IV. Chapter 3: What are the Foundations of Problem-based Learning?

a. PBL is a form of experiential education in which learners think, know, and do in an authentic context.

b. PBL got its start in the medical field due to concerns about medical students being able to recall and apply in clinical biomedical content knowledge and skills taught in previous biomedical coursework. Through research they found that:

i. Learning through lecture did not equate well with application; furthermore, grades although valued indicators of success, were not good predictors of a student’s ability to apply that knowledge in clinical situations with real patients.

ii. This was termed “reproduce for the test and soon forget”

iii. Comparative evidence clearly showed that PBL students were learning as much content as the traditional students. This eased the initial discomfort with coverage issues. It was also found that students working PBL programs were less threatened by their environment and more able to pursue learning independently.

c. PBL is supported by information-processing theory. Information processing is an efficient and effective accessing and flow of information. Central ideas of information-processing theory include:

i. Activates prior knowledge, facilitating new learning.

ii. Parallels ways in which this knowledge will be needed in real-world situations.

iii. Increases the probability that the learner will recall and apply what is stored in memory.

d. In K-16, students must do and think. “If students do not learn to think with the knowledge they are stockpiling, they might as well not have it.”

e. Four criteria for a good problem-solving situation:

i. Students make a testable prediction.

ii. Students can use available or easily accessible materials.

iii. The situation itself is complex enough to support varied approaches and generate multiple solutions.

iv. The problem-solving process is enhanced, not hindered, by a collaborative approach.

v. Problem posed must be of emerging relevance.

f. Constructivist approach is embodied in Problem-based Learning.

i. Today, in our information age, people will work in teams in more democratic organizations and will need to be able to take personal initiative and integrate tasks.

ii. The teacher in the information-age environment will serve more as a coach or facilitator of learning, rather than as a lecturer or drill-and-response instructors.

iii. Each of us builds our own key by making sense of the world, and many different keys can open a given lock.

iv. Dewey argued that learning should prepare a person for life, not simply for work. He proposed that learning should be organized around the interests of the learner and that learning is an active effort by learners interested in resolving particular issues.

v. Cognitive change often results from interactions with other learners who may hold different understandings…they also help us make sense of and function in our world.

vi. Problem-based learning may be one of the best exemplars of a constructivist learning environment:

1. the nature of questions posed to students greatly influences the depth to which the students search for answers.

2. PBL cannot be included in a teacher’s repertoire as an add-on. It must be a basic element of that repertoire.