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| Problem-Based Learning |
| Why use PBL? |
Research and Theory Consider PBL a Useful Teaching Strategy: Why Use PBL? Cognitive Grounds: Problem-based learning has been used extensively in the field of medicine to train future physicians. (Jonas, Etzel, and Barzansky, 1989). The rationale for using this approach rests in part on four propositions that apply with equal force to the preparation of administrators. 1.) Students retain little of what they learn when taught in a traditional lecture format. (Bok, 1989). 2.) Students often do not appropriately use the knowledge they have learned. (Schmidt,1983) 3.) Since the students forgot much of what is learned or use their knowledge inappropriately, instructors should create conditions that optimize retrieval and appropriate use of the knowledge in future professional practice. 4.) PBL creates the three conditions that information theory links to subsequent retrieval and appropriate use of new information (Schmidt, 1983): activation of prior knowledge, similarity of contexts in which information is learned and later applied, and opportunity to elaborate on that information.
Prior knowledge is activated; that is, students apply knowledge they already possess in order to understand the new information. This prior knowledge and the kind of cognitive structure in which it is stored determine what is understood from the new experience and what is learned from it. Problems are selected and sequenced to ensure that this activation of prior knowledge occurs. The context in which information is learned resembles the context in which it will later be applied (referred to as encyclopedia specificity). Research shows that knowledge is much more likely to be remembered or recalled in the context in which it was originally learned. (Godden and Baddeley, 1975). Encoding specificity in problem-based learning is achieved by having students acquire knowledge in a functional context, that is, in a context containing problems that closely resemble the problems they will encounter later in their professional careers. The advantage of such an approach is that students become much more aware of how the knowledge they are acquiring can be put to use. Adopting a problem-solving mentality, even when it is marginally appropriate, reinforces the notion that the knowledge is useful for achieving particular goals. Students are not being asked to store information away; they see how it works in a certain situation, which increases the accessibility. (Prawat,1989).
Information is better understood, processed, and recalled if students have an opportunity to elaborate on that information. Elaborations provide redundancy in the memory structure, which in turn reduces forgetting and abets retrieval.(Bransford,1986). Elaboration occurs in problem-based learning in various ways, namely, discussing the subject matter with other students, teaching peers what they first learned themselves, exchanging views about how the information applies to the problem they are seeking to solve, and preparing essays about what they have learned while seeking to solve problems.
Motivational Grounds: According to one major theory of motivation, the effort that people are willing to expend on a task is a product of two factors. (Good and Brophy, 1991). One factor is the degree to which they expect to be able to perform the task successfully if they apply themselves, and the other is the degree to which they value the rewards that successful performance will bring. In line with the tenets of expectancy theory, instructors should use motivational strategies that address these factors. Furthermore, instructors should create the preconditions that are essential to the effectiveness of any motivational strategy. (Good and Brophy,1991).
In several ways, problem-based learning strives to create the essential preconditions for successfully using motivational strategies. The instructor creates a supportive learning environment by encouraging students to take risks, by praising students for their risk-taking attempts, and by treating mistakes and "failures" as learning opportunities. (http://www.cellhio.utmb.edu). The instructor assigns tasks at the appropriate level of difficulty. This precondition is achieved by choosing projects that are neither too easy nor too difficult for the student and by gradually increasing the complexity of each project. The instructor chooses each PBL project with meaningful learning objectives in mind. If the project is problem-stimulated, the instructor identifies what the objectives are and explains to students in an introduction to the project why the objectives are worth mastering. (Bransford,1997). Finally, the instructor uses a variety of strategies to stimulate student motivation.
To maintain students' expectations of success in a PBL instructional environment, the instructor underscores how the curriculum has been designed to promote success. Projects have been chosen and sequenced in such a way that students will acquire the basic skills they will need to succeed in this instructional environment. (Schmidit, 1983). Moreover, each problem-stimulated project contains a knowledge base and a set of guiding questions that may prove helpful to students as they attempt to deal with the focal problem. (Hallinger, 1991). Finally, students are encouraged to draw on other resources to assist them in thinking through the problem. Each successful completion of a PBL project strengthens the expectation that effort leads to success.
To underscore the value of learning activities in a PBL curriculum, instructors may use extrinsic or intrinsic motivation strategies. An extrinsic motivation strategy links task performance to consequences that student's value. These consequences may take one of several forms: reward for good performance, instrumental value in achieving future success, and rewards achieved through competition with others. (http://www.imsa.edu). In a PBL environment, the instrumental value of learning activities is emphasized. Each PBL project contains an explicit rationale that explains why the project was included in the curriculum. The rationale also discussed how the knowledge and skills that are emphasized in the project relate to the future responsibilities of the administrator.
Intrinsic motivation strategies are based on the idea that students will expend effort on tasks and activities they find inherently enjoyable and interesting even when there are no extrinsic incentives. Each PBL project contains six elements that most students, find enjoyable or intrinsically rewarding.(Hallinger, 1991). 1.) Provides opportunities for active response. In each PBL project students learn by doing something. They engage in a wide array of activities-leading, recording, discussing, facilitating, making decisions, developing and revising schedules, making oral presentations, holding conferences, and the like.(Hallinger, 1991) 2.) Includes higher-level objectives and divergent questions. At the heart, if each PBL project is a problem to be solved, a situation to be analyzed, knowledge to be applied, alternatives to be evaluated, and consequences to be forecast. All these tasks involve higher-order intellectual skills. (Hallinger,1991). The hallmark of PBL is applying knowledge, not simply recalling it. 3.) Includes simulations. In a PBL instructional environment, the instructor incorporates simulations into most PBL projects. (Hallinger,1991). For example, students participate in mock meetings of a board of education and a superintendent's cabinet. Students also role play conferences, handle in-basket items, and conduct classroom observations by viewing videotapes of classroom teaching episodes. 4.) Provides immediate feedback. In a PBL environment, instructors position themselves to observe students and how they are using or misusing the knowledge they are attempting to master. (Hallinger,1991). When it becomes clear that students either do not understand a particular concept or are unable to use it appropriately, the instructor can supply immediate feedback. 5.) Provides an opportunity to create finished products. Most PBL projects conclude with a product (Hallinger,1991), (for example, a memo to the superintendent or a classroom observation report), a performance (such as a post-observation conference with a teacher or an oral presentation to a board of education), or both. These products challenge students and heighten their level of concern. 6.) Provides an opportunity to interact with peers. Since the basic unit of instruction is a project and students work as members of a project team, students interact extensively with peers. Every student has a role on the project team and participates actively in accomplishing the project's objectives. (Hallinger,1991). The person occupying the project facilitator role is responsible for ensuring that all team members are actively involved in the team meetings and that no one dominates the discussions.
Problem-based learning narrows the gap between the work of a student and the work of an administrator in several ways; therefore, it is more likely to result in trained capacity rather than trained incapacity.
The tempo of a student's work in a PBL environment more closely corresponds to the accelerated work pace of the administrator than does the work of a student in a conventional instructional environment. Students work under time constraints to complete a problem-based learning project, and the time available is rarely sufficient. (Good and Jere,1991). Moreover, the modes of thought and action that students use in a PBL environment differ from those that students use in conventional instruction. Time deadlines in the PBL environment force students to balance the need to understand (that is, analyze) with the need to act. Since they are judged on the feasibility of their actions, as well as the thoroughness of their analysis, they are less likely to become victims of "analysis paralysis".( Prawat, 1989).
The hierarchical nature of the work of a student in a PBL environment also more closely resembles the work of an administrator. In a conventional instructional environment, students occupy subordinate roles. (Good and Jere, 1991). Their work is largely individualistic and competitive; the deficiencies of "fellow employees" enhance rather than diminish their standing in the workplace. (http://www.zephyrpress.com). The student's work in a PBL environment is strikingly different. Students serve as team leaders, facilitators, and members of a project team. Through these experiences, students come to appreciate the dependency inherited in managerial roles, the necessity of delegating responsibilities to others, and the difficulties and frustrations inherent in trying to obtain results through other adults.(Willems,1981).
The character of work-related communications contrasts sharply in PBL and conventional instructional environments. In conventional instructional environments students spend most of their time in receiving roles, they rely heavily on the written mode of communication using the impersonal language and the detached style of the academician, and they engage in one-way communication. The character of work-related communication in a PBL environment more closely resembles those of the administrator. (Willems, 1981). PBL students, like administrators, spend roughly equal amounts of time in sending and receiving roles, rely heavily on oral modes of communication, prepare written memos (the dominant form of written communication for administrators), and work in small face-to-face interpersonal settings that are conducted to two-way communication.
The role of emotions in work also is quite different in the two types of instructional environments. In a conventional instructional environment, students work in a relatively placid emotional climate. (http://www.imsa.edu). Ideas, not feelings, are the currency of the realm. Affective neutrality is the dominant expressive state as it is congruent with the contemplative and scientific character of academic work. (http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu). In a PBL environment, the emotional tone of the interpersonal environment is more varied and jagged. Students, like the administrators they aspire to be, encounter the emotional problems of working with people. These occasions create opportunities for students to test their competence in interpreting and responding to the feelings of others. When projects go awry, students also acquire insights into how they deal with frustrations, anger, and disappointment.
What Outcomes the Teacher can Expect: Students involved in problem-based learning acquire knowledge and become proficient in problem solving, self-directed learning, and team participation. Studies show that PBL prepares students as well as traditional methods. PBL students do as well as their counterparts from traditional classrooms on national exams, but are in fact better practitioners of their professions.
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