Chapter I: What does Problem-based Learning look like in the classroom?
a. This chapter shares stories at different grade/age levels through a series of vignettes and accounts. Some key points it makes:
i. Through telling, writing, reading and listening to life’s stories—one’s own and others’—those engaged in this work [teaching] can penetrate cultural barriers, discover the power of the self and the integrity of the other other, and deepend their understanding of their respective histories and possibilities (Witherell & Noddings, 1991).
ii. Strong connections develop when we relate how teachers organize problem-based learning experiences and how students respond to them.
iii. Peer facilitators report a statistically significant increase in their library research, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills from the tutoring experience.
iv. A longitudinal study comparing 68 sections (problem-based and traditional sections) showed the median success rate (considered the number passing as a percent of initial enrollment) was 75 percent for problem-based sections and 56 percent for traditional sections.
v. Sources for PBL problems:
1. Interdisciplinary issues
2. Real-life problems
b. Elementary Examples
i. Example: Excitement about PBL Learning
1. I’ve learned to constantly push the kids to keep thinking. If they come up with one answer, don’t stop there, because the likelihood is there are at least five more answers.
ii. Example: Authenticity of PBL
1. Some kids question when you’re teaching basic skills: “Why do we have to learn this? When are we ever going to do this?” With PBL you’re showing them a reason—a specific, real-life situation. I’m teaching them basic skills, but I’m giving them a reason.
iii. Example: Skills learned through PBL
1. Students describe how they help each other locate and understand information.
2. Critical reading and thinking.
c. Middle School Examples
i. Essential part is to find engaging, authentic problems where students are placed in roles and situations that hook them.
ii. Researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.
iii. “It’s not just something for school…it was for the town.”
iv. Open-ended problems not only pique student interest but also teach the curriculum.
v. PBL Students learned as much or more content in a problem-designed around the issue…than did students in a more traditional…unit.
vi. Helps students think about ethical aspects.
d. University Examples
i. Helps students appreciate that you don’t always have the right answer as long as one has not fully explored what the questions could be.