Problem-based
learning (PBL) is
a student-centered instructional strategy in which students collaboratively
solve problems and reflect on their experiences. It was pioneered and used
extensively at McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada as well
as the Monterrey Institute of Technology ITESM.
The Materials department at Queen Mary,
University of London was the first Materials department in the UK to introduce
PBL.[1]
PBL is based on the educational theories of Vygotsky,
Dewey, and others, and is related to social-cultural constructivist theories of
learning and instructional design.
Characteristics of PBL are:
·
Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended, ill-defined and ill-structured,
practical problems.
·
Students generally work in collaborative groups. Problem based learning
environments may be designed for individual learning.
·
Teachers take on the role as "facilitators" of learning.
·
Instructional activities are based on learning strategies involving
semantic reasoning, case based reasoning, analogical reasoning, causal
reasoning, and inquiry reasoning, These activities include creating stories;
reasoning about cases; concept mapping; causal mapping; cognitive hypertext crisscrossing;
analogy making; and question generating;
In PBL, students are encouraged to
take responsibility for their group and organize and direct the learning
process with support from a tutor or instructor. Advocates of PBL claim it can
be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of
communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skill.
PBL positions students in simulated real world working
and professional contexts which involve policy, process, and ethical problems that
will need to be understood and resolved to some outcome. By working through a
combination of learning strategies to discover the nature of a problem,
understanding the constraints and options to its resolution, defining the input
variables, and understanding the viewpoints involved, students learn to
negotiate the complex sociological nature of the problem and how competing
resolutions may inform decision-making.
Support systems, which include resources germane to the
problem domain as well as instructional staff, are provided to scaffold
students skills "just in time" and within their learning comfort zone
(Vygotsky's Zone of Proximity)
Cognitive effects of problem-based learning
The acquisition and structuring of knowledge in PBL is
thought to work through the following cognitive effects (Schmidt, 1993):
·
initial analysis of the problem and activation of prior knowledge through
small-group discussion
·
elaboration on prior knowledge and active processing of new information
·
restructuring of knowledge, construction of a semantic network
·
social knowledge construction
·
learning in context
·
stimulation of curiosity related to presentation of a relevant problem
Project-based learning
Project-based
learning, or PBL
(often "PjBL" to avoid confusion with "Problem-based
Learning"), is the use of classroom projects, intended to bring about deep
learning, where students use technology and inquiry to engage with issues and
questions that are relevant to their lives. These classroom projects are used
to assess student's subject matter competence compared to traditional testing.
Purpose
Project-based
learning (PBL): best defined as instruction relating
questions and technology relative to the students everyday lives to classroom
projects. Students form their own investigation of their own group which allows
students to develop valuable research skills. The students engage in design,
problem solving, decision making, and investigative activities. It allows
students to work in groups or by themselves and allows them to come up with
ideas and realistic solutions or presentations. Students take a problem and
apply it to a real life situation with these projects.
Structure
Project-based learning(PjBL): is an
approach for classroom activity that emphasizes learning activities that are
long-term, interdisciplinary and student-centered. This approach is generally
less structured than traditional, teacher-led classroom activities; in a
project-based class, students often must organize their own work and manage
their own time. Within the project based learning framework students
collaborate, working together to make sense of what is going on. Project-based
instruction differs from inquiry-based activity by its emphasis on
collaborative learning. Additionally, project-based instruction differs from
traditional inquiry by its emphasis on students' own artifact construction to
represent what is being learned.
Elements
The core idea of project-based
learning is that real-world problems capture students' interest and provoke
serious thinking as the students acquire and apply new knowledge in a
problem-solving context. The teacher plays the role of facilitator, working
with students to frame worthwhile questions, structuring meaningful tasks,
coaching both knowledge development and social skills, and carefully assessing
what students have learned from the experience. Advocates assert that
project-based learning helps prepare students for the thinking and collaboration
skills required in the workplace.
Activities
When used with 21st century
tools/skills [1], Project Based Learning (PBL) is more than
just a web-quest or internet research task. Within this type of project,
students are expected to use technology in meaningful ways to help them
investigate, collaborate, analyze, synthesize and present their learning. Where
technology is infused throughout the project, a more appropriate term for the
pedagogy can be referred to as iPBL
(copyright 2006, ITJAB), to reflect the emphasis of technological
tools/skills AND academic content.
Roles
PBL relies on learning groups. Student
groups determine their projects, in so doing, they engage student voice by encouraging students to take
full responsibility for their learning. This is what makes PBL constructivist.
Students work together to accomplish specific goals.
Outcomes
More important than learning science,
students need to learn to work in a community, thereby taking on social
responsibilities. The most significant contributions of PBL have been in
schools languishing in poverty stricken areas; when students take
responsibility, or ownership, for their learning, their self-esteem soars. It
also helps to create better work habits and attitudes toward learning. In
standardized tests, languishing schools have been able to raise their testing
grades a full level by implementing PBL. Although students do work in groups,
they also become more independent because they are receiving little instruction
from the teacher. With Project-Based Learning students also learn skills that
are essential in higher education. The students learn more than just finding
answers, PBL allows them to expand their minds and think beyond what they
normally would. Students have to find answers to questions and combine them
using critically thinking skills to come up with answers.
Criticism
(This section
needs citations for these statements and claims.)
Given that Project Based Learning has been almost exclusively implemented
in poverty stricken communities the main criticism is that it constitutes
experimenting on the poor like they are lab rats. In the many attempts to implement
PBL in wealthy school districts have failed primarily because the wealthy
understand that traditional teaching methods have developed over thousands of
years and have the widespread support of Academia (i.e. university professors).
In contrast PBL has developed exclusively from the field of education whose
primary goal is to establish the relevance of their own field.
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