I. Problem-based learning emphasizes the importance of the knowledge, beliefs and skills an individual brings to the experience of learning.

A. Problem-based learning recognizes the construction of new understandings as a combination of prior learning, new information and readiness to learn.

B. Individuals make choices about what new ideas to accept and how to fit them into their established views of the world.

C. Problem-based learning is based on the theory of constructivism.

1. Constructivism is a theory which is based on the results of Piaget's research. Piaget's theory of learning is a cornerstone of modern state understanding how humans learn. Piaget postulated that there are mental structures that determine how data and new information are perceived.

2. Constructivism differs from the traditional view , that knowledge exists independently of the individual, the view that the mind is a blank tablet upon which a picture can be painted.

II. One foundational premise about problem-based learning or constructivism is that children actively construct their knowledge. Rather than simply absorbing ideas spoken to them by teachers, or somehow internalizing them through endless, repeated rote practice, problem-based learning or constructivism assumes that children actually invent their ideas.

A. They assimilate new information to simple, pre-existing notions and modify their understandings in light of new data.

B. In the process, their ideas gain in complexity and power, and with appropriate support children develop critical insight into how they think and what they know about the world as their understanding increases in depth and detail.

1. Problem-based learning or constructivism emphasizes the careful study of the process by which children create and develop their ideas. Its educational applications lie in creating curricula that match (but also challenge) children's understanding, fostering further growth and development of the mind.

C. The teacher who employs problem-based learning sets up problems and monitors student exploration, guides the direction of student inquiry and promotes new patterns of thinking. Classes can take unexpected turns as students are given the autonomy to direct their own explorations.

D. Problem-based teachers refer to raw data, primary sources and interactive materials to provide experiences for their students rather than relying solely on another's set of data. For teachers who have used only one printed text, a shift to other sources may take some adjustment. For example, rather than read about the census, students examine and interpret census data. Or better yet, they plan a mini-census, gather their own data, and interpret the results.

III. Our students represent a rich array of different backgrounds and ways of thinking. Myths, taboos, things we learn from our families, friends and teachers----all are part of our cultural influence. Content is embedded in culture and it is difficult to separate the two. When presented with information in the classroom that contradicts existing ideas, a student may try to accommodate both interpretations, rather than change deeply held beliefs. Unless the teacher realizes what views the students hold, classroom teaching can actually help students construct faulty ideas.

A. If the classroom can provide a neutral zone where students exchange their personal views and test them against the ideas of others, each student can continue to build understanding based on empirical evidence.

B. Hands-on activities and observations of the natural world provide shared experiences for these constructions. For example, to study the phases of the moon, the class could keep a sky journal (an observation log of the moon and its shape in the sky) for several weeks. Small groups might discuss the various observations and speculate about their meanings. If models, text references or illustrations are available as resources, students should know that these are the results of others' observations and speculations. Such references are actually the constructions by others of the current understanding of the world around us.

C. Objectives (Whole-to-Part Constructivist Viewpoint):

1. Learn well what they learn.

2. Emphasis is on learning, not upon teaching.

3. To build student understanding of learning.

4. To assist students in reshaping, internalizing

and transforming data.

5. To implement problem based learning.

6. To increase student responsibility.

D. Problem-Based Learning supports structuring the curriculum around primary concepts.

E. A teacher's ability to uncover a student's conception is to a large degree a function of the question and problem posed to students.

F. The nature of the question in problem-based learning greatly influences the depth at which the student searches for the answer.

G. Assessment through teaching is natural, but not easy. Learning continues while assessment occurs. Authentic assessment, applying what has been learned in a new situation, allows the teacher to distinguish between what has been memorized and what students have internalized.

H. Could it be damaging to student self-esteem to rate your students based on your understanding of the classroom material rather than their understanding???

IV. Problem-based learning prepares students to become good adaptive learners. That is, students should be able to apply what they learn in school to the various and unpredictable situations that they might encounter over the course of their work lives. Obviously, the traditional teacher-as-information-giver, textbook guided classroom has failed to bring about the desired outcome of producing thinking students. A much-heralded alternative is to change the focus of the classroom from teacher dominated to student-centered using a problem-based approach.

A. How does a teacher help students consider a topic relevant? First, the teacher should begin with a good problem that is stated in the form of an essential question that:

1. demands that students make a testable prediction (one preferably testable by the students);

2. makes good use of relatively inexpensive equipment. Fancier equipment might be used to obtain higher precision, but the problem should work well at the low-tech end of the spectrum;

3. is complex enough to elicit multiple problem-solving approaches from the students;

4. benefits from, as opposed to being hindered by, group effort.

B. The first objective in a problem-based lesson is to engage student interest on a topic that has a broad concept and can be assesses or measured by the essential question. This may be accomplished by doing a demonstration, presenting data or showing a short videotape. Ask open-ended questions that probe the students' perceptions on the topic and are tied directly to the essential question driving the lesson.

C. Next, present some information or data that does not fit with their existing understanding. Let the students "take the bull by the horns." Have students break into small groups to formulate their own hypotheses and experiments that will reconcile their previous understanding of the discrepant information.

1. The role of the teacher during the small group interaction time is to circulate around the classroom to be a resource or to ask questions that aid the students in coming to an understanding of the principle being studied.

D. After sufficient time for experimentation, the small groups share their ideas and conclusions with the rest of the class, which will try to come to a consensus about what they learned.

E. Assessment can be done traditionally using a standard paper and pencil test, but there are other suggestions for evaluation. Each small group can study/review together for an evaluation but one person is chosen at random from a group to take the quiz for the entire group.

1. The idea is that peer interaction is paramount when learners are constructing meaning for themselves, hence what one individual in the group has learned should be the same as that learned by another individual. The teacher could also evaluate each small group as a unit to assess what they have learned (use of Brag Sheets).

V. More ideas for implementing a problem-based learning format in your classrooms:

1. Seek out and use student questions and ideas to guide lessons and whole instructional units.

2. Accept and encourage student initiation of ideas.

3. Promote student leadership, collaboration, location of information and taking actions as a result of the learning process.

4. Use student thinking, experiences and interests to drive lessons.

5. Encourage the use of alternative sources for information both from written materials and experts.

6. Encourage students to suggest causes for events and situations and

encourage them to predict consequences.

7. Seek out student ideas before presenting teacher ideas or before studying ideas from textbooks or other sources.

8. Encourage students to challenge each other's conceptualizations and ideas.

9. Encourage adequate time for reflection and analysis; respect and use all

ideas that students generate.

10. Encourage self-analysis, collection of real evidence to support ideas and

reformulation of ideas in light of new knowledge.

11. Use student identification of problems with local interest and impact as

organizers for the course.

12. Use local resources (human and material) as original sources of information that can be used in problem resolution.

13. Involve students in seeking information that can be applied in solving real-life problems.

14. Extend learning beyond the class period, classroom and the school.

15. Focus on the impact of your course or subject on each individual

student.

16. Refrain from viewing content as something that merely exists for students to master on tests.

17. Emphasize career awareness---especially as related to your topic and technology.

VI. I am a strong supporter of an integrated, problem-based curriculum and authentic learning environment . However, I also firmly believe teachers must provide explicit, focused and at times, isolated instruction to the extent needed---and integrate it into the larger literacy context.

A. While I believe that full participation in learning, rather than passive responding, results in deeper and richer understanding and use of knowledge, I do not simply see the teacher's role as one of simply assisting performance. On occasion the teacher must explicitly provide knowledge and information.

B. Teaching is not a dirty word!!! It is sometimes necessary and desirable to teach explicitly, provide direct information and require practice.

C. In a successful problem-based classroom a teacher must conduct ongoing assessments of each student's abilities, skills, knowledge, motivation, social characteristics and prior experiences.

1. The teacher must then arrange whatever support their children need---from direct explanation through discovery.

2. Children's perceptions of what they are doing and why they are doing it, and of their teacher's intentions are critical in the problem-based classroom. Further, problem-based learning is centered in learning communities that are educationally purposeful, open, just, disciplined and caring.

D. The problem-based teacher must be very careful when working in a curriculum dominated by skills development and prescribed teachers' guides and workbooks.

VII. Just as students do not easily let go of their ideas, neither do school boards, principals, parents or for that matter, teachers. Ideas like student autonomy and learner-driven inquiry are not easily accepted. Required course content and mandated proficiency tests are realities that teachers must accommodate. A teacher inspired to change to problem-based instruction must incorporate those realities into his or her approach.

A. When teachers instruct in the lecture style, they are careful to present the material so they are certain that it is correct. Teachers feel that they have done their jobs if the information is presented clearly and correctly. It is then up to the students to assimilate it.

1. If the students construct many of the concepts using problem-based learning techniques, teachers might be worried there are misconceptions and incorrect information.

2. Misconceptions and incorrect information are part of the learning process and dealing with them is part of the thinking process that problem-based learning is attempting to develop.

3. That is a very difficult concept for teachers to accept, especially if they want to control the process and if they do not trust the students to handle the subject matter.

B. Teachers might begin gradually, trying one or two problem-based learning explorations in the regular classroom. Listening to students as they discuss ideas together is a good way to start shifting the balance of responsibility to the learner. Another step is using primary sources and raw data as the basis of inquiry, rather than relying solely on the textbook.

C. If students begin thinking about accumulated knowledge as an evolving explanation of natural phenomena, their questions can take on an exciting dimension. In the next two or three decades, research will change the way most of the accepted facts of today are perceived. Our challenge is to foster students' abilities so they can continue to learn and build their understanding based on the changing world around them.

 

3-2-1 Activity 

3. 

Two ideas or insights I would like to share with colleagues are: 

 

 

 One action I will take immediately is: