PBL improves students' learning and SKILLS as they deal with authentic situations (problems).

I think you should be clear about the skills you want to promote.

because depending on the problem are emerging more about than others. This necessarily means that the teacher becomes the guide of learning. NO transferring content, but teaching techniques for analysis.

also must be considered classroom conditions for such work.

I use PBL in teaching numerical methods. Now I am looking at POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning), originated from universities in USA for teaching general chemistry in 1994. Teamwork is necessary.

We use PBL with our medical students routinely. However, PBL is only as good as the cases, supporting resources and group facilitators allow, so a lot of work has to be put into design of the cases and ILOs (individual learning objectives), comprehensive provision of supporting materials (papers, chapters, lectures, podcasts, weblinks, etc), and training of staff in PBL techniques in order for it to be a success.

In medicine, it's also important to tie in the cases to the students' clinical learning and experience so that the two go hand-in-hand. Timetabling issues too, then!

However, it's easier than I've made it sound!

I know about PBL in German medical schools. Evaluations have proved good results. However, you mus be clear about what skills PBL schould foster. In medical classes PBL aims at the formation of skills needed from practising doctors. PBL is less helpful if you want to foster abilities to do research. So, my provisional conclusion is, that PBL is very useful in courses with a clear cut occupational profile (I am referring here to Anglo-american differentiation between non academic occupation and academic profession), whereas PBL is not as useful in more research oriented courses with a more academic profile (like philology, theology, philosophy, natural sciences).

Dear Saed, Carlos, Rosmila, Iain and Andreas, thank you for the important contributions.

Thanks a lot Rolando for your interesting questions on RG

PBL is good teaching/learning method which encourages critical thinking and self-directed learning. However,adequate teaching/ learning resources are required for its success.

The Problem-Based Learning System is now the most suitable learning medical system ...here in Iraq our college TUCOM (Tikrit University College of Medicine) is the second college starting this system since 1989...and every year our faith in it is increasing more and more.....thanks

Dear Saed, Catherine and Mohammad , thank you for the important contributions.

In our university all department and program are enforced to use a pbl as one of the project in every class. Eg in religious study the students are enforce to solve increases of violance because of religious believe.in computing the students enforce to analyze and breakdown problem in programming that related to academic activity.

Pbl is good to capture and bridge down theoritical concept with industrial practice. Add on alternative and interesting teaching learning methods. I've iffen try this on grade 4 elementary students and its proven to make the class activity more alive and synchronized it with learning objective.

Higher institution or lower should applied this interesting method on practical or theoritical that might endorse student critical or constructivism thinking.

Dear Dony, thank you for the important contribution.

We are using PBL pedagogy in conjunction with computational thinking to improve middle and high school students' mathematical and scientific knowledge and skills. We have been using an open source called Squeak Etoys as a generative computer modeling tool-- developed for youngsters-- to assist teachers change their teaching practices to using problem as a way of helping students conduct inquiry and then use the tool to propose a solution to the problem while applying their knowledge and testing it immediately through modeling and simulation. We have had great success with helping grade 5-10 students learn how to solve problems and think critically.

Dear Mahnaz, thank you for the important contribution.

I think the PBL can also be applied in the training of research-oriented. The researchers see a problem and look for ways to solve it, that search is what you try to repeat the exercise of PBL

PBL is one of the strongly recommended teaching methods to integrate the principles of sustainable development into the teaching process at all stages.

The success of PBL is highly dependent on attitudes, conceptions and competencies of HE staff. If the staff is open to change traditional teaching and prepared to cooperate and learn new approaches, PBL is going to succeed, as it is attuned to what we know now about successful learning.

Basically discussion or Socrates method is called problem based learning.As we know that learning is very complex dimension and it is very difficult for learner. Many people know that only received the information is knowledge but it is not true because education means how much learner understand the particular phenomenon or content or context.

I agree that a skillful facilitator with strong domain general and domain specific knowledge is needed to scaffold problem solving process. Leaving learners with the ill-defined and complex problem will not achieve what is desired. The facilitator should ask good questions to assist learners in searching for more information about the problem and testing various solutions.

What Is Problem-Based Learning (PBL)?

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an approach that challenges students to learn through engagement in a real problem. It is a format that simultaneously develops both problem solving strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem-solvers confronted with an ill-structured situation that simulates the kind of problems they are likely to face as future managers in complex organizations.

Problem-based learning is student-centered. PBL makes a fundamental shift--from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. The process is aimed at using the power of authentic problem solving to engage students and enhance their learning and motivation. There are several unique aspects that define the PBL approach:

• Learning takes place within the contexts of authentic tasks, issues, and problems--that are aligned with real-world concerns.

• In a PBL course, students and the instructor become colearners, coplanners, coproducers, and coevaluators as they design, implement, and continually refine their curricula.

• The PBL approach is grounded in solid academic research on learning and on the best practices that promote it. This approach stimulates students to take responsibility for their own learning, since there are few lectures, no structured sequence of assigned readings, and so on.

• PBL is unique in that it fosters collaboration among students, stresses the development of problem solving skills within the context of professional practice, promotes effective reasoning and self-directed learning, and is aimed at increasing motivation for life-long learning.

Problem-based learning begins with the introduction of an ill-structured problem on which all learning is centered. The problem is one that MBA students are likely to face as future professionals. Expertise is developed by engaging in progressive problem solving. Thus, problems drive the organization and dynamics of the course. MBA students, individually and collectively, assume major responsibility for their own learning and instruction. Most of the learning occurs in small groups rather than in lectures. As teacher, my role changes from "sage on stage" to a "guide by the side." My role is more like that of a facilitator and coach of student learning, acting at times as a resource person, rather than as knowledge-holder and disseminator. Similarly, your role, as a student, is more active, as you are engaged as a problem-solver, decision-maker, and meaning-maker, rather than being merely a passive listener and note-taker.

Where Did PBL Come From and Who Else is Using It?

PBL originated from a curriculum reform by medical faculty at Case Western Reserve University in the late 1950s. Innovative medical and health science programs continued to evolve the practice of PBL, particularly the specific small group learning and tutorial process that was developed by medical faculty at McMaster University in Canada. These innovative and forward-looking medical school programs considered the intensive pattern of basic science lectures followed by an equally exhausting clinical teaching program to be an ineffective and dehumanizing way to prepare future physicians. Given the explosion of medical information and new technology, as well as the rapidly changing demands of future medical practice, a new mode and strategy of learning was developed that would better prepare students for professional practice. PBL has spread to over 50 medical schools, and has diffused into many other professional fields including law, economics, architecture, mechanical and civil engineering, as well as in K-12 curricula. And the entire MBA program at Ohio University has been designed as an integrated curriculum using the PBL approach.

Why PBL?

Traditional education practices, starting from kindergarten through college, tend to produce students who are often disenchanted and bored with their education. They are faced with a vast amount of information to memorize, much of which seems irrelevant to the world as it exists outside of school. Students often forget much of what they learned, and that which they remember cannot often be applied to the problems and tasks they later face in the business world. Traditional classrooms also do not prepare students to work with others in collaborative team situations. The result: students tend to view MBA education as simply a "right of passage," a necessary "union card," and an imposed set of hurdles with little relevance to the real world. Education is reduced to acquiring a diploma (merely another commodity to be purchased in the marketplace), and the final grade becomes the overriding concern (rather than learning).

Research in educational psychology has found that traditional educational approaches (e.g., lectures) do not lead to a high rate of knowledge retention. Despite intense efforts on the part of both students and teachers, most material learned through lectures is soon forgotten, and natural problem solving abilities may actually be impaired. In fact, studies have shown that in 90 days students forget 90% of everything they have been told (Smilovitz, 1996). Motivation in such traditional classroom environments is also usually low.

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of PBL is that students genuinely enjoy the process of learning. PBL is a challenging program which makes the study of organization design and change intriguing for students because they are motivated to learn by a need to understand and solve real managerial problems. The relevance of information learned is readily apparent; students become aware of a need for knowledge as they work to resolve the problems.

How Does PBL Work?

A PBL course is designed into a series of real-world, hands-on, PBL investigations. You will be working in small groups/teams with other students on problems that you are likely to encounter as a professional manager. You will begin a PBL investigation by being presented with an ill-structured organizational problem or scenario. Such a presentation may be in the form of a written statement, a video clip of a real manager at a company, or a guest speaker. Every PBL team will appoint a chairperson/leader and sometimes a recorder/secretary. Your PBL team will be guided in the use of a reiterative problem-solving process. Your team will applyy this problem solving process to find, analyze, and solve the presenting problem. Some PBL investigations may culminate in a student-created project/product, exhibitions, or other artifacts that address the driving questions. In some cases, the PBL investigation will culminate in an oral performance with managers from the business community in attendance.

As you work with each problem you can:

1. Develop your diagnostic reasoning and analytical problem-solving skills.

2. Determine what knowledge you need to acquire to understand the problem, and others like it.

3. Discover the best resources for acquiring that information.

4. Carry out your own personalized study using a wide range of resources.

5. Apply the information you have learned back to the problem.

6. Integrate this newly acquired knowledge with your existing understanding.

In short, you will be learning in a highly relevant and exciting manner to problem-solve and to develop self-directed study skills that build toward the skills and knowledge that you will need as a practicing manager.

The problem-solving process can be summarized according to three broad and reiterative phases.

Phase 1. First, your group will gather information and list it under a heading entitled: "What do we already know?" In this phase, you will entertain the problem in light of the knowledge that you already have from your own experience. Your group will discuss the current situation surrounding the problem as it has been presented. This analysis requires discussion and agreement on the working definitions of the problems, and sorting out which issues and aspects of the situation are worthy of further investigation. This initial analysis should yield a problem statement that serves as a starting point for the investigation, and it may be revised as assumptions are questioned and new information comes to light.

Phase 2. Next, you will engage with the problem by also identifying under a second heading, "What do we need to know (to solve this problem)?" Here you will list questions or learning issues that must be answered to address missing knowledge, or to shed light on the problem. It is in this phase that your group will be analyzing the problem into components, discussing implications, entertaining possible explanations or solutions, and developing working hypotheses. This activity is like a "brainstorming" phase with evaluation suspended while explanations or solutions are written on a flipchart or chalkboard. Your group will need to formulate learning goals, outlining what further information is needed, and how this information can best be obtained.

Phase 3. The above list should inform your group in what to do in order to solve the problem. In this phase your group will discuss, evaluate, and organize hypotheses and tentative hypotheses. Your group will make a "What should we do?" list that formulates keeps track of such issues as what resources to consult, people to interview, articles to read, and what specific actions team members need to perform. It is in this phase that your group will identify and allocate learning tasks, develop study plans to discover needed information. You will be gathering information from the classroom, resource readings, texts, library sources, videos, and from external experts on the subject. As new information is acquired, your group will need to meet to analyze and evaluate it for its reliability and usefulness in applying it to the problem.

In short, you will be spending a great deal of time discussing the problem, generating hypotheses, identifying relevant facts, searching for information, and defining their own learning issues. Unlike traditional and standard classes, learning objectives are not stated up front. Rather, you and members of your group will be responsible for generating your own learning issues or objectives based on your group's analysis of the problem.

All during this process, as a student, you will be actively defining and constructing potential solutions. As an instructor, my role is primarily to model, guide, coach--to support you and your team through the learning and assessment process.

The majority of class time will be devoted to working in self-directed, PBL small group tutorials. A portion of class time will be allocated to "Resource Sessions," which may include simulations, case studies, and brief discussions to further explore concepts and issues which arise out of the PBL projects.

PBL is an interesting teaching method for both teacher and students. in fact , i use sometimes with my higher diploma students, but i support it by giving them guidelines how to analyze a problems as follows: statement of the problem, causes , results or side effects ,proposed solutions, and expectations if problems continues to exits without solving it.

My experiences on PBL enlighten me in realising and connecting my practice to several learning theories. For example witnesing and experiencing Vytgotsky's while implementing PBL help to motive me as a teacher in HE, not to give up on this powerful method. Helping students to develop reflective practice and share their joy for being able to recognise their abiity to reflect is another experience I woululd not like to miss. However, I do agree with others that the desired outcome will very much rely upon instrutor's skills especially the questioning skills.... The role of facilitator as the enquirer is someghing that I belief PBL instructors need to develop over times.

My recent 'experience' is a literature study for the School of Engineering, in the College of Science, Engineering & Technology, at the University of South Africa, on project-based learning. Of particular interest to me is the shared knowledge-base of project- (PjBL) and problem-based learning (PBL); as well as the differences. I captured key points at http://www.psychsoma.co.za/learning_in_vivo/project-based-learning-pjbl/. The School of Engineering intends introducing PjBL for students who are not placed in a work environment, in order to enable such students to complete the prerequisite work-integrated learning modules in the curriculum of engineering technician qualifications. I've found limited literature on the use of PjBL for a distance learning context.

I'm agrée and I have experiencie with the Problem-Based Learning (in Higher Education) like an innovating educative proposal, that is characterized so that the learning is student centered, promoting significant learning as well as the development of a number of important skills, competences and abilities to work and live in the XXI century society

In my PhD research I suggested a new problem solving based approach to learn geometry, the content organized in a series of real-life situations that formed a geometric story. This approach aimed at helping students to: feel the importance of geometry in real-life situations, formulate geometric statements and conjectures by themselves, modify their negative emotions and false beliefs about geometry and geometric proof, overcome one of the most difficult steps in geometric proof—which is to get the idea of the proof, e.g., how to start proving—recognize visual explanations of the statements and write them down in their own language, unify and adopt the language of mathematical explanations during geometry class discussions and scaffold their geometric proof writing.

for example this is the first situation/problem in the story:

Somewhere in the desert, there is a new triangular-shaped city consisting of three housing areas. The city administration decided to build a water tank to serve a maximum of five housing areas. Beyond the housing areas, no more houses are allowed to be built. The water tank should be at the same distance from all three areas. Hence, the first problem that the administration faced was how to determine the position of the water tank so that it was equidistant from all three housing areas.

that's it :)

There's a good chapter on this topic in Teaching STEM in the Secondary School published by Routledge see http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415675314/ flyer attached

Apparently can't attach a flyer!

For nursing problem based learning started with Florence Nightingale who noted a health care problem then did research on occurrences and variables. From the evidence came decision making on interventions that would be most effective then follow up on such effectiveness. For centuries nurses have been following such process that dissect a problem before and after decisions are made. As an advanced practice nurse educator I submit that response in problem based learned must be built on a secure evidence base. Modeling of nurses schooled in such manor facilitates not only the nursing profession but critical analysis in the millennial and X generation of nursing students and nurse engaged in lifelong growth.

You should read,

Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not

Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist,

Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and

Inquiry-Based Teaching

Paul A. Kirschner

Educational Technology Expertise Center

Open University of the Netherlands

Research Centre Learning in Interaction

Utrecht University, The Netherlands

John Sweller

School of Education

University of New South Wales

Richard E. Clark

Rossier School of Education

University of Southern California

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST, 41(2), 75–86

Copyright © 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

One example is our book Experiencing Geometry

http://www.amazon.com/Experiencing-Geometry-Edition-David-Henderson/dp/0131437488

From my viewpoints, the above discussions are just marvellous and I do learn a lot from each of them.  Actually, I take problem-based learning as a part of teaching and learning for critical thinking. That is, problem solving is part of critical thinking abilities. A critical thinker must be able to self-realization, self-reflction and then self-actuallization.  The reason why a critical thinker must embeded with the ability of self reguation is a critical thinker must be an autonomous. And an autonomous person must live with a harmonious value in terms of personal and community life.

Today's world brings with it a rapid explosion of easily accessible knowledge. Today graduates need to be self directed and possess lifelong learning skills. They need to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and analytical in their approach. The inter-disciplinary nature of work means that they need to be able to integrate knowledge and skills from a number of disciplines as well as have the interpersonal skills to be an effective team member.

Problem-based learning activities are designed to develop transferable skills and attributes along with the appropriate discipline specific knowledge. Transferable skills/attributes are part of the degree level expectations that represent the intended outcomes for a university education and are being written into program curriculum. Problem-based learning challenges students to develop the ability to think critically, analyze problems, find and use appropriate learning resources.

A learner-centered educational method; Through PBL learners are progressively given more and more responsibility for their own education and become increasingly independent of the teacher for their education.

The PBL Learning Process

In PBL, learners encounter a problem and attempt to solve it with information they already possess allowing them to appreciate what they already know. They also identify what they need to learn to better understand the problem and how to resolve it.

Once they have worked with the problem as far as possible and identified what they need to learn, the learners engage in self-directed study to research the information needed finding and using a variety of information resources (books, journals, reports, online information, and a variety of people with appropriate areas of expertise). In this way learning is personalized to the needs and learning styles of the individual.

The learners then return to the problem and apply what they learned to their work with the problem in order to more fully understand and resolve the problem.

After they have finished their problem work the learners assess themselves and each other to develop skills in self-assessment and the constructive assessment of peers. Self-assessment is a skill essential to effective independent learning.

The responsibility of the teacher in PBL is to provide the educational materials and guidance that facilitate learning. The principle role of the teacher in PBL is that of a facilitator or educational coach (often referred to in jargon of PBL as a "tutor") guiding the learners in the PBL process. As learners become more proficient in the PBL learning process the tutor becomes less active.

Please do not mix PBL with neither problem solving sessions nor with case-based learning. Each follows a different educational theory and strategy. PBL is a complete system of curricular design where all educational activities, in a week, are based on that week's problem. It is a deductive in nature while case based and supplementary clinical problem solving in small group teaching sessions is of inductive nature. It is painful to read many comments thinking of PBL as synonymous to case based learning and problem solving sessions.

I'm was of the students of PBL...

PBL like TBL is a good way of teaching.

Problem-based learning is student-centered. PBL makes a fundamental shift--from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. The process is aimed at using the power of authentic problem solving to engage students and enhance their learning and motivation. There are several unique aspects that define the PBL approach:

• Learning takes place within the contexts of authentic tasks, issues, and problems--that are aligned with real-world concerns.
• In a PBL course, students and the instructor become colearners, coplanners, coproducers, and coevaluators as they design, implement, and continually refine their curricula.
• The PBL approach is grounded in solid academic research on learning and on the best practices that promote it. This approach stimulates students to take responsibility for their own learning, since there are few lectures, no structured sequence of assigned readings, and so on.
• PBL is unique in that it fosters collaboration among students, stresses the development of problem solving skills within the context of professional practice, promotes effective reasoning and self-directed learning, and is aimed at increasing motivation for life-long learning.

In primary education definitely teach the skills first and then apply them to a problem.The outcomes are measurably better this way; also it is time efficient and motivation and not despair occurs. There will be a much smaller group of students who achieve more with problem based learning first and learning the skills as they solve.

Small group teaching is definitely more effective than large group teaching.

PBL approach is an excellent methodology that encourages students to think, link and work in groups.

It's an interesting, effective method and definitely student centered

I would like to give a good example from my teaching experience. I was teaching Strategic Management for a undergraduate program and there were 130 students. On the very first day I explained them the importance of Outcome Based Education (OBE) and Student Centered Learning (SCL) to become a student suited to 21st Century with Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, Values and Mindsets and Paradigms. Then they were divided in to 13x10 groups and each group should work like an individual team with a group name, logo, motto, vision, mission, goals and objectives and Chairman, MD (CEO), Managers for function etc. And I explained them I am not a teacher only a guide and mentor. On the very first day each student is given text book (Weelen and Hunger) and when they come to the class next week each student or as a group should read the book, understand, summarize and make Power Pont Presentation by themselves and come with the Pen Drive of PPT to do the presentation in front of the class room. I selected the student randomly then they should come forward and do the presentation at least 15 minutes as their rotation comes. Like wise three (3) weeks will continue and then from 4th week to 12th week while they do the presentations each team should develop a real world project and implement and show me the results at the end of 15th week before the exam. Few good projects they did were, building a bus-holt for public, develop a software for opticians and sell, produce a one episode drama, produce a stage drama, reducing the electricity bill of the university etc. The best project were building the bus-holt and this is the case study.

As a 13 member team they discussed several day about various proposals and alternative projects and finally agreed to built a bus-stop and fix it for general public. Then they found that the cost was Rs.150,000 (US$1,000) and they used various strategies to collect funds. Few projects were Sell Car Stickers among students, washing vehicles, run a lottery etc. Once they raised funds they found a bus holt manufacturer and got the bus-holt done. Then they wanted to find a location to fix it and after trying three locations finally they got the approval from UC (Urban Council) to fix it. They fix it over night and opened for the general public and they came and did the presentation with their plan, how they achieved, implemented, problems they faced and how they resolved those issues and finally how they achieved the final outcome as a team.

All the team were so delighted since they learn the theory and practice at once and basically they learnt all the followings: Theoretical Knowledge, Practical Knowledge,  Team work, Leadership, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Planning & Implementation, achieving results etc. The students Attitudes, Values too change well and their Mindsets and Paradigm towards Teaching & Learning, Leadership and Teamwork etc all updated.

Comparing to the other class room, teacher centered learning they valued this methods very much and all the students performance are much better then the traditional students.

I think this will be a very good practical example for OBE, SCL and Problem Based Learning too..

That was great outcome for your students Sunil and I am not surprised that problem based learning was successful. The undergraduate students have a wider prior knowledge than my primary students. It is the prior knowledge that was the difference.

pbl is a good teaching or training strategy . it builds capacity of problem solving skills in the real life work environment.

Dear John and Hend

Thanks for your response and happy to see that both of you are accepting the method I used.  Initially students do not understand the value of this and they may criticize and reject it. But finally end of the semester they will tell you "that this is the best class they attended and they can remember those contents for life. Most of those students are definitely different from the students who followed the traditional lectures.  Please find the framework we developed based on that experience of mine.  Please comment of that if you are keen to study it.

From educational point of view, problem based learning is using acquired knowledge to solve life problems. This type of learning is based on prior knowledge and life experiences. This type of learning takes place more often in an adult learning environment whereby the teacher serves as a facilitator by engaging the learner with relevant issues affecting humanity and expect them to solve the problem through practical engagement.

Yes you are very right because learning should focus on every individual problems and must be need based

PBL is one of the best T&L methods I have ever experienced. Students are very effectively engaged in learning and they use the theory in practice in resolving day to day life and practice. Learning theory is easier but resolving problems in creative and innovative manner is difficult. This BPL helps very much to learn application side and resolving the issues using their own creativity and novel approaches. 21st Century needs Human Capital with both Theoretical and Practical Knowledge and various skills like Team Work,  Leadership, Problem Solving, Creativity etc. This method  is ideal to improve those skills.  

are speak about Problem-Based Learning teaching strategy or model of learning

In PBL, the students interacted actively with their peers during group discussion and work collaboratively with their peers and facilitator.

Totally agree with Ashmah

I Agree With Sunil Nawaratne