for lessons.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations One of the basic requirements includes thorough theoretical and logical analysis of the content of education, its split into separate parts and selection of its structure. The teacher should plan in advance not only his/her activity but also the activity of students thus hypothetically defining the flow of the lesson.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations When facing contradictory, new and unclear problems students feel confused, surprised and hence the following question appears: “What’s the main point? ” Then, as a rule, students’ mental process passes through the following flow: hypothesizing, their justification and testing of proposed assumptions.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations Confused students start searching mentally and discovering the unknown either independently or with the help of a teacher as a consultant. If students independently pass through all the stages of a problem situation solving their cognitive activity reaches its maximum.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations On the basis of studied learning process modern pedagogy proposes four main conditions for PBL method efficiency: 1. Students’ motivation capable of creating and maintaining interest to the problem solution. 2. Adequacy of problem situations, rational correlation of known and unknown.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations 3. Value of information obtained while solving problem situations. 4. Goodwill of communication between a teacher as a consultant and students, attention to all students’ ideas and assumptions, recognition of their active participation in creative work.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations On the basis of generalization of practical PBL application we can point out a few basic ways of designing problem situations: 1. Encouraging students to use their theoretical knowledge to explain phenomena and external discrepancies among them. This drives students’ searching activity and leads to active accumulation of new knowledge.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations 2. Use of case-studies and real situations that appear in the course of practical tasks performed by students. In this case problem situations appear as students independently progress towards their applicable objective. As a result of situation analysis students state the problem themselves.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations 3. Requesting that students explain phenomena or search their practical applications. A laboratory research work of students is an example. 4. Encouraging students to analyze facts and phenomena that create contradictions between their common perceptions and scientific concepts.
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations 5. Encouraging students to compare facts, phenomena, rules and actions that result in a problem situation. 6. Encouraging students to generalize new facts. Students are instructed to consider some facts or phenomena in the new material,
1. 8. Design and solution of problem situations compare them with already known data, generalize and identify particular properties and unexplained features of new facts. 7. A practical task that requires involvement of new knowledge and acquisition of new skills. The task should correspond to intellectual abilities of students.
1. 9. Conditions for efficient application of the PBL method Application of PBL method at a university requires availability of certain resources and preparation work in terms of planning and organization of the learning process. According to Samy Azer, there is a need to make 12 steps towards successful application of PBL method: 1. To prepare teachers for changes in educational technologies.
1. 9. Conditions for efficient application of the PBL method 2. To create a working group to design a new curriculum. 3. To define learning outcomes and design a new PBL curriculum. 4. To use recommendations made by experts in the field of PBL. 5. To plan and organize work focused on PBL application.
1. 9. Conditions for efficient application of the PBL method 6. To train PBL consultants (facilitators) and define strategy and tactics of methodological assistance. 7. To introduce and explain the PBL curriculum to students. 8. To support students in the implementation of the PBL curriculum. 9. To improve learning assessment methods and their alignment with the PBL curriculum.
1. 9. Conditions for efficient application of the PBL method 10. To organize feedback from students and teachers. 11. To create and efficiently manage resources ensuring students’ independent activity. 12. To organize monitoring and assessment of the PBL process to ensure its continuous improvement.
1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges PBL advantages are as followed: 1. Students actively use the existing knowledge and experience, which strengthens the value of accumulating them in the past. 2. Students are motivated to acquire new knowledge and skills that they were missing in order to solve problems of the present.
1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges 3. Students are aware of the importance and value of acquiring new knowledge and skills to solve problems that might appear in the future. 4. Students develop ability for independent learning and gaining new knowledge in the context of emerging problems.
1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges 5. Students develop communication competencies, ability to work in a team to achieve common results. 6. Students develop skills for integration of disciplinary knowledge to acquire interdisciplinary competencies. 7. Students gain interdisciplinary competencies needed to solve complex problems.
1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges PBL challenges are as followed: 1. Complexity of choosing a problem and developing project tasks, working on which students would be involved into real problem situations. 2. Complexity of choosing a problem and developing project tasks, working on which would really engage students and drive their activity.
1. 10. PBL advantages and challenges 3. Complexity of choosing a problem aligned with student’s abilities that would create the need to apply already exiting knowledge and skills. 4. Complexity of selecting the strategy for a teacher that would contribute to the progress of solving problems by students but would not reduce their energy and motivation.
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization For efficient and successful application of PBL method a teacher should: - introduce the objectives, understand the essence and features of problembased and project-organized learning, - be able to define learning outcomes, develop a PBL curriculum and explain its special features to students,
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization - be able to set problems and develop project tasks aligned with students’ abilities, the solution of which has a practical value, creates students' interest, requires application of already existing and acquiring new knowledge and skills,
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization - be able to work out the problem efficiently, thoroughly plan the strategy of its solution, create and use necessary information, materials, and methodological resources, - be able to develop learning assessment aligned with the PBL method and educational portfolios,
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization - be able to create conditions that stimulate creative and logical thinking, use methodological advantages of the PBL method to the maximum extent, - be efficient facilitator of the PBL process, - be able to assist students in the organization of independent cognitive activity without excessive leadership and excessive care,
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization - have well developed interpersonal communication skills and abilities to organize students' teamwork, - have the ability to involve experts from the real sectors of economy, science and business to organization of and participation in PBL,
1. 11. Teacher’s competencies needed for PBL organization - have internal motivation and confidence based on corresponding preparation and enthusiasm thus ensuring the success of the PBL method.
Thank you for attention!
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