Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

What it is, Principles, and Examples

David W. Mogk
Dept. Earth Sciences
Montana State University

On the Cutting Edge Workshops

Teaching Structural Geology in the 21st Century
June, 2004
 Discovery!
• Sustains and inspires us as researchers
• Is most effective for learning/understanding
• Researchers create new knowledge
• Learners achieve mastery of material previously
unknown to them (re-discovery) on the way towards
true discovery.
• Both require
– Creative thinking, seeing relations in a new light
– Application of first principles, basic knowledge
– Work in a meaningful context
– Building on work of predecessors
– A common language for effective communication.
Integration of research and education:
…infuse the joy of discovery and an
awareness of its connections to exploration
through directed inquiry and careful
observation, and analytic thinking for
students at all levels.
NSF in a Changing World
(1995)
 Integrating Research and Education

• (Re)Discovery Simulation
• Modeling Replication
• Real-time, archived, and authentic data
• Critical review of the literature
• Training on instrumentation, software,
field methods
• New creative contributions
 Scientific Habits of the Mind

• Reasoned use of evidence

• Verifiable data, testing, proof, prediction
• Curiosity, skepticism, open to new ideas
• Integrity, fairness, ability to identify & avoid
bias
• Computational and estimation skills
• Ability to observe, measure, manipulate
• Make connections, apply to new situations
• Communicate!
What is PBL I?
In PBL groups are presented with contextual
situations and asked to define the problem, decide
what skills and resources are necessary to investigate
the problem, and then pose possible solutions (Duch,
Groh, and Allen, 2001)
What is PBL II
•Student-centered; faculty facilitated

•Inquiry training; methodology to teach students about

clinical cases, either real or hypothetical

•Going beyond content

Involvement + Experience =
Understanding, Ownership and Long-term
Retention
What does PBL do?

PBL simultaneously develops problem solving `

strategies, disciplinary knowledge bases, and
skills.  

How does PBL do it?

By placing students in the active role of problem

solvers confronted with a (purposefully) ill-
structured problem which mirrors real-world
problems.
Problem-based learning has as its
organizing center the ill-structured
problem which...

• is messy and complex in nature

• requires inquiry, information-gathering,
and reflection
• is changing and tentative
• has no simple, fixed, formulaic, "right"
solution
PBL Consists of Two Complementary Inter-related Processes
Curriculum Design
• Teachers design an ill-structured problem based on desired curriculum outcomes,
learner characteristics, and compelling, problematic situations from the real world
• Teachers develop a sketch or template of teaching and learning events in
anticipation of students' learning needs
• Teachers investigate the range of resources essential to the problem and arrange for
their availability

Cognitive Coaching
• Students actively define problems and construct potential solutions
• Teachers model, coach, and fade in supporting and making explicit students'
learning processes
•
Resources for Problem-Based Learning

University of Delaware http://www.udel.edu/pbl/

San Diego State University, The Learning Tree

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/clrit/learningtree/PBL/WhatisPBL.html

The Power of Problem-Based Learning, A

Practical "How To" For Teaching Undergraduate
Courses in Any Discipline, edited by Barbara
Duch, Susan Gron, and Deborah Allen,
Stylus Publishing, LLC (2001), 256 pages
Features of a PBL Problem
1. introduction,
2. content,
3. learning objectives,
4. resources,
5. expected outcome,
6. guiding questions,
7. assessment exercises,
8. and time frame (Bridges, 1992).
The students must be guided to reach both the objectives
involved in solving the problem and the objectives related to
the process.
Creating An Appropriate Problem

•Choosing a relevant problem,

•Ensuring that the problem's coverage includes

both the big idea and basic skills, and

•Ensuring the problem's complexity mimics real-

life problems.
Design Considerations
1. How should PBL be incorporated into the curriculum?
2. What problems should be used and how should they be
presented?
3. What are the instructional goals?
4. How should small groups be formed?
5. How much should each problem be pre-structured?
6. How to evaluate the program and the students?
7. What resources should be available?
8. How to prepare students and faculty for PBL? (Bridges, 1992).
Guidelines for Problems
1. common situation to serve as a prototype for other
situations,
2. significant,
3. prevention is possible,
4. interdisciplinary,
5. cover objectives,
6. task oriented,
7. and complex enough to incorporate prior knowledge
(Albanese & Mitchell, 1993).
Assessment of PBL
1. Assessment of problem based learning; students and classes
1.Assessing student achievement
2.Written examinations
3.Practical examinations
4.Concept maps
5.Peer assessment
6.Self assessment
7.Facilitators/tutor assessment
8.Oral Presentations
9.Reports
2. Assessing the value of a problem based learning curriculum
1.Attitudes
2.Basic knowledge
3.Reasoning and problem solving skills
4.Team work
Barriers to PBL
•PBL requires more time of students, expects to be
responsible and independent learners
•More time to cover same content (transfer of info via
lecture is certainly more efficient—but does learning
really occur?)
•Requires technical and information support
•Lack of incentives for faculty
Disadvantages of Problem Based Learning

As with all learning theories, there are advantages and

limitations when creating or implementing problem based
learning curriculum. These limitations revolve around six
topics:
•the academic achievement of students involved in
problem based learning,
•the amount of time required for implementation,
•the changing role of the student in the process,
•the changing role of the teacher in the process,
•generating appropriate problems, and
•valid assessment of the program and student learning.
How does PBL compare with other instructional approaches?
 Student as
Problem as initial challenge
Teacher as coach active problem-
and motivation
solver
Problem-Based Learning causes a shift in roles...
Models/coaches/fades in: Student as active Problem as initial challenge and
•Asking about problem-solver: motivation to attention:
thinking •Active •Ill-structured
•Monitoring learning participant •Appeals to human desire for
•Probing/ challenging •Engaged resolution/ stasis/harmony
students' thinking •Constructing •Sets up need for and context
•Keeping students meaning of learning which follows
involved
•Monitoring/
adjusting levels of
challenge
•Managing group
dynamics
•Keeping process
moving
 “Science is knowledge not of things, but of
their relations.”

Science is built up of facts, as a house is built up

of stones, but an accumulation of facts is no
more science than a heap of stones is a house.
Henri Poincaré
Science and Hypothesis