Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Problem Based Learning (PBL)

a presentation by Donna Mastroianni, December 3, 2014

Solving the complex problems of today requires teamwork, problem solving, research and synthesis. In this workshop, participants learned how to design and assess PBL lessons for their students.  

Donna Mastroianni, Biology Professor

What motivated you to begin implementing PBL?
I remember the day I decided that there had to be another way to teach like it was yesterday. I had great visuals, organized notes and some classroom activities to complete. I was explaining a concept and looked out into the crowd and saw disengaged students. That night I started researching different pedagogy.
How did you discover PBL?
I was searching for a more interactive method to teach Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) when I stumbled upon several articles about Problem Based Learning. One of these sites was at the University of Delaware (UD). UD had recently transformed many of their undergraduate courses by implementing PBL. I attended a conference there and was inspired. 
How has PBL positively impacted teaching and learning in your classroom?
In PBL the problems are used to motivate students to identify and research concepts they need to know to work through the problem. PBL requires the student to think critically and to be able to analyze information presented. PBL also requires students to work cooperatively in groups and to demonstrate effective verbal and written communication. 
PBL days in the classroom are noisy and require more energy than lecturing.  
What are the biggest challenges to PBL?
I think the biggest challenge for the instructor is relinquishing control in the classroom. I still struggle with this. I think as an educator you have to be ok with not covering as much content as you would in a straight lecture class. The trade off is students learn things in more depth, with better understanding and there is an increased chance the concept will stay with them longer.
I think it is also difficult at times to sit back and let the students figure things out on their own. You have to be ok with letting them flounder a little, knowing you can fill in the missing pieces or clear up misconceptions at the end of the problem.
Another challenge is resistance from the students. Many students do not enjoy working in groups due to social reasons or because they do not want the group work to affect their grade.
What advice do you have for your colleagues interested in PBL?
I think if you are interested in PBL but hesitant to try it, I would start small and implement one problem in your course.  There are so many resources out there that you don’t even have to write the problem. It is worth taking the chance. I am happy to meet with anyone who is interested in PBL.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I’m often asked,  “How do you assess what they’ve learned?”
The simplest way is to incorporate the concepts of the problem into tests and quiz questions, but there are many other assessment tools to measure mastery of the material. I always have test questions on each problem, but I also have the students produce some type of ‘product’ to show mastery. It can be a group project or an individual project. The project could be a group power point presentation, a poster, an infographic, a podcast or writing a newspaper article, etc. I also have the students anonymously grade their group mates on effort and teamwork for every problem. This helps to insure that no one gets a free ride and that group mates are held accountable for their actions and contribution to the workings of the group. There are a lot of resources available for organizing groups.

Resources: 
Problem-Based Learning at the University of Delaware - Register to access their clearinghouse to find great problems for your class.

Faculty participants working on a "problem"


Faculty participants discussing a "problem"

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