Running head: PBI IN MY CLASSROOM

Why I Will Use Problem Based Instruction

In My Classroom
Silas Schaeffer
University of Kansas

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Abstract

This paper provides a summary of the reasons why I will use Problem Based Instruction (PBI) in
my classroom. The first reason is that it will keep students more engaged through collaboration
and student choice. Next, I will discuss evidence that indicates that PBI is linked with higher
student achievement on tests and increased verbal ability. Another benefit discussed is PBIs
ability to connect academic content knowledge to the students life while providing the necessary
teacher scaffolding needed for the student to succeed.

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Why I Will Use Problem Based Instruction

In My Classroom
Attend graduate school in Kansas? Few things were further from my mind one year ago
when I contemplated this potential life-changing move. I considered factors such as the cost of
tuition, of rent, what my source of income would be, and many other poignant questions as they
arose. Some answers I found out by means of the internet or technology, while at other times I
asked friends, family, university professors, and others for advice on certain issues. Having
gained all necessary pieces of information, I moved. Does this process sound familiar? It is how
we generally make big decisions, and it is also the foundation for Problem Based Instruction
(PBI). The last several years, I have taught students ranging from elementary through high
school, primarily in the subject of history. I assigned many projects that were geared around the
students interests but none that would contain all of the components essential in Problem Based
Instruction (Bender, 2012). I would use Problem Based Instruction in my classroom because of
the increase in student engagement and achievement, the connection to real life, and the
scaffolding that is provided to help the student succeed.
Student Engagement
Last year I taught a high school American History class and it was very hard to engage the
students in discussion. Mergendoller, Maxwell, and Bellismo conducted a study on high school
economic students, the posttests of which the post-tests showed that students actually preferred
learning by means of Problem Based Instruction (2006). Furthermore, Cruickshank and Olander
found that college students in their experimental labs at Northern Arizona University reported a
higher level of student engagement when they switched over from ordinary teaching methods to
those proposed by advocates of Problem Based Instruction (2002). Hmelo-Silver, Duncan and

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Chinn point out that PBI removes mental stress from the student, thus freeing their mind more to
engage with the material at hand (2007).
Currently I am employed by the University of Kansas as a graduate teaching assistant for
the department of Curriculum and Teaching. This year I am assisting with the introduction to
education class and thus the findings of the Cruickshank and Olander study were of particular
interest to me. Oftentimes, PBI is relegated to the ranks of primary schools where it undoubtedly
works well, but it is too quickly dismissed at the collegiate level, where students so quickly
disengage to browse the internet if confronted by constant lecture. Furthermore, the research
conducted in the economics classroom has direct bearing on my own teaching, as economics is
often included in social studies. Last year I taught a joint government and economics course, and
it is an important topic when discussing American History as well because so many historical
decisions are based primarily on economics. It is good to have a practical example and research
on the efficacy of PBI in a context that is so close to my own, which will give me confidence
upon implementing such a system in my own classroom.
Student Achievement
When my students perform poorly on an assignment, I want to know what went wrong
and what I can do to help them better. What if the answer was a switch in methodology from
traditional methodology to that of Problem Based Instruction. In a thorough meta-analysis,
Dochy, Segers, Bossche, and Gijbels analyzed forty-three other studies and found notable
positive improvements on their long-term memory (2003). Furthermore, a Cruickshank and
Olander study showed a positive correlation between the implementation of PBI and higher
achievement on exam scores (2002). If PBI is generally correlated with great gains in long term
knowledge acquisition and achievement, why would I use anything else in my classroom?

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Connection to Real Life

When I found out that I would shortly be going into the classroom to teach, I paid more
attention in my pedagogy cases at the University. Research would indicate that students typically
do better when they can connect the knowledge they are learning with something that is
immediately relevant to their lives (Wilson, 1996). This connection is harbored by means of an
anchor activity and allows for students to be hooked into the particular project in an authentic
way from the very beginning. Savery and Duffy also point out the importance of allowing
students to collaborate in small groups because this is what they will be doing when they leave
school (Wilson, 1996). Dr. Bender points out the importance of the students having an audience
outside of their immediate classroom teacher and peers to whom they can present (Bender,
2012). Because PBI connects to the real world and prepares them for college and their future
careers, it is a technique that I would use in my classroom in order to give my students the best
possible foundation to succeed.
Scaffolding
Last year I gave a very open-ended final project for my high school World History
students. I wanted them to pick any topic in world history that they had studied and design a
project of their choice around that topic. The idea had merit in that it brought in student choice
into the factoring, but I did not give them the necessary support by means of scaffolding that PBI
suggests, and thus the project was not as successful as it might have been. Studies have shown
the great value of the teacher providing feedback to students by means of questioning students
and facilitator-like support (Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, Chinn, 2007). Savery and Duffy saw the role
of the teacher in providing necessary scaffolding as being invaluable in aiding the student in their
social construction of knowledge (Wilson, 1996). I want to use Problem Based Instruction in my

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classroom because this model of education provides the necessary support that my students will
need in order to succeed.
Conclusion
Based off of research studies and my own personal experiences, I would want to use
Problem Based Instruction in my classroom. It increases student engagement by making them
active learners instead of passively receiving knowledge from the teacher. PBI has also been
shown to boost student achievement by increasing student retention over the long-term. This
strategy anchors knowledge for the students to real life that will further motivate the student as
they see the relevancy of the subject-matter in their own life. Finally, PBI provides the necessary
support by means of scaffolding to allow the student a chance to struggle and yet succeed in their
real-life-project. Because of all of these reasons, I want to use Problem Based Instruction in my
classroom.

PBI IN MY CLASSROOM

References
Cruickshank, B. J., & Olander, J. (2002). Can problem-based instruction stimulate higher order
thinking? Journal of College Science Teaching, 31(6), 374-377.

This was a study conducted at Northern Arizona University in order to stimulate collegelevel science students to use higher-level thinking when using their time in the lab. This
was a qualitative, observational study, with activities based on the six levels of learning
proposed by Benjamin Bloom commonly known as Blooms Taxonomy.

The authors admit that, based on their limited data and qualitative nature of assessment,
their findings are at best speculation. Based on a series of interviews with the students in
the science lab class, they determined that students had an increased level of interest in
the class and there were no unexcused absences. Despite the successes in attitude,
students written analysis and analysis presentations did not improve. They did find
favorable results in the outcome of the final exams though once again admit that it is too
early to draw any definite conclusions from their data.

Dochy, F., Segers, M., Bossche, P., & Gijbels, D. (2003). Effects Of Problem-based Learning: A
Meta-analysis. Learning and Instruction, 533-568.

Through this meta-analysis, the authors collected forty-three different articles on research
that was done in the classroom, and found the results to be overwhelmingly in the favor
of project based learning having a positive impact on student learning. An important

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finding from this study was that students gained less knowledge short-term, but acquired
more in their long-term memory.

The study found no negative effects on the acquisition of student knowledge and its
subsequent impact on the acquiring of skills. Based on studies done thus far the results
that affirm long-term effectiveness and support immediate and lasting results for students
in their future academic endeavors. This is possibly due to the repeated elaboration of
knowledge that in turn boosts the acquisition and recall for any given student exposed to
such deliberately controlled circumstances.

Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and Achievement in
Problem-Based and Inquiry Learning: A Response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006).
Educational Psychologist, 42(2), 99-107.

One of the main purposes of this article, as suggested in the title, is to correct what the
authors believe to be a misunderstanding reached as the result of a previously completed
research study. To correct the errors in this study, the authors first delineate between
inquiry learning and problem based learning. After making this distinction, the authors
demonstrate the efficacy of IL and PBL.

The authors see one of the major advantages of project based learning to be the extensive
scaffolding that is part and parcel with this style of learning. The scaffolding takes mental
stress off of the learner, freeing him or her up to absorb content and other information.

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The authors cite evidence from longitudinal research studies performed on medical
students, some of the results confirm the claim and usefulness of PBL.

Mergendoller, J. R. , Maxwell, N. L. , & Bellisimo, Y. (2006). The Effectiveness of ProblemBased Instruction: A Comparative Study of Instructional Methods and Student Characteristics.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(2).

The authors tested how well a group of high school students understood and were
interested in macroeconomics. Four high schools were chosen in northern California and
the teachers taught the same macroeconomic content to multiple classes, using traditional
and PBL methods. The general results of the study suggest the efficacy of problem based
learning based on the increased verbal ability shown by the students based on post-tests
proctored by the researchers.

In four out of the five teachers, the research showed statistically significant data that
correlated the students enrolled in the PBL classes as being connected to higher
achievement in the four tested categories. Not only did students on average achieve more
highly on the designed assessments, but surveys indicated that students generally
preferred PBL and found it more engaging than traditional instruction.

Wilson, B. (1996). Problem Based Learning: An Instructional Model and Its Constructivist
Framework. In Constructivist Learning Environments: Case studies in Instructional Design.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications.

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In this chapter written by Savery and Duffy, they briefly outline the principle tenets of
constructivism. Savery and Duffy draw heavily on the works of Rorty and vonGlaserfeld
as they explain that constructivists hold that one cannot separate the knowledge that one
learns apart from the environment in which that information is acquired. Furthermore,
knowledge requires a stimulus and changes based on interactions with others.
Problem based learning is grounded in constructivism. The authors demonstrate the
importance of anchoring an activity in a real-life problem which will serve as the
stimulus to allow the child to further grow. Also, the collaboration with peers which is an
essential component of PBL, provides a framework in which a student may construct
knowledge and evolve their prior constructions. The student should be encouraged to take
ownership of their own work with the teacher facilitating the learners growth.