PBL Walkthrough - Start to Finish

Problem-based learning (PBL) uses real-life problems modeled after a contemporary or historical case to engage students as they pursue specified learning outcomes that are in line with academic standards or course objectives (Stepien & Pyke, 1997). Students work through the problem as a stakeholder. The teacher acts as a guide or advisor as students explore the issues involved, formulate questions, conduct research, and consider possible solutions to the problems.

Let's explore what this looks like...one way to begin with is to look at a problem relevant to learners:

The Problem

The year is 1914. Benedetto Baldoni has left his wife, Vittoria and 2 small children, Basilio and Massimo, behind to search for what he hopes will be a better way of life. Life in his home country has been hard the past 15 years. He knows that they will be reunited some day.

The boat approaches the harbor and the large statue of the lady holding the torch is now visible. This is the symbol he has waited for. It has been a 10-day journey and the conditions on the ship have been deplorable. The food consists of bread and soup once a day.

"Those with papers go to this side," says the ship's officer as he points in one direction. Those without are told to stand on the other side and are given signs that are labelled WOP's (WithOut Papers). Benedetto's heart is racing. He can't wait to touch dry land. He clutches the letter from his cousin, Guiseppe Belamori, to his chest.

"Cousin," Guiseppe writes in his letter, "many opportunities await you, but also many dangers. We will have much to discuss when you arrive."

Ill-structured problems like this one are messy by nature. They are like the real-life situations students can expect to encounter when they leave school, and they can be great learning opportunities as a form of problem-based learning. Problem-based learning (PBL) uses real-life problems modeled after a contemporary or historical case to engage students as they pursue specified learning outcomes that are in line with academic standards or course objectives (Stepien & Pyke, 1997). Students work through the problem as a stakeholder. The teacher acts as a guide or advisor as students explore the issues involved, formulate questions, conduct research, and consider possible solutions to the problems.

Some important questions that helped us get to this problem engagement included:

— What did we really want them to learn?

— Why was it important that they learn this?

— What problems or issues would they be able to resolve with the information?

— What process, if any, did we want them to follow? Was that process governed by policy? Which ones in particular?

These questions help us to first map out what we want students to learn, craft a problem that reflects that and aligns to learning objectives. Now that you know what the "end result" is, let's step through a few actions that will involve problem development and how we introduce it to others.

Action 1 - Select a Problem and Brainstorm an Idea to Explore Its Potential

According to Stepien and Pyke (1997), a problem-based learning situation must meet several criteria. The situation must provide an effective way of engaging students with experiences that scaffold higher order thinking. The situation should also accomplish curriculum objectives and include age-appropriate topics. Further, the learning situation should take the form of an ill-structured problem to foster inquiry at a level that is cognitively engaging but not frustrating.

Lastly, the situation should make efficient use of instructional time allotted to the unit. When selecting a problem, the teacher can either look through academic standards and objectives for a dilemma, or search news stories for a problem that will allow the introduction of academic standards. In examining the problem, the teacher can use a brainstorming map to explore the content that students may encounter as they go about examining the issue and suggesting possible resolutions.

Brainstorming with some form of visual aid (e.g, spider map, clustering, fishbone mapping) can be an important tool for teachers to consider the breadth of the issue and to include cross-curricular connections. For example, in the past, the author worked with a sixth grade social studies teacher who was asking the class to examine the core dilemma involved in dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. One ways to explore topics is to develop a map of possibilities.

MAP OF POSSIBILITIES

Consider this map of possibilities relevant to the immigration problem:

In pre-planning, as a teacher, my goal is to identify some of the big questions and issues and make connections to curriculum. Another benefit of this is that, as a teacher, I can identify what areas of inquiry we do NOT want to follow as a class. This may include questions or concepts that are TOO controversial or "close to home." Our goal is to be relevant and engaging in a professional/academic setting, not inflammatory. Once you have identified key topics that are worth pursuing, you are encouraged to map your problem to curriculum.

CURRICULUM MAP

In this curriculum map, you can see that connections to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills have been made for those areas that you will want to encourage discussion. This work builds a blueprint for inquiry and the investigation process to follow. As the teacher, you identify key curriculum goals and work forward from those to pose an engaging introduction that reflects a real world, ill-structured problem. As in real-life, students must use the inquiry process and reasoning to solve the problem. The narrative that introduces students to the real-life problem is the key to a successful problem-based learning lesson.

Action 2 - Engage Students in a Real-Life Problem

This action builds a blueprint for inquiry and the investigation process to follow. As the teacher, now that you have identified key curriculum goals and work forward from those to pose an engaging introduction that reflects a real world, ill-structured problem. As in real-life, students must use the inquiry process and reasoning to solve the problem. This is known as "problem engagement" and/or "Meet the Problem."

"Cousin," Guiseppe writes in his letter, "many opportunities await you, but also many dangers. We will have much to discuss when you arrive."

Of course, you can always rely on engaging videos, etc. to introduce a problem. However, a written scenario enables you to tailor problems that can best match your class' learning objectives.

Action 3 - Focus Inquiry and Investigation

Once students are engaged in the problem, they begin to write down their hunches about it and identify with a stakeholder. This is an important action because, after introducing the problem, it determines what happens next. You can say to students the following in regards to the stakeholders in the problem:

"In order to help them, let's share what our hunches are about this situation, what we know, what we need to know to help the person/people in this situation. Essentially, what guesses can we make about what is happening in the story?"

We want to collect these hunches so that all students can see them, then, move to asking questions. The focus of questions is to identify questions about what we know, what we need to know to help the stakeholders.

Now that we've created a list of hunches, let's focus on what we know about the situation. Create a new column on your projection device (e.g. whiteboard, document camera) and label it "KNOW."

In order to help the person/people in this problem, based on our reading of the problem, what do we KNOW for certain? These are "in the text" questions that help us list the facts.

Finally, in a column labelled "Need to Know," write down everything students agree on that they need to know about the problem to provide help or assistance to those affected by the problem.

What do we need to know about this problem that we don't know? Use your map of possibilities to help guide YOUR understanding (as teacher). List all the questions.

Following this, they can begin the process of locating, gathering and using sources of information. One approach for accomplishing this is the use of a KWHL chart.

Know - What do we know based on our reading of the problem? (K)
What - What do we want to know about this? (W)
How - How are we going to find this out (H)
Learned - And, after the activity has moved on, what have we learned about this problem?

Inquiry and investigation builds a basis for students to design a solution product.

Action 4 - Support Problem Resolution

As students work their way through the different points of view according to the stakeholder position they have taken, it is important that they share information with each other. One way to do this is to encourage students to suggest a solution to the problem that considers the various points of view of all stakeholders. The teacher will want to facilitate a discussion to determine how students will share information to arrive at such a solution. Unlike other approaches that are focused on a culminating project, the emphasis in Problem-based Learning is on assessments that occur during the problem identification and solution development process. There is no need to have a culminating project, although some do create a product that reflects the learning that has taken place. This learning might result in assessment instances that have occurred through the solution development process, any insights gained, etc.

For example, consider this example that attempts to "get at process learning:"

Now that you have analyzed the results of your research, develop a multimedia presentation. Using eight slides, address the major points of your group's problem/solution map, such as:

Title of your presentation and list of Group Members
What's the problem?
Why is this a problem?
Who are the stakeholders?
What are some of the attempted solutions and their results? (use a different slide for each solution and result).
What do you see as the end result of these problems/solutions?
List your references.
Reflect on your success as a group.

Action 5 - Facilitate Problem Debriefing

After solving the problem, a key piece of problem-based learning is to debrief students. The debriefing step asks students to consider what steps they took to solve the problem and to determine the effectiveness of their reasoning. In addition, students reflect on whether or not they believe their solution will address the causes that were identified in Task Definition.

For example, students can look at the criteria identified in Task Definition and ask themselves, "Did I find research from multiple sources?" and "Did I spend my time well in gathering and using information from various sources?" The role of the teacher is to help students focus on metacognition and to review issues inherent in the problem (Gallagher, 2000).

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