What is PBL?
“The principal idea behind problem-based learning
is…that the starting point for learning should be a
problem, a query or a puzzle that the learner wishes
to solve”
(Boud. D, 1995, p.13. Enhancing Learning through Self Assessment.
London: Kogan Page)
Problem-based courses start with problems rather than with exposition of
disciplinary knowledge. They move students towards the acquisition of knowledge
and skills through a staged sequence of problems presented in context, together
with associated learning materials and support from teachers
What I know best I have taught
“…the individuals learning the most in the teacher-centred
classrooms are the teachers there. They have reserved for
themselves the very conditions that promote learning:
actively seeking new information, integrating it with what
is known, organising it is a meaningful way, and explaining it
to others”
(Huba & Freed, 2000)
“The search for educational methodologies that emphasise
real world challenges, higher order thinking skills,
multi-disciplinary learning, independent learning, teamwork
and communication skills has a confluence in the holistic
approach to problem-based learning”.
(Tan Oon Seng, 2000)
Competencies for a Knowledge-Based Economy
(KBE)
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Problem-solving
Communication and team-working
Creativity and innovation
Leadership
Adaptability
Learning-to-learn skills
Key Features of PBL Activities
PBL activities can vary in terms of size, structure and
discipline involvement. However, they typically involve:
• Working on real world tasks – developing specific and
generic competences
• Process driving content
• Active and collaborative learning
• Accessing, organising and making sense of relevant
content knowledge
• Developing learning to learn skills and dispositions
Pedagogic benefits attributed to PBL
• Is consistent with established knowledge on how we learn.
The active learning ‘real world’ approach helps students to
create knowledge structures/mental models that facilitate
understanding (deep learning). This enables rapid recall in
situations of future practice and transfer of learning
• Promotes both independent and cooperative learning by
empowering students in the organisation of the learning
process
• Fosters core competencies and dispositions essential for
lifelong learning
• Models the world of what professionals actually do -hence a
better means of preparation for work than traditional content
based curricula.
Content - Process relationship
Problem Scenario
Process skills
(Thinking, Communication, Teamwork)
Content
Derived from the world of practice
Emphasis on essential concepts
PBL Sequence of Activity
There is no universal approach to PBL, but the
following features are characteristic of the process
• Presentation of problem as a simulation of professional practice or a
‘real life’ situation
• Generation of questions and use of thinking to explore the problem
and plan a course of action that will lead to its solution
• Collaborative research activity to access and explore information
sources in order to build up of knowledge base of relevant resources
relating to the problem
• Presentations of information found, peer teaching and application of
the learning to the problem situation
• Review of the problem in relation to new knowledge and evaluation
of the learning process
PBL problems should…
• contain ‘cues’ that trigger learners to identify the
desired learning outcomes
• be at the appropriate level of complexity for learners
profile
• integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes across
topics
• mirror the real world of professional practice
• promote collaborative and active learning
• sufficiently identify the expected task and context
Checklist for developing a problem
Have I:
Selected appropriate content relating to the Curriculum (learning outcomes)
_______________________________________________________________
Determined the availability of necessary resources
(personnel, equipment, learning materials, etc.)
________________________________________________________________
Written a problem statement that:
• Is grounded in the student experience
• Is appropriate for developmental/competence level
• Provides a focused question
• Is sufficiently ill structured to allow more than one correct answer
• Allows for a variety of teaching/learning strategies
________________________________________________________________
Chosen an activity that will motivate students
_________________________________________________________________
Produced an assessment strategy and necessary marking scheme
Problem Evaluation
• Did the problem create student interest

• Did the problem build core content knowledge
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• Did the problem promote types of thinking
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• Was the problem sufficiently real world based
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• Did the problem allow sufficient student choice
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• Was the problem at the right level for the students
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• Were the students able to access sufficient resources 
In what ways can this problem be improved:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
The Director of DACE has requested us to consider the
usefulness of problem-based learning as a means of
making the curriculum more suited to the needs of a
knowledge-based economy.
The above could be a PBL activity for us as teaching
professionals. You will notice that the problem is:
• Real world based- relevant to our professional lives
• Involves much research activity, good thinking and the
development of a rich knowledge base
• Requires collaborative learning
• Challenging but achievable
Designing a PBL Curriculum
• Produce a discipline map for each subject (e.g., key concepts,
principles procedures) that are to constitute the content
objectives
• Identify the generic competences to be developed (e.g., types
of thinking, team-working, communications skills, etc.)
• Prepare a range and progression of problems that facilitate
the integration of content objectives and generic
competences
Types of Competency Models
Many different methods of developing competency models
have evolved, but the most effective ones share certain
characteristics. All of them follow McClelland’s dictate to
determine what leads to superior performance and to identify
top performers and find out what they do. This can be broken
down to two important principles:
1. focus on highly successful people without making
assumptions about their role
2. pay attention to what they actually do
The Systems Method (Linkage, 1997)
This approach focuses not only on what exemplary performers
do now, but also behaviours that may be important in future
Defining Competency
“…a cluster of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes that
affect a major part of one’s job (a role or responsibility), that
correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured
against well-accepted standards, and that can be improved via
training and development”
(Parry, S. R. The Quest for Competencies, “Training”, July, 1996, pp 48-55)
“A competency model describes the particular combination of
knowledge, skills and characteristics needed to effectively
perform a role in an organisation and is used as a human resource
tool for selection, training and development, appraisal, and
succession planning”
(Lucia, A. D. & Lepsinger, R.,1999, ‘The Art and Science of Competency Models’, p.5)
Competency Approach and Occupational Levels
“The competency-based approach will work equally well in any
occupational training area… as well as at any level…vocational,
technical , or professional.” (p.19)
“It is simply not true that the competencies that make up
competency-based training programs have to be low level or
basic skills. If the trainee needs to be able to “solve quadratic
equations,” or “diagnose the patients condition,” or “land a 747
without power’…then its simply a matter of saying so.” (p20)
Blank. W. E, 1982, Handbook For Developing Competency-Based Training Programs
Competence, Knowledge & Understanding
• Competence, Knowledge and Understanding are all constructs
– not something we can observe directly
• Knowledge and understanding contribute to competence
• Knowledge and understanding are best learned ‘in use’
• Competency, knowledge and understanding are highly
contextualized
Competency Pyramid
Behaviours
Skills
Aptitude
Knowledge
Traits/
Dispositions
Quality Standards for a Competency framework
• Clear and easy to understand
• Relevant to all staff who are affected by the
framework
• Takes account of expected changes (e.g., it is essential that a
vision of the future is encompassed when developing a competency
framework. In considering relevance, current and expected demands must
be balanced with expected changes)
• Has discrete elements (e.g., behavioural indicators do not
overlap)
• Fair to all affected by its use
Each competency should have discrete elements
• One competency must not depend on another
competency
• Competencies and indicators must appear in only
one place in the framework
• Competencies must not relate to more than one
cluster
• Indicators must not relate to more than one
competency
• Indicators must not relate to more than one
competency level
Writing Behavioural Indicators
They should:
• describe directly measurable behaviour (ie observable) examples of
an individual’s competency
– e.g., produces detailed learning plans for facilitating student learning
objectives
• describe just one piece of behaviour or evidence – it should not be
possible for an individual to be good at one part of the indicator and
poor at another
• not be duplicated across competencies or levels
• include a verb clause; indicators describe what a person does
• include enough contextual information to make the action meaningful
–ie indicate why the person is performing the action
– e.g., produces detailed learning plans for facilitating student learning
objectives
Stages in Producing a Competency Framework
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Getting buy in from key personnel
Clarifying the purpose of the framework
Planning the project
choosing analysis techniques
Data gathering
Preparing and analysis data
Drafting the competency framework
Validating the draft competencies
Revising and finalising the competencies
Launching the framework
Data Gathering
The main objectives for this stage are:
• to collect examples of behaviours relevant to effective performance in the
work role
• to identify behaviours which may be necessary for effective performance
in future
Sources of data include (using teaching as an example):
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Ministry of Educational directives
Professional curriculum documents
Leading writers in the field
Lecturers views about what they do
Stakeholders (e.g., students, industry, etc)
Validating the draft competencies
Validation is necessary to ensure that:
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the competencies actually relate to all the roles in the target
population
•
the draft competency framework is meaningful in the eyes of the
intended users
•
the behaviours actually differentiate between good and less good
performance (e.g., when different competency levels are used)
Two important considerations are particularly pertinent:
1.
Do individuals who demonstrate the competencies perform their
work more effectively than colleagues who do not demonstrate
these competencies?
2.
Do individual job-holders recognize the competencies as relevant
and necessary for effective performance in their jobs/roles?
Four Things Needed to implement a
competency-based training and development
system
1.
2.
3.
4.
A set of behaviours that describe what the
competencies look like on the job
A process to identify the extent to which people
currently use the competencies
An awareness of training and development
opportunities that help people learn and develop the
competencies
A support and follow-up mechanism to ensure that skill
and knowledge gaps are closed
Competencies in Context
It is important to remember that competencies focus on behaviour. While
behaviour is clearly an important issue in performance, other factors are
also important:
• The context in which he or she operates
• Personal factors (those more innate personality traits)
• Organisational factors
Furthermore, in relation to training and development, while a competency
framework helps to focus each stage, without skilled people to design,
deliver, and support the events and activities, competency-based training
and development will be no better than any other poorly resourced process
Measurement of Competency
Invariably some components of competency are more easier to
measure than others (e.g., skills and knowledge are much easier
to measure than innate aptitudes, personality traits and dispositions
- as well as being more readily influenced by training and
development).
However, there is evidence that even traits that are primarily innate
“can be modified and developed” (Zemke & Kramlinger).
Furthermore, even personality traits that might appear nonquantifiable (e.g., charisma, creativity, etc) can be measured and
assessed when they are translated into behavioural terms.
(Zemke, R & Kramlinger, T.,1982, ‘Figuring Things Out: A Trainer’s Guide to Needs and Task Analysis’, p.29)
Assessment in a Competency-based Framework
“Assessment is the process of getting hold of evidence by
one or a number of means and making judgements of the
evidence in order to make inferences about an individual’s
competence.
Assessment, therefore, while based on the idea
of competent or not competent, is slightly more subtle than
that, in that it is stating that there is sufficient evidence from
which to infer that an individual is competent; there is
insufficient evidence to infer an individual’s competence at
the present time although they may well be so; or that from
the evidence which is currently available it is unlikely that
the individual is competent at present.”
Mitchell, L.,1990, The definition of standards and their assessment, Ch 5, p.60.
In Burke, J. (Ed) ‘Competency Based Education and Training’. The Falmer Press: London.
Evidence of Occupational Competence
ASSESSMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL
COMPETENCE
SOURCE
TYPE
Specially Elicited
Evidence
Knowledge &
Understanding
Performance
e.g. written or
oral assessment
e.g. traditional
skills tests
TYPE A
TYPE B
Naturally Occurring Evidence
(in work process)
Predetermined
Samples set in
Work Place
TYPE C
Ongoing
Work
TYPE D
Start here and move
To the left if not
possible