SUBMITTED TO                                           SUBMITTED BY     

RADHA MISS                                                  SREELAKSHMI.S                                 

                                                                              NATURAL SCIENCE
 

SL NO	CONTENT	PAGE NO
1	INTRODUCTION	3
2	CONTENT	4
3	WHY IS PROBLEM BSED LEARNING IMPORTANT	5
4	WHAT IS PROBLEM BASED      LEARNING	6
5	ADVANTAGES	7
6	DISADVANTAGES	8
7	BENEFITS	9
8	CONCLUSION	10
9	REFERENCE	11

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of problem solving. Students learn both thinking strategies and domain knowledge. The PBL format originated from the medical school of thought, and is now used in other schools of thought too. The goals of PBL are to help the students develop flexible knowledge, effective problem solving skills, self-directed learning, effective collaboration skills and intrinsic motivation.^[1] Problem-based learning is a style of active learning.
Working in groups, students identify what they already know, what they need to know, and how and where to access new information that may lead to resolution of the problem. The role of the instructor (known as the tutor in PBL) is to facilitate learning by supporting, guiding, and monitoring the learning process.^[2] The tutor must build students' confidence to take on the problem, and encourage the students, while also stretching their understanding. PBL represents a paradigm shift from traditional teaching and learning philosophy,^[3] which is more often lecture-based. The constructs for teaching PBL are very different from traditional classroom/lecture teaching.

CONTENT

	History

 

PBL was pioneered in the medical school program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in the late 1960s by Howard Barrows and his colleagues.^[6] Traditional medical education disenchanted students, who perceived the vast amount of material presented in the first three years of medical school as having little relevance to the practice of medicine and clinically based medicine.^[4] The PBL curriculum was developed in order to stimulate the learners, assist the learners in seeing the relevance of learning to future roles, maintain a higher level of motivation towards learning, and to show the learners the importance of responsible, professional attitudes.^[4]
Problem-based learning has subsequently been adopted by other medical school programs,^[4] adapted for undergraduate instruction,^[7][8][9] as well as K-12.^[4][10] The use of PBL has expanded from its initial introduction into medical school programs to include education in the areas of other health sciences, math,law, education, economics, business, social studies, and engineering.^[10] The use of PBL, like other student-centered pedagogies, has been motivated by recognition of the failures of traditional instruction.^[11][12] and the emergence of deeper understandings of how people learn.^[13] Unlike traditional instruction, PBLactively engages the student in constructing knowledge. PBL includes problems that can be solved in many different ways and have more than one solution.^[14]

WHY IS PROBLE BASED LEARNING IS IMPORTANT

                     1Problem-based learning is                 introduced and continued for many reasons including Acquiring subject matter knowledge

2.     Motivating students to learn

3.     Helping student retention

4.     Developing students thinking skills

5.     Developing students key skills relevant to employment e.g. interpersonal communication skills, information seeking skills and presentation skills

6.     Fostering professional competence and confidence together with professional identity

7.     Mirroring the interdisciplinary team process graduates will be using in work and research

8.     Facilitating students learning how to learn

9.     Having fun

10.                        Expressing in operational form a philosophy of learning that is student-centred and problem-focused

11.                        Responding to research evidence on the benefits of PBL

12.                        ncreasing competitiveness in the higher education market

13.                        Producing graduates that can hit the floor running at work after graduation

14.                        Linking theory and practice

15.                        Having a sense of belonging and   friendship

What is problem-based learning? and What is not problem-based learning?

Barrows defines it as follows:

The learning that results from the process of working towards the understanding of a resolution of a problem. The problem is encountered first in the learning process (Barrows and Tamblyn 1980:1 my emphasis)

An operational definition of problem-based learning is as follows:

1.     First students are presented with a problem

2.     Students discuss the problem in a small group PBL tutorial. They clarify the facts of the case. They define what the problem is. They brainstorm ideas based on the prior knowledge. They identify what they need to learn to work on the problem, what they do not know (learning issues). They reason through the problem. They specify an action plan for working on the problem.

3.     Students engage in independent study on their learning issues outside the tutorial. The information sources they draw on include: library, databases, the web and resource people

4.     They come back to the PBL tutorial (s) sharing information, peer teaching and working together on the problem

5.     They present and discuss their solution to the problem

6.     They review what they have learnt from working on the problem. All who participated in the process engage in self, peer and tutor review of the PBL process and each person’s contribution to that process.

Problem-based learning is “Problem”......”based” ......”learning”. Let us look at each of these words. A problem is something that is problematic to the student; something that cannot be resolved with the current level of knowledge and/or way of thinking about the issues. The nature of effective problems in problem-based learning is that they are ill-structured as opposed to well structured. The characteristics of PBL ill-structured problems are that they are real-life and authentic not teacher’s exercises, messy not tidy, incomplete in the sense of lacking information needed for their resolution and iterative in the way that they produce further ideas,/hypotheses and learning issues (Barrows 1989; Stephen and Pyke 1977; Margeston 2001). It is vital that the problems are engaging, that they “smell real”, are interesting and challenging to students. This engagementstimulates further learning and requires research, elaboration, further analysis and synthesis together with decisions and action plans.

The word “problem” in problem based learning needs to be interrogated. Problems are not always about something that is in difficulty that needs to be sorted out. An ill-structured design brief for an artist or an architect can be a problem. A dilemma for a doctor or a challenge for an engineer can be a problem. Problems are not always how to do something immediately practical in professional practice. Problems can also be about how to understand something. Problems can be presented to students in a variety of formats including: scenarios, puzzles, diagrams, dialogues, quotations, cartoons, e-mails, posters, poems, physical objects, and video-clips

One of the most important points about problems in problem-based learning is that it is not a question that first the students receive inputs of knowledge e.g. lectures, practicals, handouts etc. and then “apply” this knowledge to a problem they are presented with later in the learning process. This type of a situation is nor problem-based learning it is problem solving (Savin-Baden 2000). It is like making a cake when you have already been given the recipe and all the ingredients. One of the defining characteristics of the use of problems in problem-based learning is is that students are deliberately presented with the problem at the start of the learning process. This is like getting the challenge of preparing a celebratory meal for a special occasion where no recipes or ingredients are given

            

ADVANTAGES OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

• PBL encourages deep learning by replacing lectures with discussion forums, faculty mentoring, and collaborative research, students become actively engaged in meaningful learning.
• Direct instruction is reduced; students are forced to take responsibilities in their own learning which often increase motivation.
• PBL activates prior knowledge.
• PBL encourages critical thinking.
• PBL learners tend to be more competent in information seeking skills than traditional learners.
• PBL is related to real-life situations, these skills are highly transferable.
• Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended problems.
• Social interaction is a very important skill. PBL promotes group dynamics, peer evaluation, and present opportunities for learners to develop confrontation and persuasive skills.

DISADVANTAGES OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

• A good PBL design is very timely to set and timely to engage. It needs careful consideration in the design and monitored throughout the entire PBL process.
• Not all teachers can become good facilitators, they need to be dedicated and trained. However, good facilitators can be very satisfying and self-motivational for teachers.
• PBL requires more contact hours and more contact staff.
• For many course coordinators, they worry that PBL means reduce specific content knowledge, which is true. PBL is probably more suitable on subjects which do not depend too much on prior content knowledge.
• To design a perfect PBL problem with multi disciplines in a curriculum, it requires excessive amount of organisation and requires the course to be validated.
• Assessing students in teamwork is a common issue in group assessments. Recognized individual outputs and teamwork are important. Clear assessment criteria are always important.

B

 

Benefits of PBL
Educators worldwide have long advocated revising the approach to university dental education in order to avoid emphasis on simply transferring factual knowledge from teacher to student. Instead, new information can be better understood, retained, and applied if the learning experience is based on situations resembling real life, so students can learn by recalling and building on previous knowledge.

Around the world, more and more universities are making use of PBL to teach medicine and dentistry, as well as other subjects, owing to the following recognised benefits:

• PBL promotes self-motivation and self-responsibility to learn
• PBL facilitates more enjoyable and more effective learning
• PBL encourages learning from experience, allowing students to use and organise what has been learnt to understand problems
• PBL integrates knowledge with practice
• PBL nurtures the ability to analyse problems and to identify and acquire knowledge and skills needed to deal with real-life situations
• PBL develops teamwork and communication skills
• PBL trains students to be reflective and assess their own and others’ work
• PBL cultivates independence, curiosity, and skills for self-directed, life-long learning

CONCLUSION

One of the most important points about problems in problem-based learning is that it is not a question that first the students receive inputs of knowledge e.g. lectures, practicals, handouts etc. and then “apply” this knowledge to a problem they are presented with later in the learning process. This type of a situation is nor problem-based learning it is problem solving (Savin-Baden 2000). It is like making a cake when you have already been given the recipe and all the ingredients. One of the defining characteristics of the use of problems in problem-based learning is is that students are deliberately presented with the problem at the start of the learning process. This is like getting the challenge of preparing a celebratory meal for a special occasion where no recipes or ingredients are given

REFERENCE

1.       ^ ^{a b} Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E. (2004). "Problem-Based Learning: What and How Do Students Learn?". Educational Psychology Review 16 (3): 235. doi:10.1023/B:EDPR.0000034022.16470.f3.

2.       ^ ^{a b c} Schmidt, Henk G; Rotgans, Jerome I; Yew, Elaine HJ (2011). "The process of problem-based learning: What works and why". Medical Education 45 (8): 792–806. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.04035.x. PMID 21752076.

3.       ^ ^{a b c d} Hung, Woei (2011). "Theory to reality: A few issues in implementing problem-based learning". Educational Technology Research and Development 59 (4): 529. doi:10.1007/s11423-011-9198-1.

4.       ^ ^{a b c d e} Barrows, Howard S. (1996). "Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: A brief overview". New Directions for Teaching and Learning 1996 (68): 3. doi:10.1002/tl.37219966804.

5.       ^ Krajeik, Joseph; Phyllis C. Blummenfeld, Ronald W. Marx, and Elliot Soloway (1994). "Collaborative Model for Helping Middle Grade Science Teachers Learn Project-based Instruction.". Chicago Journals 94: 483–497.