PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

INTRODUCTION
 The last several decades have seen monumental change in all aspects of our lives—how we
communicate, conduct business, access information, and use technology. Today, our students must be
prepared to function in a very different working world than existed even ten years ago. The problems that
these future professionals will be expected to solve will cross disciplinary boundaries, and will
demand innovative approaches and complex problem-solving skills. With few exceptions, college and
university faculty embark upon the business of teaching with very little instruction or training in
pedagogy: we simply teach as we were taught

 What worked in the classroom a decade (or two or three) ago, however, will
no longer suffice, for the simple reason that past approaches fail to develop the
full battery of skills and abilities desired in a contemporary college graduate.
Important characteristics of
quality performance
 High-level skills in communication, computation, technological literacy,
and information retrieval to enable individuals to gain and apply new knowledge
and skills as needed
 The ability to arrive at informed judgments—that is, to effectively define
problems, gather and evaluate information related to those problems, and
develop solutions

 The ability to function in a global community through the possession of a

range of attitudes and dispositions including flexibility and adaptability, ease
with diversity, motivation and persistence (for example, being a self-starter),
ethical and civil behavior, creativity and resourcefulness, and the ability to work
with others, especially in team settings
 Technical competence in a given field

 Demonstrated ability to deploy all of the previous characteristics to address

specific problems in complex, real-world settings, in which the development of
workable solutions is required

The Carnegie Foundation’s report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A

Blueprint for America’s Research Universities (1998) stated that “traditional
 lectures and note-taking were created for a time when books were scarce and
costly and lecturing to large numbers of students was an efficient means of
transferring knowledge.” Lecturing is still efficient and has persisted as the
traditional teaching method largely because it is familiar, easy, and how
we learned. It does little, however, to foster the development of process skills
to complement content knowledge.

 Problem-based learning is one of many active approaches to learning that

make student learning and self-direction central components.
 In a response to the growing dissatisfaction with the traditional teacher-
centred paradigm
 An increasing focus by government and professions on what it is that
students are able to do as a result of a university education

The basic principle supporting the concept of

PBL is older than formal education itself; namely, learning is initiated by a posed
problem, query, or puzzle that the learner wants to solve (Boud & Feletti,
1991). In the problem-based approach, complex, real-world problems are
used to motivate students to identify and research the concepts and
principles they need to know to work through those problems. Students work
in small learning teams, bringing together collective skill at acquiring,
communicating, and integrating information.

 Problem-based learning is thus an approach to learning that is characterized

by flexibility and diversity in the sense that it can be implemented in a variety of
ways in and across different subjects and disciplines in diverse contexts. As such it
can therefore look very different to different people at different moments in time
depending on the staff and students involved in the programmes utilizing it.
However, what will be similar will be the focus of learning around problem
scenarios rather than discrete subjects.
(Savin-Baden, 2000: 3)

 Walton and Matthews (1989), for example, have argued that problem-based
learning is to be understood as a general educational strategy or even as a
philosophy rather than merely as a teaching approach. They believe that there is
no fixed agreement as to what does and does not constitute problem-based
learning. However they have argued that for problem-based learning to be present,
three components must be able to be differentiated

 The three broad areas of differentiation are

as follows:
• essential CHARACTERISTICS of problem-based learning that comprised
curricula organization around problems rather than disciplines, an integrated
curriculum and an emphasis on cognitive skills;
• CONDITIONS that facilitated problem-based learning such as small
groups, tutorial instruction, and active learning;
• OUTCOMES that were facilitated by problem-based learning such as the
development of skills and motivation, together with the development of the ability
to be life-long learners.
Problem-based instruction helps
 Think critically and be able to analyze and solve complex, real-world
problems
 Find, evaluate, and use appropriate learning resources

 Work cooperatively in teams and small groups

 Demonstrate versatile and effective communication skills, both verbal and

written
 Use content knowledge and intellectual skills acquired at the university to
become continual learners
Characteristics of PBL

 Complex, real world situations that have no one ‘right’ answer are the
organizing focus for learning.
 Students work in teams to confront the problem, to identify learning gaps,
and to develop viable solutions.
 Students gain new information though self-directed learning.

 Staff act as facilitators.

 Problems lead to the development of clinical problem-solving capabilities.

Maastricht seven steps to problem-based learning
• Clarify and agree working definitions, unclear terms and concepts.

• Define the problem and agree which phenomena require explanation.

• Analyse the problems (brainstorm).

• Arrange explanations into a tentative solution.

• Generate and prioritize learning objectives.

• Research the objectives through private study.

• Report back, synthesize explanations and apply new information to the

original problems.
The PBL Cycle (Process)
 Students are presented with a problem (case, research paper, videotape, for example).
Students working in permanent groups organize their ideas and previous knowledge related to
the problem and attempt to define the broad nature of the problem.

 Throughout discussion, students pose questions called “learning issues” that delineate
aspects of the problem that they do not understand. These learning issues are recorded by the
group and help generate and focus discussion. Students are continually encouraged to define
what they know and—more importantly—what they don’t know.

 Students rank, in order of importance, the learning issues generated in the session. They decide
which questions will be followed up by the whole group and which issues can be assigned to individuals,
who later teach the rest of the group. Students and instructor also discuss what resources will be needed to
research the learning issues and where they could be found.

 When students reconvene, they explore the previous learning issues, integrating their new
knowledge into the context of the problem. Students are also encouraged to summarize their knowledge
and connect new concepts to old ones. They continue to define new learning issues as they progress
through the problem. Students soon see that learning is an ongoing process and that there will always be
(even for the teacher) learning issues to be explored.
Types of knowledge or types of problem?
 Early work by Schmidt and Bouhuijs (1980) defined problems in a typology

Working in a shifting and complex world

 Some time ago a story was told at a conference. The speaker suggested that
by the time we left at the end of his hour-long session 10 per cent of what we had
learned would no longer be up to date, and that in a year’s time at the end of an
hour’s lecture 40 per cent of what we had learned would not be up to date. Thus in
five years’ time students would go into a lecture theatre and what was up to date
during the lecture would be out of date by the time they came out of it! This may
be just anecdotal but there is a point.

What is a problem-based learning curriculum?

 Curricula where problem-based learning is central to the learning are in fact largely
constructivist in nature because students make decisions about what counts as knowledge and
knowing

 When adopting problem-based learning, the extent to which the curriculum is designed is
an important concern

 Curriculum design thus impinges upon tutors’ and students’ roles and responsibilities and
the ways in which learning and knowledge are perceived. There has been little discussion about
the design of problem-based curricula.

 More recently Conway and Little (2000) have suggested that problem-based learning tends to be
utilized as either an instructional strategy or as a curriculum design
Instructional strategy is where problem-based learning is largely seen as another teaching approach that
can be mixed in with other approaches. Thus, it tends to be used within a subject or as a component
of a programme or module, where other subjects may be delivered through lectures. In an
integrated problem-based learning curriculum, there is a sense of problem-based learning being a
philosophy of curriculum design that promotes an integrated approach to both curriculum design
and learning. Here students encounter one problem at a time and each problem drives the learning.
Pure model Vs Hybrid model.
 PURE: the whole curriculum is problem-based and is modelled on the
McMaster version of problembased learning, whereby students meet in small
teams and do not receive lectures or tutorials;
 HYBRID: inclusion of fixed resource sessions such as lectures and tutorials
which are designed to support students. Lectures may be timetabled in advance or
may be requested by the students at various points in the module or programme
Eight curricula modes in operation
 Not only are many academics changing their approaches to teaching, but
also that problem-based learning continues to be implemented willy-nilly as an
instructional approach rather than being seen as an approach that requires
embedding as a curriculum philosophy and design.
 Curricula are varied both across disciplines and cultures in terms of length
and design
Mode 1: Single module approach
 In this approach, problem-based learning is implemented in one module (possibly two) in
one year of a programme, invariably the last year. The lecturer who runs the module is interested
in improving student learning and improving students’ ability to think critically, something she
believes they may not have done, or not done enough of elsewhere in the degree.

 Here students engage with one problem at a time and meet two or three times with the
tutor over the course of each problem. Supporting lectures may appear infrequently, if ever, but
the tutor may act as resource for the team.
Mode 2: Problem-based learning on
a shoestring
 This type of problem-based learning occurs with minimal cost and interruption to other areas of
the programme. It is usually undertaken by a few tutors who are keen to implement it, with resistance on
the part of other tutors; so it is done quietly and cheaply. It is a model that can be seen in many subjects
and disciplines and tends to occur where it has been agreed by the head of department that some tutors
can use problem-based learning in some areas of the curriculum.

 It tends to be implemented in modules run by tutors interested in it and avoided by those who
disagree with it.

 Thus, the problems used tend to be subject- or discipline-based and rarely transcend disciplinary
boundaries.
Mode 3: The funnel approach
In this mode, the decision has been made by the curriculum design team or head of department to design
the curriculum in a way that enables students to be funnelled away from a more familiar, lecture-
based approach, towards a problem-based learning approach. They commence with lecture-based
learning in the first year, then move on to problem-solving learning in their second year and then
problem-based learning in their final year. Thus in the first year, students will receive lectures and
tutorials and attend tutor-led seminars. The second year will comprise problems that are set within,
 and bounded by, a discrete subject or disciplinary area. In this year students will be expected to
discover the answers expected by the tutor, answers that rooted in the information supplied to them
through lectures, workshops and seminars.
Mode 4: The foundational approach
 The foundational approach is invariably one that is seen in science and engineering curricula.
Here it is assumed that some knowledge is necessarily foundational to other knowledge and, therefore, it
needs to be taught to the students before they can begin to solve problems. Thus, in the first year of a
programme adopting this approach, the focus is on providing students with lectures, tutorial and
laboratory time that will enable them to understand the required knowledge and concepts. In the second
and third year, students then utilize problem-based learning. One of the underlying principles of this
approach is the assumption that if basic concepts are taught first, then the knowledge will be
decontextualized and will, therefore, be available in the students’ memories for use in solving new
problems.
Mode 5: The two-strand approach
 In the two-strand approach, problem-based learning is seen by tutors as a
vital component of the curriculum that has been designed to maximize the use of
both problem-based learning and other learning methods simultaneously. This
approach also tends to be adopted in universities where tutors might want to
implement problem-based learning wholesale across the curriculum but are
prevented from doing so because the curriculum is serviced by other disciplines.
Mode 6: Patchwork problem-based learning
 The patchwork approach is a complex mode that students often experience as difficult or
confusing. Here the whole curriculum is designed using problem- based learning, but due to institutional
requirements, the modules do not run consecutively but concurrently.

 This mode often emerges out of the combination of prescriptive university requirements for
curricula to be defined in particular ways, and tutors feeling that they need to cover vast amounts of
material within particular modules. This mode may also be seen when students, particularly in the USA
system, choose to undertake only problem-based learning modules to make up their programme, resulting
in a patchwork of knowledge and experience.
Mode 7: The integrated approach
 The integrated approach is based on the principle that problem-based
learning is not merely a strategy but a curriculum philosophy. In practice,
relatively few examples of this mode of curriculum exist, although it is an
approach that many espouse.
 The curriculum exists in an integrated fashion so that all the problems are
sequential and are linked both to one another and across disciplinary boundaries.
Students are equipped for the programme through explanations of the approach and
team-building activities
Mode 8: The complexity model
 It seeks to embed his theorizing in a view of curriculum that reflects the fragmented
world of both the learners and the curriculum designers. This mode is an approach to curriculum
design that transcends subjects, disciplines and university curriculum impositions, and embraces
knowledge, self, actions and curriculum organizing principles.

 This form of problem-based learning is one that seeks to provide for the students a kind
of higher education that offers, within the curriculum, multiple models of action, knowledge,
reasoning and reflection, along with opportunities for the students to challenge, evaluate and
interrogate them.

 There are more similarities than differences between the two PBLs

 Similar pedagogic concerns influenced the development of both.

 In 1916, Education and social reformer John Dewey in Democracy and

Education, declared, “Education is not an affair of ‘telling’ and being told, but an
active and constructive process” (Dewey, 1997).

 Both problem- and project-based learning press students beyond knowledge

acquisition, causing them to engage in critical thinking in order to construct their
own meaning by applying what they have learned.
 Both project- and problem-based experiences launch from an open ended
question, scenario, or challenge.
 Neither states the steps to a solution; instead, they cause learners to interpret
and plan an approach they may repeatedly revisit and revise.

 Both methods ask students to operate in the manner of professionals.

 In problem-based learning, this has students approaching problems in the

way that scientists, mathematicians, economists, computer scientists, and other
“pros” do.
 In project-based learning, students adopt the “mantle of the expert,” too, but
even more broadly. In projects, students are likely to read, research, work in teams,
consult experts, use a variety of technologies, write, create media, and speak
publicly in the process of the learning cycle.
Distinguishing Problems From Projects
 Differences have to do with the focus, duration, and outcomes of each.

 A problem-based inquiry frequently focuses on a mathematics or science problem, and

study is completed in one or several class periods. Project-based learning is often intentionally
interdisciplinary, and the duration of a unit of study may range from several days to multiple
weeks.

 In problem-based learning, the path to answers might vary, but there is a desired right
answer (or answers) at the end. In project-based learning, the processes, and thereby the
outcomes, are more diffuse.
The shift to PBLonline
 The objective of combining problem-based learning and interactive media is in itself
complex. Terms such as ‘computer mediated problem-based learning’ and ‘online problem-based
learning’ have been used to define forms of problem-based learning that utilize computers in
some way.

 However, this is problematic since it offers little indication about the ways in which
computers are being used, the areas of interaction of the students, the quality of the learning
materials or the extent to which any of these fit with problem based learning

 Furthermore, there are other issues which need to be addressed, such as developing tutors’
online facilitation capabilities, providing some synchronous events to support students, encouraging
collaborative interactive participation and finding ways of engaging students who seldom participate
in the online problem-based learning team.

 There has also been much criticism, in the last decade, because the focus in interactive media
environments has been on technological rather than pedagogical design. There have been suggestions
of a need for re-engineering the concept of learning design rather than just a simplistic repackaging of
course content into interactive media formats
Advantages of online PBL

 Changes in university cultures (such as split site campuses and universities

with large student numbers) mean that PBLonline offers students space to learn in
teams even though they may be dispersed geographically.
 PBLonline creates a new type of learning community that is different from
real time problem-based learning teams.
 It is sometimes easier to challenge and confront peers through computer
mediated problem-based learning than it is to do so face-to-face.

 It has been argued that computer mediated communication can provide more intense
communication than face-to-face teams, where the lack of social pressure and the greater freedom to
express views enabled participants to react to the content

 PBLonline often provides more opportunity for ‘reflective and thoughtful analysis and review
of earlier contributions’

 PBLonline can help students to use team conferences as an additional central communication
space, as a place for sharing and examining individual perspectives and as a place to manage the work
and administration of the team interaction.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST…
 Can’t see the point of PBLonline;

 Prefer teaching face-to-face anyway;

 See it as being a lot more work;

 Curriculum design for PBLonline is complex and troublesome;

 Introduces identity issues that feel unsafe;

 PBLonline is risky and precarious;

 Using games and play in PBLonline is not part of professional education.