SOME ASPECTS OF PROBLEM BASED EDUCATION
(PBL) IN THE RTU INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AND THERMAL SYSTEMS
M. Gedrovics, project expert, Dr. sci. ing., RTU
It is not possible to explain practice only by teaching a theory.
An experience shows that students achieve greater conceptual understanding and retain
information longer when they are actively involved in a process that enables them to construct
knowledge. For a majority of students, lecturing is not the most effective mode of instruction. It
is why a new concept of education was considered. PBL provides a more challenging,
motivating and enjoyable approach to education.
PBL is an approach to structure the curriculum which involves confronting students
with problems from practice which provides a stimulus for learning. PBL prepares students to
think critically and analytically and to find and use appropriate learning resources. PBL is a
learning environment in which the problem drives the learning. Students are able to see how
theories and empirical/practical knowledge interrelate.
PBL is partly implemented also in come subjects in Riga Technical university, for
example, in courses Environmental Engineering, Cleaner production. In these courses the
problem comes from enterprises and the task is to improve effectiveness of production,
environmental indicators. Using this education method students are working together in small
groups to solve real-world problems so this method is an active and iterative process that
engages students to identify what they know, and more importantly, what they don't know. We
are combining PBL education with lectures and forming a hybrid model of teaching.
We have recognized that using PBL gives some advantages for students:
- development of higher-order thinking skills,
- students are developing self – study component,
- development of skills to work in a team,
- development of collaborative problem-solving skills,
- development of presentation skills,
- students are becoming more active, they are not only passive listeners like in lectures,
- the skills obtained in courses using PBL are becoming apparent during defense of
bachelor’s and master’s thesis.
We are dividing student’s group in smaller groups. These groups are less than 10 usually
5 to 8 depending on number of students attending the subject. This ensures that students can
easily participate and engage in the learning process. Each group works independently of the
other with the lecturer moving between each group.
It is important how to form and organize the group. There are students coming to
university to learn things but there are also students coming to university to get diploma or
simply to pass the exams. These differences will affect the group work when they are mixed in
a project group. Very important factor which influences the successful result is mixing people
with different background, age and personal qualities. Students’ analytical skills, creativity,
and self-awareness are of high priority. The task of the lecturer is to bring up these qualities for
all students. During group formation the lecturer must take into account people’s capabilities,
skills, and talents as well as social sensitivity. Processes in a group will be a factor influencing
the efficiency of the project.
Formation of groups by students themselves is often based on friendship. To allocate
students randomly to groups is considered to be more realistic. Each member of the group
maintains a particular role throughout the duration of the project. The three possible roles are:
- project leader - suggests division of labor and develops the overall project plan;
- coordinator – designs and describes the steps of the project, determines appropriate
time to proceed in plan;
-
team member - takes individual notes, participates in discussions, and reviews resource
materials.
Students may wish to define roles for each other. The task for the lecturer is to facilitate
the setting of a group. Lecturer may make suggestions as well but he does not need to take on
all the organization.
The role of the lecturer in problem-based learning is to support student learning.
Lecturer in PBL acts as facilitator and mentor rather than a source of solutions. In a PBL course
students and the supervisor become colearners, coplanners, coproducers, and coevaluators as
they design, implement, and continually refine the solution of a problem. The key problem for
the lecturer is a careful and thoughtful construction of a problem to be solved. Problem
formulation creates some problems of time, resources and needs skills
The essential criteria relating to the nature of a problem are:
- students need more information than is initially presented to them. Missing information
will help them understand what is occurring and help them decide what actions are
required for resolution;
- there is no right way or fixed formula for conducting the investigation; each problem is
unique;
- some parts of the problem may be changed as information is found;
- students make decisions and provide solutions to real-world problems. This means that
there may be no single right answer.
The topics we are offering to students for PBL are coming from industrial enterprises,
scientific articles, research projects. Previous investigations and reports also may be useful as a
basis for developing a new set of problems.
Methods of assessment usually differ from the usual traditional examinations. Student
knowledge and achievement may be better measured with alternate assessment methods. A
successful student assessment process requires use of several complementary instruments.
Methods mainly used in RTU are
- group presentations - students are asked to present the work done as one presentation. In
this case it may be difficult to mark the individual contribution;
- individual presentations - students are asked to present the components of work they
have researched for their contribution to the overall solution of the problem. Each
individual's presentation is reviewed to generate an individual mark for each student.
Assessment of each student is based on:
 how student analyzes the whole problem,
 what innovative possible solutions are presented,
 is student critically evaluating other group suggestions,
 how student demonstrating prior theoretical knowledge as well as newly acquired
throughout the case study,
 is student using practical skills in completing the case study;
- case-based report with a real life solution for a client if the problem comes from the
enterprise, public entity;
- reports - written communication is an important skill for students to acquire. Requiring
written reports allows students to practice this form of communication. It will be worthy
for writing graduation work;
- examinations. In our case the PBL is only a part of curricula. Students have also
theoretical and practical part of the subject (so-called hybrid subject) so the mark for
PBL is only a part of common mark for the subject.
OPPORTUNITIES OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING
IMPLEMENTATION IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TRAINING
CENTRE OF LATVIA
M. Gedrovics, project expert, Dr. sci. ing., RTU
The Local Governments Training center of Latvia (LGTC) is closely linked to the
specialists of local governments offering various professional training courses and seminars.
Specialists from LGTC and Riga Technical university (RTU) visited company BTV Innkjøp in
municipality of Drummen to get acquainted with the experience of public procurement
organization in Norway. The exchange visit was in the scope of the project „Integration
Principles of Green Public Procurement in Material and Energy Choices by Using Problem
Based Learning”.
Green Public Procurement (GPP) is one of environmental policy instruments which
allows to reduce the environmental impact, contribute to social improvement and achieve
savings in the budget.
Green Public Procurement can play very important role in promotion of sustainable
consumption of materials, energy and services. This topic is included in the list of courses
offered by LGTC.
The topic on GPP fits well into the Problem Based Learning (PBL) method as the
problem is defined – to prepare a tender for purchasing goods, materials or services taking into
account GPP requirements and specifics.
The audiences for such a theme are politicians, heads of local governments,
procurement specialists and technicians. Thus the group consists of people with different
education, experience, individual qualities. During the distribution of any audience into smaller
groups (6-8 people) the major focus must be paid to the forming heterogeneous groups, that is,
not only politicians for one group and only purchasing professionals for the second one.
The task for the supervisor is:
- to introduce participants with the problems to be solved,
- to help to create a group,
- to help to divide up the responsibilities of each member - team leader, coordinator,
member of the group,
- to find out what is already known about this topic but above all to find out what is
unknown and in addition have to be learned in order to successfully solve the given
problem,
- where to obtain the information on additional issues and questions.
It should be remembered that the supervisor is a mentor not a source of information.
Typical questions to be solved and extra-studied in this course might be:
- necessity for GPP,
- the legislation of GPP,
- criteria used in GPP,
- harmful and undesirable substances in articles and materials,
- the eco-labelling,
- the European Commission's databases.
At the end of course the prepared overall offer is presented but each participant must
present his contribution.
The task for the supervisor is to create a discussion on:
- how the problem was solved as a whole,
- how and why the chosen solutions are presented,
-
whether there have been alternative solutions,
what is the quality of the overall tender.
It is advisable to invite competent professionals from different institutions - ministries,
agencies and the like to take part in explanation of issues to be acquired and in the presentations
as well.