Problem-Based Learning (PBL) ... So What's the Problem?

The problem with Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is, without sounding too obvious, the problem. Afterall, real-life problems surround us at every turn. But the challenge for educators is finding a suitable problem to guide and direct the students in their learning towards a solution.

So where does probem-based learning fit into the learning cycle (see diagram below)?

 

To give the problem analysis stage of learning a reasonable chance of success, we need to consider how to design the poblem to enhance the learning experience for the student. One option is to find an interesting article/case study that is relevant to your learning objectives and to then pose relevant questions that both inform and challenge the student. Another option is to identify specific learning objectives and pose questions on it so the student can draw from relevant personal experience to analyse the problem. So is there a systematic way to go about designing challenging problems for the student to engage with?

Here are some guidelines to assist you in designing problems for PBL, based on the current understanding of problem characteristics. Research suggests problem effectiveness can be defined by 11 common characteristics. Such characteristics can be cateogrised into two areas: feature characteristics and function characteristics. Feature characteristics focus on the design elements, while function characteristics relate to the desired outcomes of the problem.

Feature characteristics include:

• problem clarity
• problem format
• problem difficulty level
• problem familiarity
• problem relevance

Function characteristics include:

• leads to intended learning issues
• promotes self-directed learning
• stimulastes critical reasoning 
• stimulates elaboration
• promotes teamwork 
• triggers interest

This gives you an idea of what consitutes an effective problem, but how can these charaxcteristic can be incorporated into the problem design? <See next round of blogs on "Making PBL Relevant and Realistic"> 

Combining Old School Teaching with Technology in Cambodia

Primary school children learning English in remote Cambodia using Let's Go instructional manuals and online resources.

Going online to learn English and gain an advantage in rural education environments.

Satellite technology allows children to access the Internet in rural Cambodia

Critical Reflection and Student Learning

Developing the skills to critically reflect upon the big issues facing society is a tool that will set your students apart from the rest. But be warned, critical reflection is not for the faint of heart.


More and more we are asking students to be critical thinkers, whether that is engaging in critical analysis or critical reflection. So how do we equip them for such learning experiences? First, we have to recognise that critical reflection is not something that we can ask for and then not provide the necessary framework that enables the student to respond accordingly to meet the required learning outcomes. Critical reflection is not a neat and tidy exercise in learning. It is often messy, revealing unexpected results that can be confusing and confronting for the inexperienced student learner, let alone the person setting the exercises. We simply don't know where students will go with their reflections. It opens doors to disciplinary areas that the instructor is not necessarily an expert in. Yet critical reflection has continued its popularity as a way to add breadth and depth to learning.

So how does it work?

Source: Shepard University

The diagram above illustrates the cyclic process in which the student engages: action, interpretation, critical reflection. This process is framed by several general questions: 1) What did I learn?; 2) What does this mean to me?; 3) How does this relate to other learning I have engaged in?; 4) What can I do with what I have learned through this experience?

When you begin the process of designing and facilitating critical reflection in your course, you need to think about 5 general steps or guidelines in the process:

1. Identify desired learning outcomes: Set your goals or objectives first, clearly stating your learning outcomes in measurable terms. Spend time making these aspects crystal clear for the students. Think of critical reflection as a faciliator for more complex learning dimensions of advanced understanding, reasoning, questioning knowledge, theories, assumptions and assertions.
2. Assess the level of student skills or competencies: The level of critical reflection needs to be matched to the skills or competencies your students should be demonstrating at this stage of their learning. Setting a too high a degree of difficulty (and converely too low) will undermine the impact of such a learning strategy.
3. Design reflection activities to achieve learning outcomes: This step is all about timing when, where and how the student will engage in the critical reflection, as well as who will faciliate the reflective process and what medium will be used to faciliate it.
4. Engage students in reflection: One of the most important steps is securing a balance between challenging the student and supporting the students, who typically wince at this exercise to start with. You might have to provide a series of prompts to help the students at the initial stages of the process, gradually guiding them to higher levels of complecity in thinking, analysing and reasoning.
   
5. Assess learning through critical reflection (action learning): Checking student learning through formative approaches during these critical reflection exercises will assist you in understanding whether you have pitched these at the right level for your students. You can refine your learning outcomes as students progress through the process, in line with your general objectives. Some questions that might help you at this stage of the process, include: 1) What aspects of the exercises will demonstrate learning levels?; 2) What criteria have you developed to assess student learning?; 3) What assessment strategies will be used?; 4) How will the dimension of intangiblility (as a personal reflection) be factored into the grading of the exercise so it is systematic, fair and impartial?

So often instructors set these exercises and assessments with fairly rigid ideas about what will come back from the students. Remember, critical reflection is messy and unpredictable ... so accommodate this aspect when setting these kinds of exercises for students.

Connecting Student Researchers to Librarians

Surveys show that course handouts for research related assignments focused mostly on length, citation guidelines and marking rubric, which provided a criteria for assessing the assignment. What was typically missing from this information was the "context for the research topic."

Almost all handouts lacked specific information on where to start, where to focus the information search and how to access a variety of credible information sources. These key research behaviours and skills development are not common in undergraduate courses. In conversations with academics, the response was that they assumed the student already had these skills, thought they had been developed or included in other courses, or the student knew where to go for help.

Reference to where to begin, where to look and what to look for, including a list of the key authors in the field (4 or 5), would provide an adequate framework for student research assignments. This is a necessary component for instructors to include in assignment explanations to help students design their response to a research paper or other related assignments. Accoirdingly, this approach helps in a number of ways.

1. Reinforces the role of librarians and libraries in academic research.
2. Illustrates how research should be conducted ethically and strategically.
3. Encourages students to consider more rigorous, credible information sources rather than relying on convenient sources found on Google or other search engines.

Partnering with a subject or discipline librarian can provide the instructor with the necessary information quickly and efficiently. Doing this provides a way to align the student's research experience with the course learning outcomes, while saving valuable teacher time and effort, which can be reallocated to other parts of the teaching process.

Such an approach can:

• Faciliate discipline specific resources, drawn from library databases, catalogues of books, journals and related media, govenment resources, subject portals, online encyclopedias, that direct the student to high-quality resources, including those found on the Internet.
• Identify places to start the search for resources that are useful and appropraite for the assignment, allowing the student to narrow the focus of the search, shorten of the time looking for information and to reallocate more time for synthesising research information into a coherent argument that directly addresses the assignment topic and fullfils the requirements of the paper or presentation.