LESSON 3:

A Nature of Project-
Based and Problem-
Based Approaches
Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you will be
able to:

1. discuss the salient features of

problem-based learning and project-
based learning and their application
to the attainment of learning
competencies and learning
outcomes;
2. analyze how technologies for
teaching and learning can be
maximized in problem-based
learning and project-based
learning; and
3. Share some performance
standards from the Curriculum
Guide that can employ problem-
based learning and project-based
learning.
 Nature of Inquiry-Based Learning

• Inquiry, in its simplest definition,

is a process of asking questions.
• Inquiry-Based learning (IBL) as an
approach essentially involves
tasks requiring learner’s active
participation in finding answers to
curricular questions.
• The questions can run from very
specific simple questions to more
complex questions in relation to the
curriculum. Learners are given
opportunities to engage in self-
regulated activities as they pursue
their investigation.
 When to Use
• Chisholm and Godley purport that
inquiry-based instruction (IBI)
offers an especially appropriate
approach to learning about social
studies variation, identity, and
power since IBI can provide
students with opportunities to
learn about current issues in
society through sharing and
debating on a personal experience
from multiple perspectives.
 Types of Inquiry VIU (2020)
presented four types of inquiry that
can be used in facilitating classes.

These are:
1. Structured Inquiry – This lets the
students follow the lead of the
teacher as the entire class engages
in one inquiry together.
2. Controlled Inquiry – The teacher
chooses topics and identifies the
resources that the students will use
to answer questions.
3. Guided Inquiry – The teacher
chooses topics or questions, and
students design the product or
solution.
4. Free Inquiry – Students are
allowed to choose their own
topics without any reference to a
prescribed outcome.
 Role of the Teacher

• The success of IBL largely

depends on the careful planning
of the teacher in relation to the
curriculum. The social studies
teacher needs to look into the
learning competencies that can
be satisfied by a simple inquiry or
more complex inquiry.
• He/she controls and prepares the topic
for investigation and guides the
learners by setting the questions to be
explored. Learners are allowed to
design their own way of investigation
and present their outputs using
technology tools that are afforded to
them. When technology is coupled
with IBL, a gateway to information is
opened and students can have access
to information at anytime and
anywhere.
• It is assumed that the teacher is
knowledgeable of the sources of
information and whether the
learners have access to these
sources.
When designing an IBL, the teacher
has to consider the following fields
proposed by Avsec and Kocijncic:

1. Prior knowledge and capacity

2. Context – Learners require
meaning from experience
3. Content and learning materials
4. Process
5. Strategy of reactions and
behavior
6. Course outcomes
 Role of Technology
The internet or the World Wide Web
offers lots of platforms for mining
information. It has become the most
sought out source of information
because of the variety of tools that
abound. Language is no longer a
barrier in one’s search for
information.
• Depending on the unit of the study
in a social studies, there are many
free educational websites that are
available for the social studies
teachers and learners. Due to the
vastness of sources of information
from the WWW, any social studies
teacher who is using IBL has the
responsibility to direct learners to
websites that provide the proper
information.
• The technology tools that are
made available for the learners,
whether online or offline, should
support the object of inquiry which
is aligned to the learning
competencies in the K to 12
Curriculum.
• It should be noted that the use of
technology in IBL is just one of the
many other sources of information
in the process of inquiry. This does
not exclude the other resources,
human and non-human, in
gathering information.
• However, learners are undeniably
familiar and probably more adept
in exploring the internet. Guiding
them in locating online resources
that are relevant in developing
their research and communication
skills will let them learn the
importance of using educational
resources in an explicit and
implicit way.
 Nature of
Problem-Based
Learning
• Problem-based learning is an
approach that involves a process
of inquiry and solving open-ended
questions that serve as the main
problem that the learners will work
on.
• The type of questions posited is
focused on a specific content
standard and application to real
life issues. It also requires more
than one answer or solution.
• This learning activity is done in
small groups with each member
assigned a certain task to
accomplish.
• In the process of engaging in PBL,
they learn several skills such as
problem-solving communicating,
research, among others which are
essential in the workplace. The
end goal of PBL is to ensure that
the target, the learning
competencies, are achieved in the
process.
• In her article, she proposed the
following five principles of PBL
that may be considered by
teachers in planning or using the
approach:
1. It is a power of independent and
self-directed learning.
2. Learning happens in a group and
teacher is a facilitator.
3. All groups have to participate
equally.
4. Students learn about motivation,
teamwork, problem-solving and
engagement with the task.
5. Materials such as data,
photographs, articles, can be used
to solve the problem.
Proposed a six-stage process used
in the adoption of the online PBL:

1. Identifying the problem – current

issues that do not have just one
answer or one definite solution;
2. Brainstorming – generate ideas;
tackle the problem though self-
directed questioning; arouse
students’ intrinsic motivation;
3. Collecting and analyzing the
information – assigning group
members to collect information;
positing what they found and what
the learned; collaborative collection
of useful information;
4. Synthesizing information – solving
the problem through synthesized
relevant data; knowledge building;
5. Co-building knowledge –
presentation of the solution to the
learning problem/issue; and
6. Refining the outcomes – giving of
feedback and suggestions by the
instructor to help students improve;
learning from other group’s
presentation.
 Benefits of Problem-Based
Learning
Several studies have revealed
positive impacts of PBL on learners
as they engage in the process.
1. Promotes self-confidence and
motivation
2. Reduces student’s nervousness
during the learning process
3. Increases student’s responsibility
in learning
4. Makes students easily learn the
material through sharing of ideas
5. Promotes problem-solving skills
6. Promotes self-directed learning
7. Promotes active learning
8. Makes students explore many
learning resources
9. Makes students develop positive
attitude towards learning
 Role of Technology

How is technology
integrated in the PBL
activity?
• As the learners embark on an
open-ended question
collaboratively, there are a number
of free online tools that they can
use from the commencement of
the task to its completion
especially that some of the group
tasks will be done outside the
regular class hours.
• The teacher acting as facilitator
may also have the opportunity to
peep into the activities of each
learner thereby enabling him/her to
give feedback at any stage of the
PBL activity.
• Bower, Hedberg and Kuswara
stress that technology is simply
the mediator for collaboration and
representation and that is the type
of task and thinking processes in
which students engage that
determine the quality of learning.
• PBL/PBA is a collaborative learning
activity where learners work on an
authentic task guided by an open-
ended question. Each member has
an assigned role that will
contribute to the solution of the
problem that was identified. This
problem refers real issues in their
community or the world at large.
 Past and more recent researches
have proven PBL to be beneficial in
the development of various skills
such as:
1. Research methodology skills. -
Using students feedback
questionnaire given to 99 students,
it was revealed that students’
knowledge of the topic taken,
searching review or the topic,
communication skills, data
collection skills, and analytical and
presentation skills were enhanced.
• The teachers also perceived that
PBL could cause 100%
enhancement of knowledge on the
various components of research
methodology, update of the
knowledge on a particular topic,
and increase in interaction with
students.
2. Oral communicative competence.
The researchers investigated the
effectiveness of using PBL
activities in the improvement of oral
communicative competencies of 44
Malaysian learners. The study
revealed a significant improvement
in the learners after a 12 – week
interventions lesson using PBL as
strategy.
• They also concluded that PBL as a
teaching strategy is effective and
is recommended as suitable Social
Studies teaching strategy specially
for learners with low proficiency.
3. Development of life skills. The
study employed mix-method to
examine the development of life
skills through PBL. Their findings
revealed that after taking the PBL
course, there was a significant
difference in the mean scores for
the following life skills:
responsibility, problem solving, self-
direction, communication, and
creativity skills. It was concluded
that PBL indeed promotes further
development of life skills.
 Summary of the Lesson:
• Inquiry-Based learning (IBL) as an
approach essentially involves
tasks requiring learner’s active
participation in finding answers to
curricular questions. The
questions can run from very
specific simple questions to more
complex questions in relation to
the curriculum.
• Problem-based learning is an
approach that involves a process
of inquiry and solving open-ended
questions that serve as the main
problem that the learners will work
on. The type of questions posited
is focused on a specific content
standard and application to real
life issues.