Enough theory. Let's talk about how to implement PBL in YOUR classroom. First, let's look at a basic outline of the PBL process. North Carolina State University (2002) visually describes the process using the diagram below.

According to NCSU, problems proposed for PBL exercises should be "complex and should attempt to exemplify real world scenarios". In addition, problems should be of "sufficient complexity to lack obvious solutions" (para. 4). Problems can be drawn from recent news, ongoing local issues, subjects that have an impact on the school and/or the students, or issues that are important within the context of the students' own lives. Problems should be open ended and downright "murky", because more ill-defined problems require more intensive effort on the part of the students.

You and your students can probably come up with scores of possible questions, but some typical ones might be:

• The advantages/disadvantages of year-round schooling
• Driver compliance with speed laws in the local school zone
• Layout of a new computer lab
• Restoration of a local wetlands area
• The seismic history of a given area
• U.S. immigration trends since 1800

     You get the point. The problem can be specific to a given subject, or be interdisciplinary. Problems that arise in the real world are rarely neat and tidy; the skills developed during these exercises will be put to good use in the students' working lives. You can develop the problem statements, or you can draw on those developed by others, or you can even guide the students in developing their own problem statements.

Keep in mind that whatever the problem, the learning goals must be well defined in advance and support some curricular standard. While you may not define the problem yourself, you must guide your students in such a way that their investigation eventually leads them to the goals that you HAVE defined. 

The University of Delaware provides some guidelines for designing problem-based lessons:

1.  Does the problem engage the students' interest? Will it motivate them to pursue and explore the concepts deeply? 
2.  Is the problem cast in a context familiar to the students? Is it based on a real-world situation, scenario, or controversy? 
3.  Is the problem staged well? Is the problem developed so that student interest builds? 
4.  Is the information provided adequate to solve the problem? Is too much information provided? Too little? 
5.  Does the complexity and length of the problem promote cooperative learning? 
6.  Are some questions associated with the problem open-ended? 
7.  Are the problems questions capable of challenging students at higher Bloom levels, of promoting development of higher-order thinking skills?

     If you are generating the problem statements, you can present them to the students through classroom presentation, handouts, or even a WebQuest. Try to reflect the way a question would be encountered in the real world, such as a newspaper story or a communication from higher management. This is first and foremost supposed to be authentic learning.

    At this stage you should also have formed the students into learning teams; PBL is best executed collaboratively, and team building and participation skills are key talents valued in corporate life. Collaboration also results in a higher quality end product and increased learning as students are both exposed to the ideas of others and have their own ideas enhanced by the input of their teammates. Team formation should probably be done by you, for a couple of reasons. First, students are more socially than academically oriented, so student-formed teams are likely to be imbalanced academically. Second, research shows that the most effective learning teams are made up of students of varying skills. Each team should have members of high, average, and low academic ability. If possible, student skills should be complementary, perhaps matching a student who excels at research with another who can write well and another who has some artistic ability. Students may need a little guidance from you if the team members are unable to quickly assume the necessary roles.

Dr. Larry Spence (2006) of Penn State offers some good advice regarding the formation of teams. First, the size of the team will impact the project. Larger teams can handle more complex problems but require more resources, such as increased in-class meeting time. Smaller teams are less demanding on resources but lack the breadth of knowledge and expertise of larger teams, necessitating less complex tasks. Second, the homogeneity of teams can affect the division of work. More homogeneous teams have more complementary skills, but can result in too much competition between teams and members of teams. More heterogeneous teams offer a broader range of skills but may lead to the workload being divided along traditional lines instead of shared, and the chance that less-capable learners may be overlooked. Only you can decide which is right for your students.

    So your teams are formed and the problems have been defined, however loosely. Let's get to the fun stuff.

 

Next Page - Just the facts, ma'am...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

North Carolina State University. (2002). PBL design. Retrieved October 14, 2007 from http://www.ncsu.edu/pbl/design.html.

Spence, L. (2006). Guidelines for student teams. Working in Teams. Retrieved November 17, 2007 from http://pbl.ist.psu.edu/teamwork/guidelines.php.

University of Delaware. (n.d.). Problem-based learning clearinghouse. Retrieved December 28, 2007 from http://www.udel.edu/pblc/reviewers/.