Design of Problem-Based Learning Units
One of the primary features of Problem-Based Learning is that it is student-centered. Student-centered refers to learning opportunities that are relevant to the students, the goals of which are at least partly determined by the students themselves. Active, interactive, and collaborative learning, on which Problem-Based Learning is based, allows an instructor the rare opportunity to observe students’ learning processes.
The context for learning in PBL is highly context-specific. It serves
to teach content by presenting the students with a real-world challenge
similar to one they might encounter were they a practitioner of the
discipline. The
instructor’s role can be to model different kinds of problem-solving
strategies, sometimes referred to as “cognitive apprenticeship”
learning (Brown, Collins, & Newman, 1989).
Problem-based learning is experiential in that participants experience
what it is like to think as a practitioner. How do biologists think?
What distinguishes the way a criminologist might address a problem as
opposed to the way a mathematician might? How might these two specialists
work together on a problem? This is becoming an increasing more important
as real-world jobs become more interdisciplinary and require problem-solving
abilities.
The links below will help teachers design integrated Problem-Based Learning Units (PBL). You can access a PBL Design Template and links to websites that support the design of PBL in k-12 and Postsecondary educational settings, and research that evaluates PBL in varied settings.
