day 1 morning: pbl activity (groups); evaluation - characteristics of pbl (plenary feedback)...
TRANSCRIPT
Derek Raine & Cheryl Hurkett, University of LeicesterNatalie Rowley, University of Birmingham
LeAP Summer WorkshopPromoting PBL
Day 1Morning:
• PBL activity (groups); • Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary
feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
Problem 1
• The problem is presented to you in the form of a comic strip (or graphic novel)
• Read the comic strip• Individually write down a sentence describing
your initial understanding of the problem• Locate the problem as a group• Exchange your Existing Knowledge in relation
to the problem; attempt the problem• Identify Issues for further research
Instructions:
• What is the problem?• What are the issues?• What more research do you need to carry
out?
Report back – group presentations
• Why ask for individual reflection?
• Why agree the problem?
• Why list existing knowledge?
• Why list issues?
The concept of learning issues is central to PBL. It encourages students to think for themselves about what they know and what they don’t know about an issue.
What did we do?
Planning Phase What is the problem?What do we know?
Investigation Phase What do we need to find out?Who and what?
Analysis Phase Have we solved the problem fully? (Repeat as necessary)
Assessment ReportEvaluation Group roles
How did we do?
Problem 2: How do we promote PBL?
What are the issues for PBL?
• What is PBL?• What are we trying to achieve?• Planning• Problem writing• Facilitation• Group formation• Assessment• Evaluation; student engagement• Promoting PBL
Problem 2: Our Learning Issues
What is PBL?
PBL (problem-based learning) is a student-centred method of teaching in which students learn by investigating real-world problems and, working in groups, seek out the tools necessary to solve them.
Definitions: PBL
• Problem-based learning• Enquiry-based learning• Case-based learning• Project-based learning• Research-based learning
What is the difference?
Definition: Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning, University of Manchester
Variations: EBL
“EBL describes an environment in which learning is driven by a process of enquiry owned by the student. Starting with a “scenario” and with the guidance of a facilitator, students identify their own issues and questions. They then examine the resources they need to research the topic, thereby acquiring the requisite knowledge. Knowledge so gained is more readily retained because it has been acquired by experience and relation to a real problem.”
EBL includes the following activities:
• Problem based learning
• Small scale investigations
• Projects and research
“Inquiry is a form of Self-Directed Learning and follows the four basic stages defining self-directed learning. Students take more responsibility for:
Variations: Self-Directed Learning
Definition: McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (1/2)
• Determining what they need to learn• Identifying resources and how best
to learn from them• Using resources and reporting their
learning• Assessing their progress in learning”
“Teaching through “inquiry” involves engaging students in the research process with instructor support and coaching at a level appropriate to their starting skills. Students learn discipline specific content but in doing so, engage and refine their inquiry skills. An inquiry course:
• Is question driven, rather than topic or thesis driven• Begins with a general theme to act as a starting point or trigger for learning• Emphasizes asking good researchable questions on the theme, and coaches students in
doing this• Builds library, interview, and web search skills, along with the critical thinking skills
necessary for thoughtful review of the information. Coaches students on how to best report their learning in oral or written form
• Provides some mechanism (interviews, drafts, minutes of groups meetings, benchmark activities, etc) to help students monitor their progress within the course.
• Draws on the expertise and knowledge of the instructor to model effective inquiry and to promote reflection.”
Variations: Self-Directed Learning
Definition: McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2/2)
What are we trying to achieve?
The average normalized gains <g> for problem-based honours courses at the University of Delaware in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 were between 0.45 and 0.64. Those <g>'s may be compared with the average 0.48 +/-0.14 of <g>'s for forty-eight "interactive engagement" courses in a survey of mechanics test data for six thousand students in introductory physics courses [Hake (1998a)]
• ‘nobody wants to like it, but it actually does work’
• it ‘almost felt like you were doing research’• ‘Absolutely love it…’
Co-operative learning
Engagement• Engagement
• Students work together• Students choose which areas to explore, and which
questions to answer• Students are active in the learning process
• Focus• Away from the tutor – facilitator role• Towards the subject• Towards the learning process
• Alignment…
Alignment
Subject knowledge and skills+
Academic physicists Professional physicist
Prior knowledge and goals+
Structured and focussed Student oriented
Assessment+
End-point Relevant
Community Coherent
Planning
Who is it for?• Students (number and level)
What are the objectives?• Process• Content
What is the course?• Sequencing of course/problems• Time/structure of class
Planning
Who is the problem writer?• Discipline• Control issues• Level of investment
How assessed?• Presentation, report, group/individual…?
How evaluated?
Planning
Day 1Morning: • PBL activity (groups);
• Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
PBL Problem Writing
• Relate to real world, motivate students• Require decision-making or judgments• Are multi-page, multi-stage• Are designed for group-solving• Pose open-ended initial questions that
encourage discussion• Incorporate course content objectives,
higher order thinking
Good PBL Problems…
Feasibility• Students can plan a way to investigate the question• The question is appropriate for the students
Worth• The question is relevant to what people (including scholars
in the discipline) really do• The question helps students to link major concepts• The question is complex enough to be broken down into
smaller questions• The question leads to further questions
(Modified from Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School Classrooms)
Key features of “driving questions"
Contextualization• The question is anchored in real world issues and has real
world consequences.
Meaning• The question is interesting and important to learners.• The question intersects with learners’ lives, reality, and
culture.
Sustainability• The question allows students to pursue solutions over time• Students can pursue answers to the question in great
detail.
Key features of “driving questions"
Content-oriented: subject specific• Basic knowledge and understanding of specific
concepts, techniques, etc. in the discipline
Process-oriented: global skills• Effective communication: oral and written• Acquiring and evaluating information• Working effectively with others• Higher order, critical thinking
Types of Learning Objectives
1) Your current exercises
2) External sources • Newspaper articles, news events• Popular press in the discipline• Make up a story – based on content objectives• Adapt a case to a problem• Research papers• Other?
Sources of Problems
Identify the course You can think of the subject, level of students, size of class, how you would use it.
List the learning objectives that would be met by this problem
Step One:
Think of a scenario
Sketch out the first section
Step Two:
What comes next?
Write a brief synopsis of the problem, emphasizing its possible staging
Be prepared to report out.
Step Three:
Facilitation
What makes a good facilitator?
1) Interactions within groups
2) Interaction with facilitators and staff
3) Balance between group and individual work
4) Interaction between groups
Community Building
• Induction• Planning Phase• Investigation Phase• Analysis Phase• Assessment
• Group Roles/Rules• Group Action Plan
• Peer Tutoring
Interactions within groups
• Induction• Planning Phase• Investigation Phase• Analysis Phase• Assessment
• Facilitator• Subject Expert
• Audience
Interactions with facilitators and staff
• G & I Learning Outcomes• Individual
• G & I Deliverables
• Induction• Planning Phase• Investigation Phase• Analysis Phase• Assessment
Group and individual work
• Induction• Planning Phase• Investigation Phase• Analysis Phase• Assessment
• Assessment Design
Interaction between groups
Day 1Morning: • PBL activity (groups);
• Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
Group Formation
• Assigned or free-formed?
• Random or structured?
• Rotation rate?
Group Formation
Authentic Assessment
Restricted access (selection/winner takes all)
Competence or mastery of content
Competence or mastery of process
Potential (The Apprentice)
Group process
What is assessment for?
Group process
Assessment types
• Expert witness• Pitch• Podcast• Poster • Report to ….• Conference presentation
Telescope project
Water pipes in the desert
There is too much data or too many experiments for each group to carry out the whole project alone.
Presentations and reports are required to exchange information.
Authentic Assessment
Pitfalls: • Over-assessment• Staff time• Free-loaders• Identifying contributions
Solution: • Group work as culture (co-operative learning)
not method
Problems of Group Assessment
Pedagogies of engagement: Classroom-Based Practices, Smith et al J Eng Educ Jan 2005
Day 1Morning: • PBL activity (groups);
• Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
Evaluation
• Course data
• Concept testing
• Questionnaires
• Focus groups
• Observation
Day 1Morning: • PBL activity (groups);
• Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
Day 1Morning: • PBL activity (groups);
• Evaluation - characteristics of PBL (plenary feedback)
Afternoon: • Problem writing (lecture 1 hour followed by group activity)
Day 2
Morning: • Delegate presentations;• Assessing PBL (presentation, 30 mins, discussion)
Afternoon:• Problem development (groups) and consultancy
(individual);• PBL facilitation (presentation and discussion); • Evaluating PBL & Delegate presentations
Day 3Morning: • Selected delegate problems tried out and discussed
Afternoon: • Q&A: Promoting PBL• Summary and feedback
Promoting PBL