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PBL
and the Problem-Based Learning Institute Training Secondary Teachers and
Students in the Art of PBL
Linda Cozzolino
PBL
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Curricular Units
The Crisis in Public Education
As legislators raise standards for students and demand greater
accountability from administrators, teachers strive to cover an
exploding store house of information. Many believe the educational
system is “broken” (especially at the high school level).
Entrepreneur, Bill Gates has declared the American High School
“obsolete." In a speech
to the National Education Summit on High Schools (Feb. 26, 2005), Gates
insisted, "our high schools — even when they're working exactly
as designed — cannot teach our kids what they need to know
today." The Gates’ Foundation has invested nearly one billion
dollars to help redesign the American high school, suggesting that
schools need, “rigor, relevance, and relationships”- the new three
“R’s.
Schools Institute Changes
Many schools have instituted changes: schools within schools, mentoring
programs, security guards and metal detectors, uniforms, partnerships
with the business community, minority hiring, alternative schools for
trouble makers, programs to build self- esteem and even dietary changes.
Still, U.S. students do not measure up. What can be done to improve
education in the U.S.?
Constructivism
John Dewey, the Father of Modern American Education, believed that each
of us generates our own "rules" and "mental models,"
which we use to make sense of our experiences and learn about the world
around us. Learning occurs, according to Dewey, when a student
constructs his/her own meaning, from whole issues, not isolated facts.
Today, Dewey’s philosophy is evident in “constructivism.”
Problem-based learning (PBL) is grounded in the concept of
constructivism.
The Problem-Based
Learning Institute
Problem-based learning began at McMaster University Medical School in
Canada in the 1970’s; and, although it was implemented at various
undergraduate and graduate programs around the world, it was not until
1991 that PBL was offered to high school students. The Problem-based
Learning Institute in Springfield, Illinois was created to train
practitioners throughout the United States in the PBL process. The
Institute became the first laboratory setting for teaching, training and
research in problem-based learning. Clients came from across the United
States to study with Dr. Howard Barrows, often referred to as The Father
of Problem-based Learning. In the “Barrows Method of PBL,” standard
curriculum is redesigned into “problems.” Problems are
“ill-structured,” with “no, one right answer.” Many problems
also have political, financial, ethical or moral components, that add to
their complexity. As students investigate “real life problems,” they
learn to think, read, write research, discuss, debate, collaborate,
synthesize material, develop models, and defend the results of their
research.
Real-Life PBL Problems
At the Problem-Based Learning Institute, in-house suspension students,
as well as, advanced placement students expressed their admiration for
the real-life problems they pursued in class. Students learned physics,
when they studied a real fire and had to extinguish it (Fire on the 5th
Floor). Math students queried about how to measure a replacement
Christmas tree, when the original tree was lost in transit (Marshall
Field’s Christmas Tree). History students became a “think tank,”
during the Second World War, to advise President Eisenhower about
(Bombing Hiroshima). Biology students set about to determine the time of
death in a forensics’ case, written by local teachers, after they were
guests of the coroner at a real autopsy (Determining the Time of Death);
and literature students compared the motives of characters in Hamlet and
MacBeth to determine, Who Killed Lady Dudley? (Murder and Mayhem in the
Globe Theater).
PBL Proponents
PBL has its proponents and its critics. Students love the mystery of
problem solving. Teachers appreciate using an instructional process that
eliminates the need for “tracking,” allowing students of varying
abilities to work together, with respect, and even admiration. The same
PBL problem may be reasoned through, with differing degrees of
sophistication, by second graders, adults, and even the profoundly
disabled. As students develop the desire for self-directed learning,
teachers relax control of the instructional process and learn with their
students. Educators accustomed to being a “sage on the stage,”
become a “guide on the side.”
PBL Detractors
Detractors complain that the PBL process does not provide them with
enough time to “cover” the material. However, these instructors
often dispense information to their students in a linear fashion,
through lectures. Cognitive research indicates that students cover and
retain information more effectively if the material is presented through
an authentic, real-life problem.
The Final Analysis
PBL pushes students to “leap across disciplines,” in the same way
students at the Henry Ford Academy, a public charter school in Dearborn,
Michigan did in science class. After reading about Nike’s efforts to
develop a more environmentally friendly sneaker, students chose a
consumer product, analyzed and explained its environmental impact and
then developed a plan for re-engineering it to reduce pollution costs,
without sacrificing its commercial appeal. The problem combined concepts
from earth science, chemistry, business and design. Problem-based
learning trains students for the complexity of the 21st Century.
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