Session 6 - Problem Based Learning

What are your initial reactions to this theory/model?

• When I read these articles on problem-based learning (PBL), it sounded similar to guided learning, in that you use real world situations/problems for instruction.  I like the idea of students working in groups to learn. Groups allow the students to work through problem resolution stages like, what information is known, what information is need to be researched, where do we find this information, and what is our going forward strategy to solve the problem.

What are barriers to its use?

• Most of problem-based learning research seems to focus on mid to higher education, and not much on elementary school students. I can see some younger students struggling with this approach, since they do not have as many life experiences to draw on.  As stated in (Ryan, 1994), the PBL group is made up of 5 – 6 members, of which, is a narrator, scribe, and tutor/coach. I can see these roles being challenging in the elementary school grades.
• When students learn through the PBL approach, they tend to sacrifice breadth for depth of knowledge in an area. One of the challenges is that it takes time to dig and research into a PBL topic, thus you are not able to cover a broad curriculum area in depth.
• It seems somewhat ironic that you would use problems to teach students, since some people try to avoid problems, while others like to solve them. As (Hung, 2003) has stated, “Research shows that the initial transition from a traditional to a PBL curriculum may be a difficult adjustment for students.”
• There are also concerns that PBI does not prepare students for the standardized tests that will test there breadth of knowledge, vs. depth of knowledge in a subject area.

Would you attempt to use this theory/model with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the future? Why or why not? Could elements of the theory/model be modified so that it would work with your current/future students?

• Being an elementary teacher, I wonder how many of these PBL problem-solving stages are achievable with young students. Since younger students are still learning how to get along socially, there may be more effort required by the teacher to help the students learn good team dynamics, along with how to work through the PBL stages. I can see the teacher providing much more scaffold support, to help students learn the PBL problem solving process. Using guiding questions can help students figure-out/discover the next stage. Additional assistance will be needed to help young students learn research techniques.

Since we are taking learning theories/models that were not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules, what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out this learning theory/model online?

• I believe the idea of problem-based learning can be implemented in web modules. Having real world problems for the groups to select/choose, can help foster more team motivation and interest. For elementary students, PBL activities could incorporate a problem that is tied to a story, which the students have read. For example, the students have read a book as part of a unit on the plant life cycle. The problem-solving challenge for the students is to find out why Ms. Wiffle’s inside houseplant is not producing seeds.