Talking with teachers who have used PBL in their classrooms is a great first step. It allows the teacher to get ideas and can also be informed of the parts of the process that work and don’t work. It’s a great time to ask questions to make sure they are really certain of what PBL is and that they understand each of the components well (Ertmer, P. & Simons, K., 2006). Once the teacher has a well informed idea of what PBL is and should look like in the classroom, it is important that the students have the means of practicing PBL and the different facets before being expected to know how to learn in this way and meet expectations they should be able to meet.
Students should have a clear idea of what PBL is and how to accomplish it. In order for students to be able to do that I think it is important that they have the opportunity to practice before being “thrown” into a long-term PBL. At this point, I think it is important that teachers introduce what PBL is to students so that they have a clear understanding. Students need to be introduced to the balloon principle that is PBL, “students work together in small collaborative groups and learn what they need to know in order to solve a problem as the teacher acts as a facilitator to guide student learning” (Hmelo-Silver, C., 2004, p. 236). Students then need to be taught what collaborative groups means within the classroom. It is a group of students working together to decide how to approach a problem and how to solve that problem (Solomon, G., 2003). Students can use a variety of working together activities such as social media, small groups within a group, individual projects and whole group projects, they just need to be working together to come to a common ending point which shows the solution to the problem presented. Collaborative groups develop goals and hold one another accountable along with the teacher (Vega, V., 2012). Students are taking a role of responsibility for their learning and the teacher is coming alongside them. Once students have a solid understanding of how collaborative grouping works, I think it is important that they have the chance to see examples of projects from the past to spark their interest. Student interest and getting them excited about learning through the format of PBL is important. One way to do this is through “‘staging activities,’ where a teacher might show an example project from a previous year” (Ertmer, P. & Simons, K., 2006, p. 46). Once they have an understanding and have seen previous projects which hopefully leads to sparking interest, students can begin to practice mini PBL projects in class.
A teacher cannot just throw a long term PBL at students and expect them to be able to successfully accomplish the task. “One strategy teachers have used to help students adjust to the collaborative nature of PBL is the use of ‘posthole’ units. In general, postholes are short problems used to introduce students to the problem-based method, including how to work productively in small groups” (Ertmer, P. & Simons, K., 2006, p. 43). At this point teachers can give the students the problem, expectations, and group them intentionally: “slacker hard ball (grouping all ‘slackers’ together),” heterogeneous grouping, or ability grouping (Miller, A., 2011). Once in groups, students can discuss how they will collaborate, select a team representative who will discuss information with the teacher, and set goals for their group. Once they have accomplished this, the students can come back to a whole group discussion and talk about what they discussed and get ideas from other groups if they are struggling to get started in these areas (Ertmer, P. & Simons, K., 2006, p. 43). Students then begin working on projects as the teacher facilitates, with the involvement being greater the first time than usual for PBL, and lessening involvement as students do more “postholes”. During “postholes,” teachers can answer questions and give students tips for continuing. Teachers can continue to use “postholes” for as long as they think they need too, once they feel as though all their students have a strong understanding of PBL, they can move on to bigger projects as their students are ready.
As with any new type of learning, we must teach students how to be successful in steps. I feel like this is much more important in PBL as we are expecting students to take the role of responsibility for their own learning. This can be a scary thought for students that they are essentially “on their own” and the teacher is the facilitator and guide. A lot of our students are used to the traditional classroom setup and change is difficult for them to adapt too, so it is important that we take the time needed to get them comfortable and ready for the use of PBL.
This is my challenge, I didn't know exactly what an outline looked like for a PBL problem or how much detail to go into, so I just gave it a shot and here's what I came up with.
An Ill-Structured Problem for Out of State Kids (Or in state depending on their experience in the wilderness) :
You and a group of your friends (10 people total) intended to go on a camping trip in Alaska. You had five canoes full of all of your supplies. As you were canoeing to your destination a terrible storm came up and flipped all of the canoes. You and your friends were able to swim to shore safely, but the only supplies that were washed up on shore were in the list below. You have no cell phone service, it’s 6 pm and you are not expected back at home for 4 days (that is 3 nights). What do you do to survive? Remember, you are out of cell service, so no one is going to come looking for you for those four days.
Supplies you found from the “wreckage”:
1 book of matches (not waterproof)
2 sleeping bags (soaking wet)
1 tarp
1 package of hotdogs
3 packages of top ramen
1 fishing pole with 1 hook
Outline
1. Students are presented with the problem that they have very little background information on, but can understand what is being asked of them, but it should require in depth research. Students then get together in their groups (teacher selected) and ask basic questions such as: What do I already know about this problem? What do I need to know to effectively address this problem? What resources can I access to determine a proposed solution?
2. Student lists what they know about the problem (any given helpful information)
3. Students list what information they need to know- These will be added to as they work on their project and find out there is more that they need to know than they realized in the beginning.
4. Students list possible actions, recommendations, or solutions
5. Students have multiple days to work in their groups, while reporting their progress to their teacher through their “project managers.” They can use the resources of the internet, outdoor enthusiasts, go out and build their own structures to see what works, survival videos, etc. There are multiple check-ins and assessments along the way.
6. Students present and support the solution, this is done through some type of presentation (slideshow, basic oral presentation, video, a combination of those, or something completely different with teacher approval) where students communicate their findings and recommendations. This is most effective when it is done in front of a public audience with evaluation.
Information used in outline found at:
Teaching and learning strategies problem-based learning. (n.d.). http://www.ndtwt.org/Blackboard/P2SST2/prob.htm
Bibliography
Ertmer, P. A., & Simons, K. D. (2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K–12 teachers. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 1(1), 5. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl&sei-redir=1&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fstart%3D10%26q%3Dimplementing%2BPBL%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D0%2C2#search=%22implementing%20PBL%22.
Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E. “Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn?.”Educational psychology review 16.3 (2004): 235-266. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=13682403&site=ehost-live
Miller, A. (2011). Twenty tips for managing project-based learning. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-pbl-project-based-learning-educators-andrew-miller
Solomon, G. (2003). Project-based learning: A primer. TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING-DAYTON-, 23(6), 20-20. http://pennstate.swsd.wikispaces.net/file/view/pbl-primer-www_techlearning_com.pdf.
Vega, V. (2012). Project-based learning research review: Evidence-based components of success. http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-evidence-based-components.